Top 5 Candidates Lists (Be Realistic)

Donate To GopherHole
MrGopher said:
He's been on the hot seat there, unfairly IMO. But Georgia football has a very high 'entitlement factor' -- much like Minnesota Hockey and..... Kentucky Hoops.

Speaking of Kentucky Hoops, Tubby Smith's name on lists to replace Monson would have surprised people as well. Why would Tubby leave Kentucky to come to the U?

Maturi said in the press conference that he is looking for the next "Tubby Smith hire" for the football program.
Click to expand...

Tubby's move was unique, no doubt. He did it to avoid being fired, which was a smart move for him and his reputation.

However those type of "go backwards to go forward" moves aren't that common. I remember the uproar over what Franchione did nearly 10 years ago to leave Bama for Texas A&M. With Richt's name being mentioned, I didnt know there was a chance he could do that.
 

6 Nov 1999 said:
I am not sure we can throw the football around like Mike Leach is predisposed to in November, but I am not opposed to a coach who tells somebody to go stand in a dark place and later refuses to apologize to the student (a horrible crime). Woody Hayes was not given to apologize either. You want "Minnesota Nice" or do you want a football coach who generates some controversy from time to time and in the process occasionally lights a fire under his team? Seems to me we are badly in need of a coach who will light a fire under the team. By the way, many thanks to all the @$$h01e$ on GopherHole who were so quick to tar, feather, and lynch the best football coach we had since Cal Stoll because we lost by a last second field goal to the Red Raiders, who went on to contend for the national title. If you all had been born a little bit earlier, you would have had the opportunity to follow Reverend Jim Jones to Guyana to drink Kool Aid with him. Instead you all force fed the "Kool Aid" to the University of Minnesota Football Program and set it back a decade. Imagine what Glen could have done at TCF Bank Stadium (which he built) with DCs who were paid $350,000 / year instead of $130,000 / year, which is what I think David Lockwood was making before they all got shown the door. But, the dumbest move, the new coach showing Gordy Shaw the door after trying to hold all the recruits together. Try as I might, I don't think I can forgive you @$$h01e$ who were part of the "Fire Mason" contingent. In several years, maybe. SKI-U-MAH!
Click to expand...

I usually don't waste my time with high and mighty pseudo experts who use the benefit of hindsight to lay their "I told you so" garbage on other people. However, I'll make an exception for you. First, if you think Mason's dismissal was prompted in a vacuum, with nothing other than the Texas Tech game for impetus, your memory is as cloudy as your impolite language. Aside from that, as you well know, people looking for a change at that time, including myself, were not seeking an inexperienced, unproven college head coach. For that you can lay your complaints at Maturi's doorstep. Finally, if none of this has a positive effect on your venomous outlook toward those of us (quite a large number I would imagine) that wanted Mason gone for a variety of good reasons, well, I won't speak for the others, but I can live with that without much pain.
 

I did eight...three "home run" hires that are probably not going to come here but should be targeted (whether through "Maturi" or "booster" channels)

Tier 1 (home run hires, probably not going to come here):

Belotti
Richt
Harbaugh

Tier 2 (solid doubles):

Golden
Sumlin
Kill
Ellerson (Army head coach)
Tommy Bowden

We "know" the story with the others but Ellerson has done a great job of "fixing" Army in a short time -- they may make a bowl this year for the first time since the 1990's...Ellerson was the coach at Cal Poly when they almost knocked off Wisconsin back in 2008.
 

Minnesota could not get someone with head coaching experience last time what makes you think that they can this time?
 

whoever it is I hope they hire back Gordon Shaw!

that is the closest thing the U has to a Die hard Minnesota coach.
 


PushingBackAgain said:
Minnesota could not get someone with head coaching experience last time what makes you think that they can this time?
Click to expand...

Well as Maturi said at the press conference, the timing of everything is far different than last time. Last time we took the unusual step of firing the coach after a bow game (doesn't happen much), so a lot of canidates had already moved jobs. We needed someone fast who could try and get a few kids in the recruiting class. So we were on a very fast time table. This time Maturi made the decision now, in part to the reduced buyout, but also in part because we are the first major program this year looking for a coach. That gives us about 2 months before the rest of the coaches are fired and a chance to have a very nice search done by then. We have a much better chance of getting a much more experienced coach this time around. We could still screw it up, but it won't be a TE coach from the NFL...
 

6 Nov 1999 said:
I guess we just have to disagree on this subject. I sincerely believe that the Minneapolis / St. Paul media will always defecate and urinate on our football program regardless who is coach. They always have. They are bought and paid for by corporate sports enterprises in the Twin Cities. Their mission is to vector all disposable income allocated by a family or person for sports entertainment away from the University of Minnesota and into the bank account of the professional corporate sports enteprises in the Twin Cities. It is all about money folks, not "fair and balanced," and not Pulitzer prizes.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess we will. Sorry if I sounded snarky earlier.

I guess what I'm saying is I don't want a "chip on my shoulder" coach. A "me against the world" guy. I want someone who is going to come in and take some of the good elements of what Brewster has done--and I believe there are good elements--and build on them. We need someone who is above the fray to some extent so that if and when the media does what the media is entitled to do--namely criticize, and sometimes unfairly--that it can be brushed off.

GopherBeef, I hear what you're saying in response to my microscope comments and the only thing I'd point out is that both Michigan and LSU have much higher-profile and successful programs than we have. Kids go there because of tradition and the likelihood they are going to be part of a winning program. We have to bust out of mediocrity and what kid is going to want to go to a school that doesn't have a recent run of success and is constantly barraged in the media? Again, sorry if I sound a bit snarky here.

Again, sorry if my stuff sometimes appears condescending. It certainly isn't my intent.
 

6 Nov 1999 said:
I guess we just have to disagree on this subject. I sincerely believe that the Minneapolis / St. Paul media will always defecate and urinate on our football program regardless who is coach. They always have. They are bought and paid for by corporate sports enterprises in the Twin Cities. Their mission is to vector all disposable income allocated by a family or person for sports entertainment away from the University of Minnesota and into the bank account of the professional corporate sports enteprises in the Twin Cities. It is all about money folks, not "fair and balanced," and not Pulitzer prizes.
Click to expand...

They do those things not because it's simply college football...the program has a 43 year history of being Charlie Brown-like in its performance. Whenever there is a moment the U just may kick that football Lucy is always there to pull the ball away and lead to the football program falling on its face.

Lou Holtz leaving and hiring Gutey
Glen Mason losing to Michigan in '03, then to Wisconsin in '05
Tim Brewster blowing it against Northwestern in '08

The old timers can likely think of other moments pre mid 80's (that's as far as my memory can go) but the U has been "close" several times to regaining its prominence but somehow always ends up on its face. You can't blame the media for those things -- the program's been snakebit with plain ol' bad luck in addition to being run on the cheap back in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

It's easy for the media to pick on Charlie Brown just like Ralphie Parker was bullied by Scut Farkas...the task for the U is to hire someone who can help the program to the ball before Lucy gets a chance to pull it away yet again. Once the U returns to prominence the media will kick the program around much less frequently.
 

Mine are an aggregate of who I think we can get, and the coaches' ability...

1. Golden
2. Calhoun
3. Patterson
4. Chryst
5. Richt

I think we can get a guy to commit right after the regular season ends with enough $$$.

No's:
Leach-too much baggage.
Trestman-not another pro guy, doesn't get defense.
Belotti-too old, 5 years and out.
Fraizer-not another pro guy; can't hire for well over a month after the college season ends;we need a guy in December.
 



maxwellsmart said:
I usually don't waste my time with high and mighty pseudo experts who use the benefit of hindsight to lay their "I told you so" garbage on other people. However, I'll make an exception for you. First, if you think Mason's dismissal was prompted in a vacuum, with nothing other than the Texas Tech game for impetus, your memory is as cloudy as your impolite language. Aside from that, as you well know, people looking for a change at that time, including myself, were not seeking an inexperienced, unproven college head coach. For that you can lay your complaints at Maturi's doorstep. Finally, if none of this has a positive effect on your venomous outlook toward those of us (quite a large number I would imagine) that wanted Mason gone for a variety of good reasons, well, I won't speak for the others, but I can live with that without much pain.
Click to expand...

Bad blood had been brewing (no pun intended) between Morrill Hall and Glen Mason for a long time. I did not suggest that Glen was fired over a field goal. However, this field goal provided the excuse to terminate Glen. We on both sides of this issue could write volumes about what factors led up to the termination. My gripe is that TCF Bank Stadium was built by Glen, and like Moses, he was not allowed to enter the promised land. Despite criticisms about his recruiting and his relationship, or lack thereof, with Minnesota high school coaches, his record was better than anybody's since Cal Stoll and better than his successor. We could point with pride at our accomplishments in generating NFL offensive linemen and NFL running backs. That Glen and his superiors were at odds with each other is a given. What irritates me is the fact that Glen was never allowed to prove his worth in the house that he built, and he was never given the resources of a $350,000 / year Defensive Coordinator, much less a $250,000 / year Offensive Coordinator. Glen never played in a venue with a home field advantage. The HHH MetroBowel Chamber of Horrors was not a home field advantage. This place was worse than an away game environment. All of Glen's signature victories over PSU, OSU, and Michigan took place on the road, in hostile stadiums filled with more than 105,000 opposing fans. My premise is that Glen should have been given a chance to show what he could do with TCF Bank Stadium, a true home field advantage, a true recruiting tool in said stadium, and the financial resources for DCs that was provided his successor, but was denied to Glen. What is done is done. However, now that we all understand that the firing and hiring that took place 4 years ago was a big mistake, yes, I do feel compelled to express my frustration with what I perceive to have been an unfair process, the results of which proved to be septic. I hope we learned something useful and I pray God grants our administrative leadership the wisdom necessary to select the best candidate to be our next head football coach. SKI-U-MAH!
 

Carl Pelini - Brother of Bo with a pretty good career. Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Nebraska.

Kirby Smart - the defensive coordinator for the University of Alabama.

Kevin Steele - the defensive coordinator at Clemson University. He served as Alabama's defensive coordinator in the 2007 season.

Arthur Gustav Malzahn - offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Auburn University.

Kevin Sumlin - with the ugly UCLA and Mississippi State loss, should cool off his stock a lot.

Troy Calhoun - the head football coach for the United States Air Force Academy.

Paul Chryst - Wisconsin's offensive coordinator (get back at them for going for 2)

Mark Richt - the head coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team.
 

6 Nov 1999 said:
Bad blood had been brewing (no pun intended) between Morrill Hall and Glen Mason for a long time. I did not suggest that Glen was fired over a field goal. However, this field goal provided the excuse to terminate Glen. We on both sides of this issue could write volumes about what factors led up to the termination. My gripe is that TCF Bank Stadium was built by Glen, and like Moses, he was not allowed to enter the promised land. Despite criticisms about his recruiting and his relationship, or lack thereof, with Minnesota high school coaches, his record was better than anybody's since Cal Stoll and better than his successor. We could point with pride at our accomplishments in generating NFL offensive linemen and NFL running backs. That Glen and his superiors were at odds with each other is a given. What irritates me is the fact that Glen was never allowed to prove his worth in the house that he built, and he was never given the resources of a $350,000 / year Defensive Coordinator, much less a $250,000 / year Offensive Coordinator. Glen never played in a venue with a home field advantage. The HHH MetroBowel Chamber of Horrors was not a home field advantage. This place was worse than an away game environment. All of Glen's signature victories over PSU, OSU, and Michigan took place on the road, in hostile stadiums filled with more than 105,000 opposing fans. My premise is that Glen should have been given a chance to show what he could do with TCF Bank Stadium, a true home field advantage, a true recruiting tool in said stadium, and the financial resources for DCs that was provided his successor, but was denied to Glen. What is done is done. However, now that we all understand that the firing and hiring that took place 4 years ago was a big mistake, yes, I do feel compelled to express my frustration with what I perceive to have been an unfair process, the results of which proved to be septic. I hope we learned something useful and I pray God grants our administrative leadership the wisdom necessary to select the best candidate to be our next head football coach. SKI-U-MAH!
Click to expand...

I was never a Mason guy, but I will grant you much of what you say here. It would have been interesting to see what Mason could have done in a better environment. His problem, as you state, is that he somehow seemed to aggravate those above him and the Texas Tech debacle simply gave folks who wanted him gone a chance to punch his ticket. I always saw him as a bit vapid. Great looks, but seemed to lack a core.

But please stop with the myth that Shaw developed professional football linemen. He taught a style that worked extremely well at the college level. Eslinger was a great college lineman, but his lack of size and strength at the point of attack made him someone who wasn't going to succeed at the next level. Same can be said for many of his pupils. I'm not ragging on Shaw here. He obviously did a great job with our offensive line during his tenure in Minnesota, but he shouldn't be elevated to the "best offensive line coach ever" status that some in here seem to want to do.
 

Mason's gone, Brewster's gone. Time to move on. Be a coach-worshipper or be a Gopher fan. Take your pick.
 




No particular order:

Guy's I'd be interested in: Richt, Leach, Calhoun, Fulmer, Belottti, Bowden
Assistants I'd be willing to look at: Kirby Smart, Brent Venables

Guys I'd be concerned with:
-Chryst (I love his offenses, but word is he's more of an X & O guy and not as heavy as a recruiter. concerns me)
-Chris Petersen: My concern is that I saw what happened with Dirk Koetter & Dan Hawkins, 2 guys who were also successful at Boise. Perhaps not at the level that Petersen has been, but they built the foundation.
-Frazier: Concerned that he wouldn't be available to start up until January

I think Patterson & Harbaugh are unrealistic.
 

1. Kevin Sumlin
2. Leslie Frazier
3. Mike Bellotti
4. Al Golden
5. Mike Leach

I'd be completely happy with the top 4. I'd be nervous with #5 but I also think he'd bring the most buzz to the program initially. I know Leach can coach but he's got the ticking time bomb aspect that could blow up in the program's face.
 

Terry Bowden? Are people confusing him with Tommy, former Clemson coach?

Terry Bowden could barely get the Louisiana Tech job when he applied.
 

You guys are leaving out some very good candidates, IMO

Gus Malzahn= High school coaching legend and currently Auburn's O coordinator. Considered an offensive genius.

Either of the Stoops brothers

Venables

Calhoun=been mentioned and has experience running other offenses than the triple option.
 

1) Leach
2) Golden
3) Calhoun

I don't need 5.

Leach should be our top priority
 


1. Chris Petersen - Obviously getting Petersen will be a longshot, but eventually he is going to get bored with winning every game 63-0. I know moving to the MWC will be more of a challenge, but only for about 2-3 games a year. If a coach was looking for a challenge, what more than playing Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin & Iowa every year? Obviously he is comfortable in a northern climate so weather should not be an issue. What we do have going for us is a great city, great stadium, and apparently some money to spend. Like Maturi said expectations here are low, and if you can get us to the Rose Bowl you become legendary. People attibute his success to what he inherited, but to Petersen's credit Boise has kept getting better and better. Watch his teams playing against the big schools and it's obvious he can coach. But if he has eyes on being the coach of an historic top-5 power someday he may view us as too much of a risk. We would need to throw a lot of money at him. If we did this it would be a huge statement by the U.

2. Jim Harbaugh - I don't see why he'd consider us other than having an urge to get back to the Big Ten. If he is looking to do that then we might get lucky. He is 100% proven as a guy who could turn this around.

3. Al Golden - Probably little chance of this happening, he seems like he will have his pick of jobs when he's ready to move on.

4. Leslie Frazier - Only concern is would he jump at an NFL job at first chance? Otherwise there is very little not to like. Has been a head coach at a smaller college, has been a coach in the Big Ten, has a super bowl ring, and has directed one of the best NFL defenses the past few years.

5. Brent Venables - Has been around a winning Oklahoma program for a long time. If we want to go the college coordinator route this would be one of the guys on the 'short list'.

My gut feeling is that Maturi will go after a guy who is a proven winner at the FCS level. So I'm guessing one of the top three guys will be who we go after the most. I thought McCarney might be that guy, but that was before I knew about his domesic abuse past. We are not going to hire anyone with baggage like that. (that rules to Leach too. Does anyone really think that a school that will not accept Jimmy Williams as an assistant coach will accept Leach as a head coach?)

Other thoughts.

Bellotti - Too old for a team that needs to rebuild. Turns 60 this December.
Leach - Mentioned him above, U would never hire someone with his baggage
Mangino - Ditto
Patterson - Turned us down once already
Sumlin - Would be really worried about his ability field a defense
Chryst - Please no. If we're going to go after a coordinator it should be Venables
 

Troy Calhoun

is target #3, Patterson is #2 with Harbaugh #1. Patterson and Harbaugh are pipe dreams, Calhoun is actually the real #1. Frazier and a number of college coordinators are on the second list.
 

1. Calhoun 50% chance
1A. Harbaugh 15%
2. Richt 25%
3. Golden 55%
4. Frazier 60%
5. Leach 10%
Subject to change
 


Dream Top 5

1. Harbaugh
2. Peterson
3. Patterson
4A. Leach
4B. Frazier
 



Would love to get Harbaugh, Peterson, Venables, or Fraizer in that order not sure any of them would leave there current position for the U though. I think Golden is the best realistic option.
 

Break the piggy bank

1 through 5: Gary Patterson.

Give him a blank check and be done with it. The Gophers should start and end with defense. That's how you win in the Big 10...11...12. TFP!
 

Frazier would be the top of my list but I don't see it happening. He's due for an NFL HC position and I think he'll get a chance next year.

I really like Sumlin, he'd be #2.

Don't like Hoke,Kill or Golden.

Jeff Jagodzinski and Leach, no thanks.

Chryst, good potential byt we need someone with a better resume.

Belotti- Good coach but I think they need someone younger who could be here for a while.

Venables seems to be in line for a HC position but I think we need someone here with HC experience.

Trestman and Bradley do nothing for me expept that they are local guys.

Mariucci and Del Rio are intriguing. Big names, plenty of HC experience.....not sure they're a college guys though.

I like Richt and Mike Stoops are impressive but I'm not sure why they'd leave Georgia and Arizona for the Gophers.

Kirby Smart is impressive and young.
Randy Edsall I like Edsall but he seems pretty happy where he is.

Harbaugh would be top of the list of plausible candidates if he can be had.

There are others as well from TCU and Boise but I think they'll be staying there unless approached by a top BSC program.

My dream (semi-realistic)
#1- Harbaugh
#2- Frazier
#3- Richt
#4- Stoops
#5- Sumlin

Realistic:

#1- Sumlin
#2- Smart
#3- Venables
#4- Chryst
#5- Kills
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom