Totally Unscientific Report from SEC Country

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everybody knows my name said:
I'm still not a Fleck lover, though I do like to win. I'll put up with a lot from a winner. And I take him at his word when he says "twenty years."

But in the event that he doesn't stick around, our best bet is to snag a highly qualified Minnesotan, or at least a former Gopher. Someone who likes it here and doesn't see moving down south as moving up the ladder.
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But who might that even be? I'm one of those geeks who has been following former Gophers out there in the coaching world, and the coaching talent level of former Gophers seems to have been going down hill over the years.

Marc Trestman is still coaching, and was in the CFL for a long time, and Chicago for his 2 years in the NFL, so he is apparently fine with colder weather, but he's getting old, like REALLY old, better to try to get Tony Dungy to come out of retirement, and taking over the whole culture thing Fleck has going on would actually be something Dungy might even appreciate, but I'm not being serious about either of these two, because of their ages, but they'd be probably the top 2 candidates based purely on coaching skills alone, Trestman is still coaching and will be coaching in the XFL in 2020, but I think it's not a good sign that he's gone from the NFL to the CFL to the XFL.


So who else is out there? Tony Levine? DeWayne Walker? Norries Wilson? Cory Sauter? I'd guess all of these guys are getting up there in age as well and none of them seemed to actually win anything that I can tell. Closest any came was Levine leaving behind talent good enough at Houston for his replacement to have a breakout season.


Are there some younger former players out there coaching small college teams or working as Coordinators or position coaches somewhere?
 

Another example of some
Possumlad said:
It's also just true that there are very few football coaches in the world who would choose to coach at MN vs. (for instance) a big-time SEC program. It's just the nature of the beast. The money, resources, and nearby recruiting opportunites don't really compare. I think Fleck may be one of the few who wants to write his own story, "own the state," etc., but if so he's one among few.
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I could easily see an up and coming coach choosing a ”Power“ program like ND, OSU, AL, LSU, USC over Minnesota as their jump to the big league. That all depends on what a coach is looking for in the opportunity. But this is flat out false for an established coach at Minnesota.

As professional job recruiters have know for decades, it is hard to get people to move up to Minnesota and it is nearly impossible to get them to move away. People are not really aware of what we have to offer and are afraid of the winters. But, after spending a few years here, they find out it is a great place to live and raise a family (Great public schools, great public spaces, very nice people, better economy, more opportunities, better access to the arts/culture, large city/open spaces blend, etc..).

PJ is the type of coach that wants to build his legacy and the program his way, and the U is an excellent opportunity to do just that. He would have a very difficult time being a caretaker and having boosters control his actions. Plus his family really like it in the Twin Cities, doesn’t he live on a lake now...

Some of the SEC schools have a unique environment for football where the sport is placed on a pedestal above all other things, even education. They are also the biggest sporting ticket in the state and have an almost religious following. That has an appeal to the ego and pocketbook of many coaches, but can be a pressure cooker and typically are not long term jobs. They also have to consider how the family would deal with very poor school systems and the quality of life.
 

Right out of the gate Coach called Minnesota "The Sleeping Giant."

Very informed opinion I'd say...and signs so far indicate he might be right...

Progress.
 

I don’t get insulted when SEC and other fans say he’ll leave for a true helmet school. I get it.

It’s when Mississippi State fans and the like act like he’s a legitimate candidate. That’s next-level homerism/ignorance.
 

UMn CAN afford to pay him what he's worth, and if he proves his worth, they will.

If you look at Dabo at Clemson, compare his first couple seasons with Fleck's time here at Minnesota, and Fleck is on par with Dabo on the field. Not sure if he's on par with Dabo as far as recruiting goes, but he might not need to be if his whole culture thing makes up for some of the supposed lack of talent and if he can develop the talent he brings in the way it seems he can do?
 


alchemy2u said:
Another example of some

I could easily see an up and coming coach choosing a ”Power“ program like ND, OSU, AL, LSU, USC over Minnesota as their jump to the big league. That all depends on what a coach is looking for in the opportunity. But this is flat out false for an established coach at Minnesota.

As professional job recruiters have know for decades, it is hard to get people to move up to Minnesota and it is nearly impossible to get them to move away. People are not really aware of what we have to offer and are afraid of the winters. But, after spending a few years here, they find out it is a great place to live and raise a family (Great public schools, great public spaces, very nice people, better economy, more opportunities, better access to the arts/culture, large city/open spaces blend, etc..).

PJ is the type of coach that wants to build his legacy and the program his way, and the U is an excellent opportunity to do just that. He would have a very difficult time being a caretaker and having boosters control his actions. Plus his family really like it in the Twin Cities, doesn’t he live on a lake now...

Some of the SEC schools have a unique environment for football where the sport is placed on a pedestal above all other things, even education. They are also the biggest sporting ticket in the state and have an almost religious following. That has an appeal to the ego and pocketbook of many coaches, but can be a pressure cooker and typically are not long term jobs. They also have to consider how the family would deal with very poor school systems and the quality of life.
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You think it's flat out false that many coaches would leave MN for a power program? I understand your broad point--and I love MN too--but I think that's just wrong.
 

As a Gopher fan living in Chicago I’ve seen a noticeable uptick in Gopher gear on the streets since November. I also just spent a week at sea with a bunch of Oregon Duck fans who were all very optimistic about the Gophers, Fleck, and were hoping it would have been us in Pasadena instead of you know who.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I agree with this. I feel like Fleck wants to be able to do his thing at 100% his way and don't think he'll get that freedom at a lot of those schools.
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This depends on how bad those schools want to take the next step (to get to Bama/ tOSU/ others?). After the Outback Bowl win, I went on the Auburn message boards and asked if they'd want Fleck if "RTB" came with it. It was a resounding yes. Don't underestimate the allure of a perceived winner.
 

Some people actually wear team gear in other states if they are not going to a game there?
That seems a bit low life to me.
 



Plato said:
Some people actually wear team gear in other states if they are not going to a game there?
That seems a bit low life to me.
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“Low life” seems pretty harsh. Having lived in the south for the last few years, college football fanhood is a huge proxy for regional/state pride. It’s very different than what we experience in B1G country.
 


Possumlad said:
You think it's flat out false that many coaches would leave MN for a power program? I understand your broad point--and I love MN too--but I think that's just wrong.
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It's not "just wrong" but it's not unquestionably right, either. What do I mean? Well, what sport are we talking about here?


Tennis? We might struggle to keep a Tennis coach on board, but who pays big money for tennis coaches? Who cares about the Tennis programs?

Women's BB? We might struggle to keep an up and coming young women's bb coach, but why is that? My guess is because we haven't proven we are willing to pay a decent amount to keep a women's bb coach around. But a coach has to win and bring in huge crowds first before they'd deserve a nice raise. The last time that happened, it was probably during a time we were more focused on getting the mens bb team and the football program on the right track first. And that was the only example I know where UMn lost a coach to a power program in a non-revenue sport.

We never lost Glen Mason, did we? He was fired/let go, as was the idiot that followed him. Kill stepped down for medical reasons. Before Mason, we never came close to losing Bierman or Warmath and everyone between Warmath and Mason was fired/let go with one exception, Holtz, who was Catholic and had the Notre Dame clause in his contract.

And we didn't lose Clem Haskins, Dan Monson or Tubby Smith either, all 3 of them got fired/let go. Did we "lose" Musselman or Dutcher? We didn't even lose John Wooden or Bobby Knight, a snow storm kept Wooden from coming here and we picked someone else over Bobby Knight. Before Musselman we snagged a 6 time Pro BB Title winning coach, a former Gopher who came home. He just retired did he not?

We also didn't lose Mariucci, Woog or Lucia, all 3 basically retired. The only one we lost was Brooks, which DUH, he'd just pulled off the Miracle on Ice, so of course the NHL was going to come calling.

If you want to argue that none of our men's fb or bb coaches were good enough to be wanted by the power programs, well, that could be true, but we really don't know one way or another now do we?
 

Possumlad said:
But put another way: the only coach in program history that got a big-time offer elsewhere took it. Again if next year is anything like last year, Fleck will likely be our first coach since Holtz to get a big-time offer from a big-time school. That's when it gets interesting - no one's arguing that we're a stepping stone to anything but a big-time program.

Remember that Mason (our most successful coach since the 1950s) interviewed for the OSU job, and no doubt would have taken it if offered.
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Mason was offered Georgia. Turned it down to stay.
 





Section2 said:
Mason was offered Georgia. Turned it down to stay.
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Yep...Mason was Georgia's coach for exactly 1 week. Totally blindsided Georgia when he withdrew his acceptance. Probably one of the lowest days in Vince Dooley's career as Georgia's AD at the time.

One year later he was hired as Minnesota's coach...which is when I became a Golden Gophers fan. If he was good enough to be hired by Georgia, then he was worth giving a chance as a fan here.

The Mason hire at the time represented progress then too.
 

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