Typical Maturi BS tonight on the WCCO/Lear

[oak_street1981]

field show. I cannot believe no one else heard this garbage, then again who listens to WCCO?

Maturi does not get it, on many levels and he needs to go or be benched before he can F this one up.. Constant inconsistantcy, shifting and dithering abound!

The highlights:

-After talking about being openminded yesterday, tonight he went on about a strong preference for the "Wisconsin" model. Because it is so much colder in Minnesota in October than in Oregon and Michigan (or NE where Tom Brady runs a spread in the snow in January) so a presumable Leach TT offense will not be able to operate much less recruit. Sure Joel.

-Talked about the need to hire a coach who would fit into the all important Maturi Athletic Dept. culture. After all, it is all about our over the hill 66 year old AD, not the betterment of the Football team. This is not about Joel Maturi and his precious culture he is so proud of.

The beyond pathetic example cited was how great Timmy Brewster was because he gladly suffered through Joel Maturi's worthless weekly staff meetings with the Women's diving coach and others. I about crashed my car when I heard him talk about the importance of a new coach playing this game by Joel's stupid rules.

Are you kidding me, it is important that the new coach be willing to submit to these meetings and bow down to Maturi and attend like the Rowing Coach does?

Maturi seemed very proud of this aspect of the department. Please spare us. Do you think Urban Meyer or Nick Saban attend weekly staff meetings with the Lacrosse and Rowing coaches unless they really are into that sort of thing?

This guy does not get it and better be a note taker and messenger boy at best in this process. I think much of his self described role in this is wishful thinking and window dressing.

He is way out of touch and needs carefully managed by someone higher up with a less simplistic view of things.

 

[MBAGuy]

I'm taking some comfort in believing the Prez is captaining this ship right now. I feel like he doesn't want his legacy to be the absolute decimation of Gopher football (again).

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

 

[SickAndTiredOfLosingToWI]

He was just trying to learn all he could from the rowing coach about being up the creek.

 

[Khaliq]

I don't want the spread, or specifically the Air Raid which is what we would be talking about with Leach, so I am pleased. Praise Allah.

 

[MBAGuy]

Praise Allah.

Have we made the radical switch from atheism to Islam? Or are we being ironic?

If the former, I'll start praying to Thor and Odin. We should round up some others to ensure we've got our bases covered with the invisible puppet masters.

 

[stevedave23]

This is what Maturi does. I said it in the press conference thread. He talks big in front of the football crowd saying things like, "football is the engine" and a couple of days later he's on the radio begging people to come out and see the rowing team.

People pleasing lightweight.

 

[imthewalrus]

Maturi MUST be thrown under the bus before he hires again...

He does NOT understand that Football drives the athletic department. He has been paying his Men's Hoops coach more than twice as much as his football coach. Hockey is headed for disaster.

And, I get NO comfort from prexy b. The last time I heard, prexy b was going to head off into the sunset and was planning on extending Maturi for a couple more years to at least insure a big pay out for Maturi when the new perxy comes on board, fires Maturi and brings in his/her own ad man/woman.

Maturi is NOT good for Football. Period. Throw him under the bus before it is too late and he screws up another football hire.

Perhaps the student section should have a few choice chants for Maturi. His incompetence will destroy football at the U of M yet IF he is given the chance to hire again. Please save us from Maturi!

 

[tjgopher]

I thought Joel acquitted himself very well on that radio show, as did Jeff Horton. I was in the car and ended up waiting until the end of the show to go inside the house. Really good, informative show.

Some things Joel said (again I was impressed with how forthright he was in some things):

--will get input from some people, but will not form a search committee

--will use a search firm, however, to gauge candidate interest and get background info

--admitted he could not directly contact some candidates but a search firm could, volunteered Jim Harbaugh's name as a guy a search firm would contact to gauge interest before asking for official permission from Stanford AD (said it was hypothetical)

--says his preference is to target candidates who have "sat in the seat" - in other words have head coaching experience

--mentioned Leslie Frazier, but can't remember in what context

--admitted there are no guarantees no matter who you hire, says you need a little luck, cited Iowa hiring Ferentz as its third or fourth choice and it worked out well

--believes we need a power running offense to win Big Ten

--will quiz candidates more thoroughly about staff plans

--was rather critical of Brewster's original staff members who bolted early

--says he has a two-yr contract extension offer, but has not decided yet, focused on hiring a coach

--he did talk about a different culture at MN where all the coaches attend staff meetings, says Tubby and Brewster attended and it helped moral, not sure how important that is, but certainly not anything to get too worked up over

--NEVER once mentioned rowing, wrestling, cross country or any other women's or minor sports, but don't let that get in the way of some of your agendas (in fact he reiterated the idea that football drives the bus, using the same language he did yesterday)


A few things I found interesting from Horton:

--will change some of the practice routines, wants a faster tempo to pressure guys so they feel tested in games

--Horton will move from press box to sidelines, as will Cosgrove
--Ronnie Lee and Thomas Hammock move upstairs

--Thomas Hammock will call the plays (totally surprised by this, by the way)

--will change their Friday night routine to freshen things up

--says he knows there's little change he'll get the permanent job

--says they can beat Penn State

--says main goal is to make sure kids find some success at some point yet this season and have some enjoyment

 

[loki]

Have we made the radical switch from atheism to Islam? Or are we being ironic?

If the former, I'll start praying to Thor and Odin. We should round up some others to ensure we've got our bases covered with the invisible puppet masters.

Odin and Thor exist as does Freya and Loki. Thats all i got.

 

[josh087]

He was just trying to learn all he could from the rowing coach about being up the creek.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

If Maturi has final say, Paul Chryst will be the next coach of the Gophers. Plenty of foreshadowing there.

 

[EG#9]

This is what Maturi does. I said it in the press conference thread. He talks big in front of the football crowd saying things like, "football is the engine" and a couple of days later he's on the radio begging people to come out and see the rowing team.

People pleasing lightweight.

I didn't hear the WCCO interview, but I remember your post from my thread on Maturi's performance at the press conference. If he said what Oak Street reported, then you are 100% right.

 

[imthewalrus]

Chryst is his "godson..." Chryst's father was maturi's best friend in Madison, wisky. Maturi is NOT capable of making a football hire.

 

[station19]

I thought Joel acquitted himself very well on that radio show, as did Jeff Horton. I was in the car and ended up waiting until the end of the show to go inside the house. Really good, informative show.

Some things Joel said (again I was impressed with how forthright he was in some things):

--will get input from some people, but will not form a search committee

--will use a search firm, however, to gauge candidate interest and get background info

--admitted he could not directly contact some candidates but a search firm could, volunteered Jim Harbaugh's name as a guy a search firm would contact to gauge interest before asking for official permission from Stanford AD (said it was hypothetical)

--says his preference is to target candidates who have "sat in the seat" - in other words have head coaching experience

--mentioned Leslie Frazier, but can't remember in what context

--admitted there are no guarantees no matter who you hire, says you need a little luck, cited Iowa hiring Ferentz as its third or fourth choice and it worked out well

--believes we need a power running offense to win Big Ten

--will quiz candidates more thoroughly about staff plans

--was rather critical of Brewster's original staff members who bolted early

--says he has a two-yr contract extension offer, but has not decided yet, focused on hiring a coach

--he did talk about a different culture at MN where all the coaches attend staff meetings, says Tubby and Brewster attended and it helped moral, not sure how important that is, but certainly not anything to get too worked up over

--NEVER once mentioned rowing, wrestling, cross country or any other women's or minor sports, but don't let that get in the way of some of your agendas (in fact he reiterated the idea that football drives the bus, using the same language he did yesterday)


A few things I found interesting from Horton:

--will change some of the practice routines, wants a faster tempo to pressure guys so they feel tested in games

--Horton will move from press box to sidelines, as will Cosgrove
--Ronnie Lee and Thomas Hammock move upstairs

--Thomas Hammock will call the plays (totally surprised by this, by the way)

--will change their Friday night routine to freshen things up

--says he knows there's little change he'll get the permanent job

--says they can beat Penn State

--says main goal is to make sure kids find some success at some point yet this season and have some enjoyment

I heard portions of JM on cco(was in and out of the car) but this take is a whole lot closer to what I heard than what oakstreet stated. Didn't hear any of the Horton part but thanks for the info.

BTW I listen to cco even though radio is dying.
I miss The Cannon Mess...RIP Stevo

Edit: I also remember JM saying he was hindered by the time line(when hiring Brewster) and there were other possible canidates he would have liked to have had more time to explore(or words similar to that). I still wonder how many people JM really had to choose from last time around.

 

[goldengophers]

A few things I found interesting from Horton:

--will change some of the practice routines, wants a faster tempo to pressure guys so they feel tested in games

--Horton will move from press box to sidelines, as will Cosgrove
--Ronnie Lee and Thomas Hammock move upstairs

--Thomas Hammock will call the plays (totally surprised by this, by the way)

--will change their Friday night routine to freshen things up

--says he knows there's little change he'll get the permanent job

--says they can beat Penn State

--says main goal is to make sure kids find some success at some point yet this season and have some enjoyment

These are great comments from Horton as far as I am concerned, they making me hopeful we could see positive strides in the final weeks of the season (not in wins but in quality of play). This is also why it was positive to fire Brwster mid-season, you get the players used to a change in the normal routine and in the mindset that a new regime is incoming next year because this acts as a nice buffer period between Brewster and the new coach.

 

[MaxyJR1]

These are great comments from Horton as far as I am concerned, they making me hopeful we could see positive strides in the final weeks of the season (not in wins but in quality of play). This is also why it was positive to fire Brwster mid-season, you get the players used to a change in the normal routine and in the mindset that a new regime is incoming next year because this acts as a nice buffer period between Brewster and the new coach.

THe biggest thing for me in the practice tempo. I have been to practices over the past few years and I have always thought they practice like horsecrap. It translated to games with penalties and lack of organization.

 

[oak_street1981]

I heard portions of JM on cco(was in and out of the car) but this take is a whole lot closer to what I heard than what oakstreet stated. Didn't hear any of the Horton part but thanks for the info.

Maturi was on for a long time and made many comments. My focus was on the two areas that I found to be very alarming.( I thought Horton did a good job when he was on)Maturi did not specifically mention rowing. He did mention staff meetings and the women's diving coach though. He also did make some reference to the importance of a new coach conforming to the current culture. As far as I am concerned they can flush Maturi and his culture right down the hole.

Maturi is not going to change. Maturi is what he is, and because of that he is the wrong person to have any power in this matter. He will screw this up again unless he gets lucky, or unless someone else behind the curtain is calling the shots.

I still think that Maturi will not be allowed to directly decide who the next coach is. Unfortunately his mere presence in the process might screw things up. He might say something or do something that causes great candidates to run for the hills.

One of the problems with the least search according to Maturi, was that there were not good candidates willing to take the job, so he had to hire Brewster. I would not be surpised is Joel's pencil pushing, paperclip counting view of the world, as perceived by potential good coaches, drove away more than one of them.

I know I would not work for that guy unless I was desperate. He would absolutely drive me crazy with his small minded thinking, and endless drivel.

 

[Iceland12]

I heard portions of JM on cco(was in and out of the car) but this take is a whole lot closer to what I heard than what oakstreet stated. Didn't hear any of the Horton part but thanks for the info.

Maturi was on for a long time and made many comments. My focus was on the two areas that I found to be very alarming.( I thought Horton did a good job when he was on)Maturi did not specifically mention rowing. He did mention staff meetings and the women's diving coach though. He also did make some reference to the importance of a new coach conforming to the current culture. As far as I am concerned they can flush Maturi and his culture right down the hole.

Maturi is not going to change. Maturi is what he is, and because of that he is the wrong person to have any power in this matter. He will screw this up again unless he gets lucky, or unless someone else behind the curtain is calling the shots.

I still think that Maturi will not be allowed to directly decide who the next coach is. Unfortunately his mere presence in the process might screw things up. He might say something or do something that causes great candidates to run for the hills.

One of the problems with the least search according to Maturi, was that there were not good candidates willing to take the job, so he had to hire Brewster. I would not be surpised is Joel's pencil pushing, paperclip counting view of the world, as perceived by potential good coaches, drove away more than one of them.

I know I would not work for that guy unless I was desperate. He would absolutely drive me crazy with his small minded thinking, and endless drivel.

..and unless I was desperate, wouldn't want to work for a company where you were in charge of P.R.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

I thought Joel acquitted himself very well on that radio show, as did Jeff Horton. I was in the car and ended up waiting until the end of the show to go inside the house. Really good, informative show.

Some things Joel said (again I was impressed with how forthright he was in some things):

--will get input from some people, but will not form a search committee

--will use a search firm, however, to gauge candidate interest and get background info

--admitted he could not directly contact some candidates but a search firm could, volunteered Jim Harbaugh's name as a guy a search firm would contact to gauge interest before asking for official permission from Stanford AD (said it was hypothetical)

--says his preference is to target candidates who have "sat in the seat" - in other words have head coaching experience

--mentioned Leslie Frazier, but can't remember in what context

--admitted there are no guarantees no matter who you hire, says you need a little luck, cited Iowa hiring Ferentz as its third or fourth choice and it worked out well

--believes we need a power running offense to win Big Ten

--will quiz candidates more thoroughly about staff plans

--was rather critical of Brewster's original staff members who bolted early

--says he has a two-yr contract extension offer, but has not decided yet, focused on hiring a coach

--he did talk about a different culture at MN where all the coaches attend staff meetings, says Tubby and Brewster attended and it helped moral, not sure how important that is, but certainly not anything to get too worked up over

--NEVER once mentioned rowing, wrestling, cross country or any other women's or minor sports, but don't let that get in the way of some of your agendas (in fact he reiterated the idea that football drives the bus, using the same language he did yesterday)


A few things I found interesting from Horton:

--will change some of the practice routines, wants a faster tempo to pressure guys so they feel tested in games

--Horton will move from press box to sidelines, as will Cosgrove
--Ronnie Lee and Thomas Hammock move upstairs

--Thomas Hammock will call the plays (totally surprised by this, by the way)

--will change their Friday night routine to freshen things up

--says he knows there's little change he'll get the permanent job

--says they can beat Penn State

--says main goal is to make sure kids find some success at some point yet this season and have some enjoyment

Thanks for the great report, tjgopher. It appears that Maturi is right on top of the situation and I expect that he will be making a very good hire. Last time he had only two weeks to make the hire and it was not near enough time. I especially liked the comments about how all the coaches including Tubby are expected to buy into the U's culture. We don't need any prima donnas coaching the football team.

 

[Mulligan]

Thanks tj for a more complete and objective report. I just don't get the level of animosity or total lack of respect some have towards Maturi. What the hell is wrong with having all of your coaches get together for breakfast meetings? They do all work at the same place, and, more importantly, there are policies and procedures that affect all athletes at the U that need to be discussed. I doubt Tubby is going to show up if he feels it's a waste of time, so I'm certainly happy oak-street didn't crash the car since it's such a big deal to him. Besides maybe Maturi has a sense of humor and has the breakfast meetings just so he can make JRobinson sit next to the rowing coach.

Maturi at times does talk too much, but there's also nothing wrong with pointing out the culture at the U. Managing what the president, faculty, regents, and big boosters want is a big part of his job and that might mean he doesn't always say what some myopic second-guesser on GH wants to hear. I sure as hell hope he tries to please people and get along because the days of Woody and Bear are long gone almost everywhere. Maturi didn't create a culture; he sees it, maybe totally agrees with it, but is for sure smart enough to navigate it. Can't all be macho, oak-street. Hell, I'll bet at least half of the world is women from what I've noticed. Maturi rarely gets praise for one of his biggest accomplishments. That is the combining of two athletic departments. You don't think Voelz still had support at the U when it happened? Yet Maturi did it in such a way that I don't recall any problems. I would guess that's where those breakfast meetings started that caused poor oak-street so much distress. Just happy you're still with us, buddy, and didn't check out like Kelly Leeks. Er ... never mind.

The man does have trouble with timing, but I don't see him as a waffling, meek guy who simply goes with the wind. Tubby just didn't fall in his lap like some claim. Who knows how the opportunity came, but Maturi had to act fast and decisively to get Tubby. He gets hammered for Royce White, and, in the end, everybody but the true idiots here saw the wisdom of letting him go. He stood firm on Mbakwe and didn't cave to the pressure to let him play because Maturi realized what was at stake for the U with its history. He's such a lightweight that people were convinced we were going to get screwed in the new football alignment. Gee, Barry Alvarez was pissed and we still play Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan each year. We also get Nebraska which is great, but also brings to mind: "Be careful of what you wish for."

Heck, I'll even go way out on the limb and even defend Maturi's rationale for hiring Brewster. I go with the theory that Mason's arrogance and laziness got him fired. The bowl collapse was just the excuse and it was Bruininks who made the actual call. So Maturi has a poor time and limited resources to hire a new coach. Instead of being the cautious, meek guy playing it safe, he gambles and goes for a home run. Well, he ended up looking like Jason Kubel taking a third strike in a playoff game, but Maturi was anything but playing it safe with hiring Brewster. The results were awful but I can't argue with taking the gamble. Rather than playing it safer but increasing the chances of continuing with the mediocrity, Maturi tried to find a guy to quickly take us above it. Experience, philosophy, and organization weren't given the proper weight and that is on Maturi.

I also think he's learned and the fact he's making the next hire doesn't rile me. He might have the final say, but there's going to be a whole lot more input and scrutiny. More importantly, the timing is way different. Also, I sense a greater resolve to get it and that translates into money. I can't believe that people really think that an AD with Maturi's experience doesn't realize the importance of football in an athletic program. Says more about you than about him.

 

[station19]

This is what Maturi does. I said it in the press conference thread. He talks big in front of the football crowd saying things like, "football is the engine" and a couple of days later he's on the radio begging people to come out and see the rowing team.

People pleasing lightweight.

So what is wrong with supporting/promoting all the sports that he is charge of. Would you like him to dump on the basketball team and hockey team also.

 

[UpnorthGo4]

Nice job, Mulligan. This is the best post ever on Maturi. The only thing you missed is Joel's role in the new Gopher's Stadium. He might not have had much to do with getting approval for the new stadium, but he had one helluva lot do with the final design. Almost everyone agrees it was an absolute home run and for that Joel deserves the undying gratitude of Gopher football fans everywhere.

 

[13 Lined Ground Squirrel]

Chalk me up as glad he doesn't want the spread.

 

[holereader]

Horton needs to limit the Brewsterisms

he said "great passion" and "very excietd" about five times

 

[mplsbadger]

The beyond pathetic example cited was how great Timmy Brewster was because he gladly suffered through Joel Maturi's worthless weekly staff meetings with the Women's diving coach and others. I about crashed my car when I heard him talk about the importance of a new coach playing this game by Joel's stupid rules.

Are you kidding me, it is important that the new coach be willing to submit to these meetings and bow down to Maturi and attend like the Rowing Coach does?

I posted in another thread my response to this. A competent AD would have a director of non-revenue sports. The FB, BB, Hockey, WBB coaches and the director would attend his staff meetings. The others would attend the director's meetings. Or if the U can't afford it, there'd be two meetings. Promoting equlaity between all the coaches is about as dumb as the Coke CEO treating the Coca Cola division president as an equal to the Mr. Pibb president. As a matter of fact Mr. Pibb probably doesn't have a president. There is probably a president of 'All the other rats and cats pop that adds up to 1/2 of what Coca-Cola does'.

Pat Richter was an executive at Oscar Meyer before taking over as AD. Maybe the U needs to hire a business guy the next time around!

 

[Silvio]

he said "great passion" and "very excietd" about five times

It's "coach speak" every coach in college does it. You saw it after the OSU loss this past weekend. The coach of the non-losing team attributed the win to "playing (insert random state name here) football".

In the NFL they just say the same tired thing over and over again. If you ever listen to a Bill Belichick at a press conference you would KNOW that he hates talking to the media, you would also assume that most preschoolers can communicate better than him, which is obviously false.

 

[Jeshurun]

He was just trying to learn all he could from the rowing coach about being up the creek.

Except the rowing team has a paddle.

 

[BarnBurner]

Thanks tj for a more complete and objective report. I just don't get the level of animosity or total lack of respect some have towards Maturi. What the hell is wrong with having all of your coaches get together for breakfast meetings? They do all work at the same place, and, more importantly, there are policies and procedures that affect all athletes at the U that need to be discussed. I doubt Tubby is going to show up if he feels it's a waste of time, so I'm certainly happy oak-street didn't crash the car since it's such a big deal to him. Besides maybe Maturi has a sense of humor and has the breakfast meetings just so he can make JRobinson sit next to the rowing coach.

Maturi at times does talk too much, but there's also nothing wrong with pointing out the culture at the U. Managing what the president, faculty, regents, and big boosters want is a big part of his job and that might mean he doesn't always say what some myopic second-guesser on GH wants to hear. I sure as hell hope he tries to please people and get along because the days of Woody and Bear are long gone almost everywhere. Maturi didn't create a culture; he sees it, maybe totally agrees with it, but is for sure smart enough to navigate it. Can't all be macho, oak-street. Hell, I'll bet at least half of the world is women from what I've noticed. Maturi rarely gets praise for one of his biggest accomplishments. That is the combining of two athletic departments. You don't think Voelz still had support at the U when it happened? Yet Maturi did it in such a way that I don't recall any problems. I would guess that's where those breakfast meetings started that caused poor oak-street so much distress. Just happy you're still with us, buddy, and didn't check out like Kelly Leeks. Er ... never mind.

The man does have trouble with timing, but I don't see him as a waffling, meek guy who simply goes with the wind. Tubby just didn't fall in his lap like some claim. Who knows how the opportunity came, but Maturi had to act fast and decisively to get Tubby. He gets hammered for Royce White, and, in the end, everybody but the true idiots here saw the wisdom of letting him go. He stood firm on Mbakwe and didn't cave to the pressure to let him play because Maturi realized what was at stake for the U with its history. He's such a lightweight that people were convinced we were going to get screwed in the new football alignment. Gee, Barry Alvarez was pissed and we still play Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan each year. We also get Nebraska which is great, but also brings to mind: "Be careful of what you wish for."

Heck, I'll even go way out on the limb and even defend Maturi's rationale for hiring Brewster. I go with the theory that Mason's arrogance and laziness got him fired. The bowl collapse was just the excuse and it was Bruininks who made the actual call. So Maturi has a poor time and limited resources to hire a new coach. Instead of being the cautious, meek guy playing it safe, he gambles and goes for a home run. Well, he ended up looking like Jason Kubel taking a third strike in a playoff game, but Maturi was anything but playing it safe with hiring Brewster. The results were awful but I can't argue with taking the gamble. Rather than playing it safer but increasing the chances of continuing with the mediocrity, Maturi tried to find a guy to quickly take us above it. Experience, philosophy, and organization weren't given the proper weight and that is on Maturi.

I also think he's learned and the fact he's making the next hire doesn't rile me. He might have the final say, but there's going to be a whole lot more input and scrutiny. More importantly, the timing is way different. Also, I sense a greater resolve to get it and that translates into money. I can't believe that people really think that an AD with Maturi's experience doesn't realize the importance of football in an athletic program. Says more about you than about him.

The culture for FB at the U has been a major problem for a looooong time.

Uh, with all due respect - was it tough for JM to act quickly and decisively when Tubby was interested? Monson to Smith - hmmmm, tough indeed.

JM has done some good things - I simply feel he should be gone along with Brew. And should not have any input into the coaching decision.

 

[Khaliq]

So what is wrong with supporting/promoting all the sports that he is charge of. Would you like him to dump on the basketball team and hockey team also.

I think all this is code for "we hate women's athletics"

 

[Khaliq]

The culture for FB at the U has been a major problem for a looooong time.

Uh, with all due respect - was it tough for JM to act quickly and decisively when Tubby was interested? Monson to Smith - hmmmm, tough indeed.

JM has done some good things - I simply feel he should be gone along with Brew. And should not have any input into the coaching decision.

Monson was fired long before Smith was interested. Molinari finished out almost a full season before Smith was on the horizon.