We were not out of line in this hiring

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Rog

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Just look at the history of all B-10 present coaches and their success in the B-10.

Wisconsin-
I use Barry Alvarez because he built the Program. Was Ass't coach at Iowa and Notre Dame.

Purdue-
Danny Hope ; Offensive Line coach at Purdue. Before that Head Coach Eastern Kentucky.

Illinois-
Ron Zook; Head Coach University of Florida.

Indiana:
Bill Lynch - Fired. Before Ass't Head Coach and Off. Coord.

Northwestern:
Pat Fitzgerald; Linebacker coach University of N.W.

Ohio State:
Jim Tressel; Head Coach Youngstown State

Michigan:
Rich Rodriquez; Head Coach University of West Virginia

Michigan State:
Mark Dantonio: Head Coach University of Cincinnati

Iowa:
Kirk Ferentz: Iowa Offensive Coord.

Penn State:
Joe Paterno: Along tIme ago but was Penn States Ass't Head Coach

Nebraska:
Bo Pelini: Long record as Defensive Coord. at a number of Big Time football powers.

Soooo- What does this mean?

1. You don't have success by hiring a coach from a Big Time Univ. (Illinois) and (Michigan)

2. Success comes from hiring from within or from a successful program from a lesser conference.
This is what we did and I am pumped up. WE ARE ON OUR WAY!!!! GO GOPHERS
 

I have refrained from posting on this hire until I wrapped my head around this a bit. I am not against Jerry Kill, in fact I think he will do fine. In the short term I think we have the horses and if Kill is a good football coach, I think our immediate future looks bright. Very concerned about the long term and recruiting though. Best of luck to Coach Kill, I'm 99% sure we will keep our tickets and tailgating passes.

But for Joel Maturi, what a cluster. I haven't seen an example of such blatant over promise and under deliver since Maturi's last FB hire. He needs to explain why he thinks that Kill is a better FB coach than Leach. And if it is truly that he didn't have the stones to hire Leach, that needs to be said.
 

This is the best post I have seen yet on the Kill hiring.

Maturi said many things he shouldn't have early in the search, but that does not mean he hired the wrong coach.
 

Didn't Bruininks tell Joel to forget about Leach?

Maybe he needs to answer that query.
 



ruralgopher said:
I have refrained from posting on this hire until I wrapped my head around this a bit. I am not against Jerry Kill, in fact I think he will do fine. In the short term I think we have the horses and if Kill is a good football coach, I think our immediate future looks bright. Very concerned about the long term and recruiting though. Best of luck to Coach Kill, I'm 99% sure we will keep our tickets and tailgating passes.

But for Joel Maturi, what a cluster. I haven't seen an example of such blatant over promise and under deliver since Maturi's last FB hire. He needs to explain why he thinks that Kill is a better FB coach than Leach. And if it is truly that he didn't have the stones to hire Leach, that needs to be said.
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I would agree. I am not totally convinced he will be able to complete with the upper half of the big 10 in the future. I am not sure he can recruit well enough to do this. I am not a Kill hater but I am not impressed with this hire. Two things can be said about him though. He does win where he has coached and he beat Brewster so that immediately makes him better than Brewster. I was hoping to avoid a Mason like tenure and see the team improve to get to better bowl games and better records. I am not sure Kill will be able to do that but will give him a chance. I did suggest his name right after his team beat the gophers but that was mainly because he was at least better than Brewster. With better names out there and the desire of Maturi to have a Tubby like hire and get a top coach it leaves me a little disappointed and makes the U of M look a little silly. Honestly if the other coaches thought they could win here with Brewsters recruits they may have came here so that worries me a little about our current players.
 

ruralgopher said:
I have refrained from posting on this hire until I wrapped my head around this a bit. I am not against Jerry Kill, in fact I think he will do fine. In the short term I think we have the horses and if Kill is a good football coach, I think our immediate future looks bright. Very concerned about the long term and recruiting though. Best of luck to Coach Kill, I'm 99% sure we will keep our tickets and tailgating passes.

But for Joel Maturi, what a cluster. I haven't seen an example of such blatant over promise and under deliver since Maturi's last FB hire. He needs to explain why he thinks that Kill is a better FB coach than Leach. And if it is truly that he didn't have the stones to hire Leach, that needs to be said.
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Totally agree.

There is no excuse, that I can see, to not hire Leach if he truly wanted the job.
 

ruralgopher said:
I have refrained from posting on this hire until I wrapped my head around this a bit. I am not against Jerry Kill, in fact I think he will do fine. In the short term I think we have the horses and if Kill is a good football coach, I think our immediate future looks bright. Very concerned about the long term and recruiting though. Best of luck to Coach Kill, I'm 99% sure we will keep our tickets and tailgating passes.

But for Joel Maturi, what a cluster. I haven't seen an example of such blatant over promise and under deliver since Maturi's last FB hire. He needs to explain why he thinks that Kill is a better FB coach than Leach. And if it is truly that he didn't have the stones to hire Leach, that needs to be said.
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I really don't think Maturi thinks Kill is better. Just a better fit. There is a reason Leach isn't going anywhere, and it has nothing to do with his coaching ability. I wish I were a fly on the wall for those conversations between Maturi and Bruininks.
 

The 12th Man said:
I really don't think Maturi thinks Kill is better. Just a better fit. There is a reason Leach isn't going anywhere, and it has nothing to do with his coaching ability. I wish I were a fly on the wall for those conversations between Maturi and Bruininks.
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I agree with this, I just think that our fanbase deserves a little honesty on this. We've been looking for 'the best coach for MN' for 40 years.
 



I appreciate Rog's compilation - that took a little bit of work. But I think what it really shows is that each team hires the best candidate it can get. And for middle-to-bottom of the Big 10 teams, that is a non-BCS D1-A head football coach or an assistant from a BCS program.

I'd dispute Rog's point #1 - Illinois made it to the Rose Bowl. They had a bad year in 2009, but I'd take a Rose Bowl and 2nd place B10 finish with the bad years. RichRod has done poorly in 3 years, and made get fired this year or next, but it's also possible he'll win big next year.

I'd also dispute Rog's point #2 that there's any clear formula for hiring. You can hire guys who have been winners everywhere they've been and they can turn out to lose at the next level (Wacker, Monson in b-ball). Really, it's somewhat of a crapshoot - you just have to do the best you can and hope you get lucky.
 

ruralgopher said:
I have refrained from posting on this hire until I wrapped my head around this a bit. I am not against Jerry Kill, in fact I think he will do fine. In the short term I think we have the horses and if Kill is a good football coach, I think our immediate future looks bright. Very concerned about the long term and recruiting though. Best of luck to Coach Kill, I'm 99% sure we will keep our tickets and tailgating passes.

But for Joel Maturi, what a cluster. I haven't seen an example of such blatant over promise and under deliver since Maturi's last FB hire. He needs to explain why he thinks that Kill is a better FB coach than Leach. And if it is truly that he didn't have the stones to hire Leach, that needs to be said.
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Add me to the list of those in total agreement with this. Kill is an upgrade. No ifs ands or buts about it. He will have lowered expectations and a very good chance to surpass them. I wish him luck and am excited to see how the team develops. The Gophers are better today than yesterday.

Maturi? Yep. You nailed it. The true downside of this hire is how telling it is of how the search went. It's pretty clear that in the eyes of the country we are basically Indiana North of the Big Ten, and there really wasn't interest from top candidates. That one gets layed on Maturi 100% because he a) hired Brewster who got us to this point, and b) obviously isn't a good enough salesman to convince people we don't have to be Indiana North.

That's why Maturi probably isn't super excited about Kill himself. It's basically an admission that his reputation with regards to Gophers football will be that he took a program that was just starting to pull out of a 40+ year nosedive, pushed the stick back forward and ditched it right into the middle of the yellow sea (and no, I am not a Mason supporter).

As you point out, this begs the question: Why not Leach? Maturi needs a good answer to that one...
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Didn't Bruininks tell Joel to forget about Leach?

Maybe he needs to answer that query.
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I still dont get the thinking that Leach would automaticly win here. Rodriguez had a 60-24 recored at WV, won conference coach of the year twice and finished in the top 10 multiple times. He has been anything but great at Michigan. Leach put up very good number at T Tech, but not convinced his air raid attack would work here in November. I understand that the "name" would bring some excitment to the fan base, but as everyone knows, in any Minnesota sports team, if you win you will be supported and if you lose you will not.
 

You all know Jerry Kill in one way or another. He was the kid or guy who was just not quite big enough, not quite strong enough, or talented enough to play or compete. But he was the guy that worked tirelessly, doggedly, and was the glue guy on the team or organization. Never in the spotlight, but always there. Jerry Kill is a Kansas guy, who always did his best because that's what he was taught. This is guy who knows how to win and will not be outworked in getting it done. He is a Coach, not a cheerleader. He is a coach, not a public relations head. That is a step forward. Too many Gopher Coaches were hired with the proviso they be the face of the program, tour the state,appear on billboards, buses, and sell tickets.

I think Dave Mona's taking the job with Athletic Department freed Maturi from getting a Tubby Like Guy, rather focusing on winning football games. If I miss my guess, Jerry will come out of the gate winning. This could just be the perfect match of a Disciplined Coach and a fairly talented roster.
 



Kill was able to take losing programs at all his stops and get them to be winners. He found a way to get the likes of a Brandon Jacobs to Southern Illinois and a Minhael Turner to Northern Illinois. He is 50 games over .500.
I was against the Brewster hire from minute one, he brought absolutely NO track record or credibility to match his talk. This guy lets his coaching talk for him. I like that.
 

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