Where are they now? - Joe Salem on the move to the Dome and if he'd do it again

[GopherHole Staff]

Few people in Gopher football history have the perspective that Joe Salem does with the program. As a former player and member of a national championship team, to serving as an assistant coach to eventually being named head coach, Salem has done it all. He was also the head coach of the Gophers the last few years at Memorial Stadium and the first few years at the Dome.

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1035

 

[froggopher]

Salem!

Yes folks, we will all remember "Smokie Joe Salem" as a part of the former coaching community at the U of M. My buddy Todd Hallstrom played tight end for him in the early 80's. I saw the Big Ten classic football game the other day when the Gophers beat Ohio State in 1981. Art Schlister was the QB at the time for the Buckeyes. Poor guy sits in jail now. Gambled too much.

Thanks for the memories Smokey Joe!!!

 

[husker70]

They called the run and shoot, but with offensive linemen like Dalifore, Humpreys, Olson, Rasmussen they could not push the pile. Many times, too many times they were stuffed. And it was either Purdue or Indiana that on third and goal from the three they went to a screen pass. They were flashy, but games the night against the Illini, or Nebraska erased the Ohio State win.

To my memory, Paul Geil made only one bad move. And he may have had a gun at his head. The decison to leave Memorial Stadium was put in motion when he canned Cal Stoll and brought in Salem. Salem did
nothing to prevent the move and basically touted it. I think Cal would have been a more vocal opponet. Moving to the Dump was a mistake at the time, and proved to be no home field at all.

By the time the Salem era ended the Gophers were rated as one of worst teams in the NCAA Divison 1. I think it was 104.

 

[cemba99]

1982 Illinois game

I had not thought of that 1982 Illini game for a long time - and back then, for a moment or so, I thought the Gophers had turned the corner.

In 1982 the 3-0 Gophers were ranked 17th and Illinois was coming to town for the Big Ten dome opener. Illinois was quite good (they went on to win the Big Ten title the next year) and on this night the game was absolutely packed to the rafters. People had to pay decent money to a scalper to get inside. Hohensee had been lighting everything up thus far in the season. Had already beaten Purdue on the road by over 25 points.

Gophers jumped out to an early lead and when we recovered a fumble on a kickoff, that dome was as loud as any world series game. However, on the first play of the Illini's next possession Tony Eason throws an 80 yard TD pass and they went on to bury the Gophers by 21 points.

Gophers would only win one game (over Rice) over the next 18 - and most of the time they were blown out. Various reasons have been put forward for their demise during that period, but I will never forget the feeling, ever so fleeting, that we actually had something here.

 

[DL65]

Husker70, You're So Right!

The move off campus to the Metrodome has been cussed, discussed, cussed, discussed repeatedly. Without a doubt, the move cost the Gopher program dearly.

That said, the firing of Cal Stoll (1978) was also a major, major mistake. He was a tremendous recruiter, had some great staffs and his teams were for the most part very competitive. When Joe Salem was hired, Iowa turned their program around with Hayden Fry. (Both were hired at the same time.) Salem defeated Fry's teams 1979-81 primarily with Stoll's recruits. The big advantage that Fry had, however, was the support of the school's administration. Iowa immediately started taking steps to improve Fry's chances of success in Hawkeyeland. Warmath, Stoll, and Salem did not have the facilities to attract recruits. As an example, film sessions were reportedly conducted on hallway walls. Things improved, of course, when Holtz was hired and the indoor practice facility was constructed.

In fairness to Salem and his successors, they never really had a chance to succeed since they didn't have the full support of the school's administration. It's pretty hard to compete with the other Big 10 schools without the support of the administration and your facilities and tools for success are woefully behind your opponents.

That's my take . . .

Go Gophers!!