BleedGopher
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per Judd:
So who is to blame for the fact that Fleck doesn’t feel there is a qualified quarterback on campus? That would be new Rutgers offensive coordinator and former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill.
Before Fleck arrived from Western Michigan, sporting an impressive resume that included knowing his way around offensive schemes, Kill was named the Gophers coach and arrived in 2011 from Northern Illinois with a similar reputation.
Kill’s final quarterback at Northern Illinois was Chandler Harnish, who showed significant improvement from his sophomore to his junior seasons. Harnish’s passing yards went from 1,670 to 2,530; his passing touchdowns jumped from 11 to 21; and his passer rating went from 137.9 to 157.8.
But Kill did not come close to finding a Hanish at Minnesota.
He recruited Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner. Nelson started most of the 2013 season after taking the job midway through his freshman year but decided to transfer in January 2014. Nelson said he was, “looking to play in a system that centers more around the pass game which utilizes my skill sets.”
That left Leidner as the starter and, as much as Gophers fans tried to convince themselves that the Lakeville native would eventually turn into Harnish, that never came close to happening. Leidner could run the ball like Kill wanted but his shortcomings in the passing game couldn’t be overlooked.
Watching Leidner ended up being more maddening than anything, even as the Gophers won nine games last season. Those victories came under Tracy Claeys, who had been Kill’s defensive coordinator before taking over as coach in October 2015 when Kill stepped down for health reasons.
Claeys, who was fired after a tumultuous 2016 season, didn’t leave Fleck many quarterback options and Fleck even went so far as to convince Rhoda to return for a fifth season. Rhoda, who started a game at Maryland last season in place of the injured Leidner, and Croft both have 17 career pass attempts.
Fleck is no stranger to playing two quarterbacks, having done it in two of his four seasons at Western Michigan. However, he admitted at Big Ten media day in Chicago that he’s not a big proponent of splitting time between his quarterbacks but he would be willing to go in that direction if no one won the job.
That’s exactly what happened.
So what’s the answer? Since it appears backups Seth Green and Tanner Morgan aren’t even in the mix at this point, Fleck likely will hope that Rhoda or Croft grab hold of the job during the nonconference season.
But there’s a very good chance that will be the short-term fix.
It’s no secret that Fleck really likes three-star quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who has made a verbal commitment to the Gophers and is the top-ranked QB prospect in the 2018 class from Ohio.
http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...dentify-starting-qb-reminder-kill-went-wrong/
Go Gophers!!
So who is to blame for the fact that Fleck doesn’t feel there is a qualified quarterback on campus? That would be new Rutgers offensive coordinator and former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill.
Before Fleck arrived from Western Michigan, sporting an impressive resume that included knowing his way around offensive schemes, Kill was named the Gophers coach and arrived in 2011 from Northern Illinois with a similar reputation.
Kill’s final quarterback at Northern Illinois was Chandler Harnish, who showed significant improvement from his sophomore to his junior seasons. Harnish’s passing yards went from 1,670 to 2,530; his passing touchdowns jumped from 11 to 21; and his passer rating went from 137.9 to 157.8.
But Kill did not come close to finding a Hanish at Minnesota.
He recruited Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner. Nelson started most of the 2013 season after taking the job midway through his freshman year but decided to transfer in January 2014. Nelson said he was, “looking to play in a system that centers more around the pass game which utilizes my skill sets.”
That left Leidner as the starter and, as much as Gophers fans tried to convince themselves that the Lakeville native would eventually turn into Harnish, that never came close to happening. Leidner could run the ball like Kill wanted but his shortcomings in the passing game couldn’t be overlooked.
Watching Leidner ended up being more maddening than anything, even as the Gophers won nine games last season. Those victories came under Tracy Claeys, who had been Kill’s defensive coordinator before taking over as coach in October 2015 when Kill stepped down for health reasons.
Claeys, who was fired after a tumultuous 2016 season, didn’t leave Fleck many quarterback options and Fleck even went so far as to convince Rhoda to return for a fifth season. Rhoda, who started a game at Maryland last season in place of the injured Leidner, and Croft both have 17 career pass attempts.
Fleck is no stranger to playing two quarterbacks, having done it in two of his four seasons at Western Michigan. However, he admitted at Big Ten media day in Chicago that he’s not a big proponent of splitting time between his quarterbacks but he would be willing to go in that direction if no one won the job.
That’s exactly what happened.
So what’s the answer? Since it appears backups Seth Green and Tanner Morgan aren’t even in the mix at this point, Fleck likely will hope that Rhoda or Croft grab hold of the job during the nonconference season.
But there’s a very good chance that will be the short-term fix.
It’s no secret that Fleck really likes three-star quarterback Brennan Armstrong, who has made a verbal commitment to the Gophers and is the top-ranked QB prospect in the 2018 class from Ohio.
http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2...dentify-starting-qb-reminder-kill-went-wrong/
Go Gophers!!