Gopher The Roses

Rocky Mountain News: Tim Brewster Expected To Be Announced Minnesota Golden Gopher Football Coach

The article Gophers focus on Brewster is posted January 15^th but because it was posted late I am guessing it is in the print edition today.

   

For starters:

Brewster spent Monday night in the Denver area with Gophers athletic department officials - including athletic director Joel Maturi - according to two league sources and was told before the dinner to be ready to return to Minneapolis today for a formal news conference.

Hey, so when I asked the other day if anyone had seen Joel Maturi now we know where he was for at least a few  hours on Monday.

   

And then:

Brewster did not return a call seeking comment Monday night, but he has told the Broncos he might get the job.

Might is not as definitive as I hoped but this could finally end on what would be day 16 since the firing of Coach Glen Mason.

Day 15 Rumors: ESPN Reports Tim Brewster Hired, Others Say Charlie Strong On Campus

Here I thought another day was going to go by with no real news and the chat forums abuzz with their “confidential sources” that seem to know absolutely nothing.

   

ESPN saves the day with this headline just in time for the local evening news Sources: Brewster to replace Mason at Minnesota.

   

Other media outlets are running with the story too although information is limited. Chicago Tribune with Ex-Illini player to be Minnesota coach and Sporting News with Gophers to hire Broncos' Brewster.

   

All of this while we have no confirmations from the University of Minnesota.

   

In fact as of this evening all we are hearing is “No offer has been made”,  “No one has been offered the job”, and “We have not hired a football coach”.

   

At the same time there were many “sightings” of Charlie Strong (Florida Defensive Coordinator) on campus today. Nice. Right after a snowstorm and the coldest night since last February. I hope he brought at least a windbreaker with him.

   

Long ago a football team meeting was scheduled for early Tuesday morning. Maybe, just maybe the goal is to make an announcement to the team or better yet introduce the new coach.

   

Then a press conference can be held.

   

And then we can all get back to our normal routines…

Drop The Minnesota Football Program? Nonsense

So there is this article this “commentary” in the Star Tribune, Jay Weiner: It's time for 'U' to drop the ball. Weiner is an advocate of shutting down the Gopher football team using a 1939 decision by the University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins to pull the plug on their team.

   

I know quite a few academics at the U of M who believe that big time sports should not be as important as they are. A few are upset about coach’s salaries and athletic department budgets.

   

Most of them still follow the teams and cheer on their school.

   

Weiner uses these statistics:

Chicago is ranked ninth among all universities in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report; Minnesota is ranked 67th. Chicago, a private school, has an endowment of more than $4 billion, 13th largest in the nation. Alums still seem to be giving.

If I wanted to spend any more time on this I would start with this, comparing Chicago to Minnesota is like comparing red apples and watermelon. Both share a color and a member of the fruit family and that is about it.

   

Maybe Weiner could spend some time analyzing the endowments of traditional football schools and recent powerhouses. I am sure he would see that more dollars come in when the ala mater teams are doing well.

Recruiting Class May Be Starting To Crack

Tick, tick, tick. As we get closer to national signing day it seems that a few of our recruits are starting to have second thoughts.

   

Obviously I want the best coach possible but if a few more of the recruits get cold feet this could become costly.

   

A tip of the hat to Gordie Shaw and Luke Tressel for doing a good job staying in touch with the verbal commitments, Gophers trying to hang on to recruits.

Day 14 Rumors: No News May Not Be Good News

Sid Hartman says Gary Patterson has the best resume Sid Hartman: Patterson has best résumé among Gophers candidates. I would agree.

   

I hope this comes to an end soon. I am worried that some of the people posting in forums on different web sites are going to suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome or worse.

   

I had been one of the few who believe that the lack of news was good. My thought was that like all good searches it should be kept quiet until 30 minutes before the press conference.

   

The lack of news is starting to make me feel that maybe we have no viable candidates. It might be time for Joel Maturi to say something or leak a little to a trusted source.

   

Or at least leak his travel schedule and then we can get an intern to compare the travel schedules of the candidates. Maybe then we can draw some firm conclusion on who has been interviewed, where, and in what order.

   

Something else is on my mind, Maturi has been responding to email. But has anyone actually seen him? Do we know where he is?

Day 13 Rumors: Shh, A Very Quiet Day

Mike Max on WCCO TV (local CBS affiliate) seemed a little ornery this evening. He basically crapped on all of the potential candidates for the coaching job. If he wants to give his opinion he should stick to his radio show or late night Sunday TV sports show.

   

Doing so on the evening news is not appropriate.

   

No confirmation on the Lane Kiffin offer and it looks like this was maybe premature or not going to happen at all. Too bad, I was really hoping to would happen.

My Pick For The Next Head Coach

It’s been a while but I used to throw darts quite a bit. I also had a higher tolerance back then too. Funny how they go hand in hand.

   

I have gone back and made a grand list of names that have been mentioned to replace Glen Mason as the Head Coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

   

Using the scoring system in a darts game I have ranked the coaches by category. This is strictly my opinion and from where I sit on the 25 yard line on game day. You will note I prefer current coordinators to head coaches and would like them to have some connection to Minnesota but is not necessary:

   

Bulls-eye

-Lane Kiffin (USD Offensive Coordinator), My preferred choice. Local ties, big time program, and heavily connected. Should be able to build a strong group of coaches.

-Gary Patterson (TCU Head Coach), If we can afford the $1 million buyout.

   

Triple

-Bo Pelini (LSU Defensive Coordinator), Big time program with experience.

-Marc Trestman (former North Carolina State Coordinator), Local ties with college and NFL experience.

-Charlie Strong (Florida Defensive Coordinator), A late entry to the pool but a recruiter, a defensive guy, and experience at a football school.

-Brent Venables (Oklahoma Defensive Coordinator), Some call him “Bob Stoops Jr.”. Good enough for me.

   

Double

-Mike Haywood (Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator), My next top pick of the coordinators.

-Tim Brewster (Denver Broncos Tight End Coach), No head coach or coordinator experience but a top-notch college recruiter with a lot of energy.

-Craig Bohl (North Dakota State Head Coach), Recruiting Upper Midwest players for North Dakota State is not the same as running a Big Ten program.

-Bobby Hauck (Montana Head Coach), See above.

-Larry Coker (former Miami Hurricane Head Coach), For better and worse he is intriguing.

-Ron English (Michigan Defensive Coordinator), High energy guy with experience.

-DeWayne Walker (UCLA Defensive Coordinator), Local ties but may be light in experience.

   

Single

-Dan McCarney (former Iowa State Head Coach), No way. He resigned.

-Paul Chryst (Wisconsin Offensive Coordinator), No Badgers please.

-Gary Barnett, Not sure he can be trusted.

-Mike Grant (Eden Prairie High School Head Coach), Hire him as an assistant and lead recruiter. Preps him to be St. John’s Head Coach one day.

-Frank Solich (Ohio University Head Coach), I hate to say this but he is too old. I want a young guy even if that means less experienced.

   

Not listed are Tony Dungy (Indianapolis Colts Head Coach) and Chris Petersen (Boise State Head Coach), as I highly doubt either of them is available.

   

I continue to hope that the next coach keeps current Minnesota coaches Gordy Shaw and Luke Tressel.

TCF Bank Stadium Could Host Olympic Soccer in 2016

The new stadium will not be used just for Gopher football and now you can add the possibility of Olympic soccer, New football stadium might help U host 2016 Olympic soccer.

Day 12 Rumors: Part 2

GopherIllustrated.com, a Rivals.com web site, ran a story that says someone was offered the job Thursday night and that the interview was a formality, Job offered?. The name is Lane Kiffin.

   

KFAN ran it too using GopherIllustrated.com as the source but there has been no confirmation anywhere else.

   

Kiffin had a few local radio and TV interviews. Paraphrasing he said Minnesota would be a dream job and he would like to raise his family here.

   

Later, the Star Tribune says their sources call the Kiffin offer “erroneous” U officials do coaching interviews on road.

   

I missed this earlier today from Charley Walters, OVERHEARD. AD Joel Maturi may have interviewed Mike Haywood (Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator).

   

He has “the list” as Haywood, Chryst, Kiffin, Patterson, McCarney, and Dungy.

A Big Update Is Coming Tonight

I have been writing entries the past few days but did not have a chance to get them posted. With the “breaking news” from ESPN regarding the hiring of Tim Brewster I will still post what I had written.

   

Besides it could be possible that this is inaccurate, university spokesman Kyle Coughlin said, "No one has been offered the job."