Understand what is going on right now

I was at the Michigan game, and saw things that the TV tube doesn't show. I watched the sidelines and the activity there.

Kill played every player he brought on the plane (I may have missed one or two). He was evaluating each player to find out which ones are the ones he ll work with to build the team he wants. Most of the ones that he wants will be determined by these evaluations. (Whats the difference in the long run whether you lose by 20 or 50 now). He is basically asking his young players "are you with me or not? "Will you adapt to my system or try to do it your way?" "How smart and football minded are you?"

It is obvious his players are very young and inexperienced, it is going to take awhile, He is starting from scratch by choice and he will chose a freshman over a senior if it will bring results in the future.

Kill sees the situation and knows the solution better than all of us Monday morning quarterbacks.

It's difficult now but I'll live with it.

See you at Purdue, I'll be there.

Rog, I was at the Big House in 2001 when our Gophers were thrashed. I believe it was you who had the nice ride in the parking lot!

Anyway, I appreciate your comments. In a thread below, it mentions "rock bottom". Unfortunately, our Gophers may not have hit that spot yet. Getting skunked and giving up more than 50 hurts, but your statements give this some clarity.

Our upperclassmen are at a crossroads. You can see it in body language. An example is when Eric Lair was penalized on Jones' touchdown return. Kill sought him out and Lair appeared to be explaining his case. Lair is a senior, and should be counted on as a leader and above a mistake like that. That's not what happened. Will Lair suck it up? Will he play harder? Will Kill continue to play him?

That's just as example. Most of the seniors haven't played very well. It's a difficult situation for them, for sure. The 2011 Gopher team doesn't have much hope for success in the W column, but their football careers are coming to an end shortly. They will be gone next year. Do they want to be part of the beginning of a turnaround and lead by example? The alternative isn't good for anyone. But when you're 22, it's hard to see that.

Rog said:

I was at the Michigan game, and saw things that the TV tube doesn't show. I watched the sidelines and the activity there.

Kill played every player he brought on the plane (I may have missed one or two). He was evaluating each player to find out which ones are the ones he ll work with to build the team he wants. Most of the ones that he wants will be determined by these evaluations. (Whats the difference in the long run whether you lose by 20 or 50 now). He is basically asking his young players "are you with me or not? "Will you adapt to my system or try to do it your way?" "How smart and football minded are you?"

It is obvious his players are very young and inexperienced, it is going to take awhile, He is starting from scratch by choice and he will chose a freshman over a senior if it will bring results in the future.

Kill sees the situation and knows the solution better than all of us Monday morning quarterbacks.

It's difficult now but I'll live with it.

See you at Purdue, I'll be there.

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Thanks, God knows I need something positive. The problem with your scenario however is that there is a tipping point where there is so much negativity it overwhelms you, and you are buried with it. Attendance goes down; stadium has more and more enemy colors; students go elsewhere on a Saturday; media gets nastier (as well as fans); players quit buying in; and the recruiting gets harder. I've seen it happen over and over here and I don't want to see it happen to Kill who I absolutely think is capable of turning this around. Don't forget, we've got a couple of games left that have the potential of more carnage than yesterday. We don't necessarily need a victory next Saturday, but it would really be nice to see steps forward.

This is very, very low on the list of concerns, but why wasn't Kill going for it on fourth down late in the game? That's essentially a free offensive play, a chance to work on something against a defense that doesn't know what's coming. Lord knows the offense needs the reps. By that time, the punter had gotten plenty of work in.

Breakin' The Plane said:

This is very, very low on the list of concerns, but why wasn't Kill going for it on fourth down late in the game? That's essentially a free offensive play, a chance to work on something against a defense that doesn't know what's coming. Lord knows the offense needs the reps. By that time, the punter had gotten plenty of work in.

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Mind-boggling. We were across mid-field, down 58-0, and punting.

The punter needed a breather.........sheesh

Rog said:

I was at the Michigan game, and saw things that the TV tube doesn't show. I watched the sidelines and the activity there.

Kill played every player he brought on the plane (I may have missed one or two). He was evaluating each player to find out which ones are the ones he ll work with to build the team he wants. Most of the ones that he wants will be determined by these evaluations. (Whats the difference in the long run whether you lose by 20 or 50 now). He is basically asking his young players "are you with me or not? "Will you adapt to my system or try to do it your way?" "How smart and football minded are you?"

It is obvious his players are very young and inexperienced, it is going to take awhile, He is starting from scratch by choice and he will chose a freshman over a senior if it will bring results in the future.

Kill sees the situation and knows the solution better than all of us Monday morning quarterbacks.

It's difficult now but I'll live with it.

See you at Purdue, I'll be there.

Click to expand...

I don't think Kill is this systematic in his approach right now. He knows his older guys are the best he has. He is just trying to survive and hope the program doesn't fall so far back that his credibility as a head coach is not so damaged that he has no chance of ever bringing it back. This situation is very serious at this point. My guess is none of them are completely with him at this point because they have no history with him.
You would be questioning a new coach right now too if you were in their situation. He does not have any background as a player or coach at the BCS level to make them feel confident in him. I am sure they could care less about what he did at Southern Illinois. 2 .500 seasons out of three at Northern Illinois probably doesn't give them much confidence either.

Rog, you are spot on, my man! I wasn't able to watch the game and just listened to it on the radio but it was evident that Coach Kill went into evaluation mode early. It's unfortunate that it happened in the first B1G game but it is what it is.

Despite the results on the field I was riveted and listening closely to who was in the game and who was making plays (and not making plays :/ ). I was depressed at the state of the program and disappointed in the previous coach for his approach to recruiting and staffing. It's obvious that Brewster's method of recruiting was by only going off of other programs' evaluations. It appears he couldn't evaluate football players himself and gave little regard to their academics and character. Switching coordinators every year was more harmful to our program than I realized. Nevertheless, I listened for small victories by judging who seemed to be giving it their all.

I truely believe this staff will right the ship. I hope they are able to tune out the negativity and stay focused on what they need to do to build their solid foundation. They are going to have to take their lumps but Coach Kill will learn a lot about the players he has.

I'm excited to see how the players from this year's recruiting class turns out. Looking at his past suggests that he CAN evaluate players. This is his honeymoon year so next year will be the most difficult one for him. If the team can focus on what needs to be done and stay together I'm confident that by 2013 we will start seeing results. As much as it pains me, Wisconsin is the model by which we can look to. There is NO reason we can't follow the same path to success. Barry Alvarez was in a similar predicament and stuck to it and the program benefitted from it.

I'm not even a player or involved with the program. I'm just a fan. But I feel anger, determination and confidence with a focus on doing it the right way that I hope the staff and players feel the same way. I know that the negatives will seep out of the woodwork but I'm not going to let it affect me in a negative way.

Support this program and cheer the good plays the players make. Don't accept losing, yet don't undermine the program by pointing out the shotcomings that they have no control over. Boo the mental mistakes, sure, let 'em have it. But there are positional holes to fill and we are going to be out manned for a while. Root for them like they are your own kids and don't bad-mouth the team.

Rog said:

I was at the Michigan game, and saw things that the TV tube doesn't show. I watched the sidelines and the activity there.

Kill played every player he brought on the plane (I may have missed one or two). He was evaluating each player to find out which ones are the ones he ll work with to build the team he wants. Most of the ones that he wants will be determined by these evaluations. (Whats the difference in the long run whether you lose by 20 or 50 now). He is basically asking his young players "are you with me or not? "Will you adapt to my system or try to do it your way?" "How smart and football minded are you?"

It is obvious his players are very young and inexperienced, it is going to take awhile, He is starting from scratch by choice and he will chose a freshman over a senior if it will bring results in the future.

Kill sees the situation and knows the solution better than all of us Monday morning quarterbacks.

It's difficult now but I'll live with it.

See you at Purdue, I'll be there.

Click to expand...

This cannot be right, GH has already decided that Kill is doing a miserable job, is in over his head, etc. That there might be rhyme or reason to what he is doing: IMPOSSIBLE!!