Chip Scoggins column: Teague now has to show he can do more than raise funds

from the column:

The recent events have served as a trial by fire for his managerial style and probably provided him some valuable lessons. The Gophers botched the handling of Mbakwe's arrest in July by trying to hide it in the hope that it never became public. The school is under no obligation to release negative information, of course, but the Gophers are remarkably naive if they believe it was purely coincidence that news of Mbakwe's arrest surfaced hours before the team's media day news conference. So instead of focusing on the optimistic outlook for this season, Tubby spent half of his media session talking about Mbakwe's arrest and punishment.

Teague took swift, appropriate action against Saul Smith by placing him on indefinite unpaid administrative leave. Smith's alleged actions represented a serious lack of judgment, but the timing of his arrest pushed the matter into a realm of stupidity. His arrest happened roughly 14 hours after Mbakwe pleaded for leniency from a Miami judge in his probation violation hearing by admitting that he's an alcoholic and dealing with depression. Smith's behavior put Teague in an uncomfortable position of having to determine the proper punishment for the coach's son on the heels of a stressful week.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/g...utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&refer=y

Go Gophers!!

"The Gophers botched the handling of Mbakwe's arrest in July by trying to hide it in the hope that it never became public. The school is under no obligation to release negative information, of course, but the Gophers are remarkably naive if they believe it was purely coincidence that news of Mbakwe's arrest surfaced hours before the team's media day news conference."

I didn't realize it was the University's responsibility to pubilicly announce every issue that comes up with a student athlete. If Mr. Scoggins was ticketed for something, would he expect his employer to place a headline in the paper? Scoggins then confirms what we all suspected that there are those that love to create a firestorm by releasing information when it will get more coverage rather than when they become aware of it. I certainly don't condone the recent actions by Trevor and Saul, but I am becoming more and more frustrated by the actions of the media and their approach to sensationalizing the news whenever they can.

Bottom line, the Tubby Smith hire was a home run and at the time it gave the program instant credibility. But since his first year, the Tubby Smith era has been the perfect storm. Coach Smith needs to own some of the events- he could have controlled the job search rumors, his public rhetoric, specifically about the facilities not being Big Ten caliber and how the city distractions keep players from developing.

Others were out of his control. Mbwake's Miami issues, his local restraining order violation, now the DUI. Tubby had to roll the dice on a local talent like Trevor, but in the end the price he paid for Mbwake's spot on the roster might not validate the toll he took on the program. Royce White was worth the gamble, but that was a circus and the videos really must have left Maturi, booster, the regents, and recruits/families wondering about the culture within the program. The transfers set us back years, especially Joseph. You can't leverage Saul's incident against Coach Smith because he's his kid.

The hits have just kept adding up and the program is stuck in neutral largely because of these incidents. If Norwood drops the hammer on Saul, maybe Tubby finally throws in the towel. The wins really need to be there this year, because the media is going put Tubby on the dart board if they aren't.