STrib: Former Gophers linebacker Jephete Matilus has transferred to North Dakota

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per Joe:

Matilus, a senior from Delray Beach, Fla., played in 21 career games for the Gophers, mostly on special teams. He came to Minnesota as a linebacker and switched to fullback before last season. Matilus will switch back to defense at North Dakota and will be eligible to play this fall.

"We are always looking for ways to improve our football team, and I think we have done that with the addition of Jephete," North Dakota coach Bubba Schweigert said in the press release. "He is an athletic linebacker from a successful Big Ten program that will have one season to play for us. He contributed on a number of special teams for the Gophers and we expect him to do the same here, while competing for playing time at outside linebacker."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/300830481.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Best of luck Jephete! Hope everything works out for him.
 

Ok. Couldn't handle the big time competition at Minnesota, go to UND. That's a step up. :cool::cool:
 

You have to admit that "Bubba Schweigert" is a great name for a coach.

And the other plus - at least it wasn't NDSU.......
 

I think he will shine at that college

best of luck to him
 










Good for Matilus.

He worked his butt of here. I believe he was scout team player of the year twice. He played hard on special teams and he switched positions. Guys like him really help programs.

Good luck Jephete!
 

die hard gopher said:
Yes, I know that which is why I raised the question. Same situation as Matilus.
Click to expand...

It is interesting to note that Kyle McAvoy and Luke McAvoy also had a fifth year of eligibility left but did not use it. That makes a total of four from the 2011 freshman class who, for whatever reason, did not avail themselves of a fifth year. In addition, there was also Quinn Bauducco, Peter Westerhaus, and Dexter Foreman were not able to compete at the end because of health problems. Lastly, Quentin Gardner from that class was never admitted. It should be noted that the 2011 class was an unusual one since it was a combination of recruits that were recruited by Brewster and/or Kill.

As far as this fall, the remaining scholarship recruits from that class that are still here are only Foster Bush, Joshua Campion, Joe Bjorklund, Theiren Cockran plus walk on Jon Christenson. The good news is that in the fall of 2016 will have 100% Kill recruits. I am looking forward to it but I do appreciate the contributions from all the members of the 2011 class. I do believe though that in the future Kill's classes will prove to have many more contributors than the 2011 class. :clap:
 



I have a feeling we will see more and more football players leave eligibility on the table. By this point, they know if they are not going any further and it is a rough grind and hard on the health to play all five years.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I have a feeling we will see more and more football players leave eligibility on the table. By this point, they know if they are not going any further and it is a rough grind and hard on the health to play all five years.
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Exactly what I was thinking but didn't want to be "negative" about any of them. Jephette Matilus may be the exception since he clearly want to play some more as stated by Bob Loblaw.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I have a feeling we will see more and more football players leave eligibility on the table. By this point, they know if they are not going any further and it is a rough grind and hard on the health to play all five years.
Click to expand...

Why would there be more players do this in the future than in the past? Are you referring to concussions?
 

die hard gopher said:
Why would there be more players do this in the future than in the past? Are you referring to concussions?
Click to expand...

I should let Winnipegopher speak for himself but I didn't think he was saying that there will be a greater percentage of players doing this in the future. I think he was trying to say it will still happen in the future because of the great demands division 1 football puts on the player. If you are not going to get much playing time and you have your degree why do it?
 

Killjoy said:
I should let Winnipegopher speak for himself but I didn't think he was saying that there will be a greater percentage of players doing this in the future. Only that it will also happen in the future because of the great demands division 1 football puts on the player. If you are not going to get much playing time and you have your degree why do it?
Click to expand...

He did say "more and more" though.
 

die hard gopher said:
He did say "more and more" though.
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You certainly could be right and if that is the case, I would say that may not be the case. The four players who are not staying for a fifth year are players who who mostly were not getting much or any playing time. It seems to me that Kill is now helping those players to leave sooner as opposed to later. Example of this could be Jordan Hinojosa and DeMaris Peppers.
 

die hard gopher said:
Why would there be more players do this in the future than in the past? Are you referring to concussions?
Click to expand...

I am referring to health in general which includes concussions.

Take the McEvoys, it is likely clear to them that they will not start or be in the two deeps as fifth year seniors. But they probably help depth/scout teams if they stay. But why would they assuming they have achieved their academic goals? Football is hard on the body, concussions are a threat and for guys like these, they are forced to keep their bodies far heavier than a health weight.

What perhaps i didn't make clear is that most of these guys are high level competitors. If they feel they can compete for a starting job, they will come back but if not, they should move on.
 

Winnipegopher said:
I am referring to health in general which includes concussions.

Take the McEvoys, it is likely clear to them that they will not start or be in the two deeps as fifth year seniors. But they probably help depth/scout teams if they stay. But why would they assuming they have achieved their academic goals? Football is hard on the body, concussions are a threat and for guys like these, they are forced to keep their bodies far heavier than a health weight.

What perhaps i didn't make clear is that most of these guys are high level competitors. If they feel they can compete for a starting job, they will come back but if not, they should move on.
Click to expand...

My guess is that it has far less to do with 'health' and more to do with the overall grind that comes with playing when you'll be doing it for a 5th year and not playing. Especially if you've already graduated and aren't going to grad school, kids may just be ready to move on
 

Killjoy said:
It is interesting to note that Kyle McAvoy and Luke McAvoy also had a fifth year of eligibility left but did not use it. That makes a total of four from the 2011 freshman class who, for whatever reason, did not avail themselves of a fifth year. In addition, there was also Quinn Bauducco, Peter Westerhaus, and Dexter Foreman were not able to compete at the end because of health problems. Lastly, Quentin Gardner from that class was never admitted. It should be noted that the 2011 class was an unusual one since it was a combination of recruits that were recruited by Brewster and/or Kill.

As far as this fall, the remaining scholarship recruits from that class that are still here are only Foster Bush, Joshua Campion, Joe Bjorklund, Theiren Cockran plus walk on Jon Christenson. The good news is that in the fall of 2016 will have 100% Kill recruits. I am looking forward to it but I do appreciate the contributions from all the members of the 2011 class. I do believe though that in the future Kill's classes will prove to have many more contributors than the 2011 class. :clap:
Click to expand...

Actually, Matilus was the last scholarship player left that you could classify a Brewster recruit. Campion, Cochran, etc... were all recruited by Kill's staff.
 

EE_Gopher said:
Actually, Matilus was the last scholarship player left that you could classify a Brewster recruit. Campion, Cochran, etc... were all recruited by Kill's staff.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I will assume that you are correct. There is also an another unusual oddity with this mixed class. Brewster did recruit Champion but he then went to a prep school to improve his academics. When he finished that he did sign with Jerry in 2011. Jerry had very little time to put together that class. In doing so he did honor Brewster's verbals. 2012 was really the first year of 100% recruits by Jerry.
 

Killjoy said:
Thanks - I will assume that you are correct. There is also an another unusual oddity with this mixed class. Brewster did recruit Champion but he then went to a prep school to improve his academics. When he finished that he did sign with Jerry in 2011. Jerry had very little time to put together that class. In doing so he did honor Brewster's verbals. 2012 was really the first year of 100% recruits by Jerry.
Click to expand...

Nick Rallis was committed under Brewster.
 



EE_Gopher said:
As I remember, Nick had to re-earn his offer with the Gophers after Brewster left.
Click to expand...

The only thing I remember is that Kill said he would honor the commitments Brewster made but you certainly could be correct.
 

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