BleedGopher
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per Robson:
While Minnesota is a double-digit underdog, nobody is expecting the sort of 50-point blowout loss that was a semi-regular occurrence during the down periods that have pockmarked the Gopher program over the past fifty years. Some even harbor a suspicion that some Kill-conjured Gopher magic will produce the sort of seismic upset that will spit-shine the coach’s already glowing legacy.
It’s easy to forget that, at least thus far, Jerry Kill isn’t that special. Yes, he took a program that was in shambles and rebuilt it to the point where the Gophers played in a New Year’s Day bowl game last season, earning him Big 10 Coach of the Year honors for 2014.
But just 16 years ago, another Gopher football coach, Glen Mason, was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year after his fourth season on campus. Mason inherited a program that was arguably worse off than what Kill encountered coming in the door. Mason’s bowl game that year was less prestigious, and a loss besides, but in the final voting in the national polls, Minnesota cracked the top 20 for the first time since 1967. They were also nationally ranked under Mason in 2003 — and not once since then.
Yet despite taking Minnesota to seven bowl games in his final eight seasons on the job, Mason’s personality, coupled with the penchant of his teams to take pratfalls at the worst possible time, wore thin on the Gopher faithful. He was regarded as too egotistical and thin-skinned. He demanded hosannas for relatively gaudy won-lost records that were inflated by his scheduling of patsies on the non-conference schedule. He complained about the presence of alcohol in the student section when they lambasted his terrible late-game management. He wanted the community to love him, even as he kept his eye on more prestigious programs in greener pastures.
At this point in time, the jury is still out on whether Jerry Kill is a better football coach than Glen Mason. But there's no debate when it comes to who's better in the realm of community relations — of, literally, relating to the values and self-image of the Gopher community: Kill schools Mason seven ways to Sunday.
Kill already figures to have a prominent say in the hiring of the athletic director. Should his team stage a huge upset this week, or otherwise overachieve in the manner of so many previous Kill-coached ballclubs, the bricks for that new facility will be laid more promptly. The more intriguing question is what happens if the football team takes a step backward.
In any case, the statewide ban on Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin apparel will have to wait.
http://www.minnpost.com/sports/2015/09/folksy-ambition-jerry-kill
Go Gophers!!
While Minnesota is a double-digit underdog, nobody is expecting the sort of 50-point blowout loss that was a semi-regular occurrence during the down periods that have pockmarked the Gopher program over the past fifty years. Some even harbor a suspicion that some Kill-conjured Gopher magic will produce the sort of seismic upset that will spit-shine the coach’s already glowing legacy.
It’s easy to forget that, at least thus far, Jerry Kill isn’t that special. Yes, he took a program that was in shambles and rebuilt it to the point where the Gophers played in a New Year’s Day bowl game last season, earning him Big 10 Coach of the Year honors for 2014.
But just 16 years ago, another Gopher football coach, Glen Mason, was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year after his fourth season on campus. Mason inherited a program that was arguably worse off than what Kill encountered coming in the door. Mason’s bowl game that year was less prestigious, and a loss besides, but in the final voting in the national polls, Minnesota cracked the top 20 for the first time since 1967. They were also nationally ranked under Mason in 2003 — and not once since then.
Yet despite taking Minnesota to seven bowl games in his final eight seasons on the job, Mason’s personality, coupled with the penchant of his teams to take pratfalls at the worst possible time, wore thin on the Gopher faithful. He was regarded as too egotistical and thin-skinned. He demanded hosannas for relatively gaudy won-lost records that were inflated by his scheduling of patsies on the non-conference schedule. He complained about the presence of alcohol in the student section when they lambasted his terrible late-game management. He wanted the community to love him, even as he kept his eye on more prestigious programs in greener pastures.
At this point in time, the jury is still out on whether Jerry Kill is a better football coach than Glen Mason. But there's no debate when it comes to who's better in the realm of community relations — of, literally, relating to the values and self-image of the Gopher community: Kill schools Mason seven ways to Sunday.
Kill already figures to have a prominent say in the hiring of the athletic director. Should his team stage a huge upset this week, or otherwise overachieve in the manner of so many previous Kill-coached ballclubs, the bricks for that new facility will be laid more promptly. The more intriguing question is what happens if the football team takes a step backward.
In any case, the statewide ban on Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin apparel will have to wait.
http://www.minnpost.com/sports/2015/09/folksy-ambition-jerry-kill
Go Gophers!!