ESPN: Matt Limegrover 'revitalized and re-energized' as Penn State assistant

Donate To GopherHole
BleedGopher

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,745
Reaction score
16,089
Points
113
per ESPN:

“The best title I could have is offensive line coach; that’s what I was put on this Earth to do,” Limegrover told ESPN.com. “So I’m in such a good place right now, both physically and mentally.”

He couldn’t say the same in the Twin Cities. Limegrover forced himself to wake up at 3:45 every morning last season to satisfy his extra responsibilities – but it just never seemed like enough. “I was working myself sick,” he said. Because he coordinated the offense from the box on game days, he spent extra time with the line during the week so the unit could make adjustments without him on the sideline.

But when four of those starters suffered injuries, balancing everything became especially tricky. If Limegrover didn’t spend more time with the line, it would’ve become a complete disaster. But, by spending even more time with the makeshift line, that meant he spent less time in other places. It was a lose-lose proposition. Minnesota’s line led the conference in fewest tackles-for-loss allowed (60), but the offense averaged nearly six fewer points per game compared to the year before. Minnesota coach Tracy Claeys fired him in November.

“With Tracy making the decision, I understood because I felt I wasn’t giving what each side needed to have, as far as being a coordinator and being an offensive line coach,” Limegrover said. “I felt that way.”

But Franklin also spoke of the potential and told Limegrover something that stuck with him: I have a lot of respect for you because – and don’t take this the wrong way – but it seems as though you’ve done more with less.

“And I said I don’t take that the wrong way,” Limegrover remembered. “Coach, think about what I can do with more.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post...ized-and-re-energized-as-penn-state-assistant

Go Gophers!!
 

Boy they're going to be pissed losing to an "inferior" team on their home field. Penn State seems to always do less with more since Joe Pa left
 

We can safely call this "bulletin board material", for the Gopher locker room, before the Penn St game.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 

All these comments post-firing, I would've never guessed he was an offensive line coach/offensive coordinator for 15 years.
 

Takeaway from that article is that Claeys absolutely made the right decision. Kill's loyalty is commendable, but led to an unsustainable offensive situation. Kudos to Claeys for rectifying the situation. And good for Limey that he gets to focus on the job that he wants, and presumably is good at (although I'm a bit skeptical).
 


Much love to Limey as he seemed like a stand up guy and he was obviously a decent coach. That said neither his OL or his offense as a whole ever showed itself to be better than average in his time here and when he didn't have David Cobb with his unique ability to squeeze every last yard out of a play his offense was just bad including his OL.
 

Wonder what's going on in Kill's head with these comments.
 

I think all teams should have a firm rule against keeping or hiring coaches that need to be "revitalized". It is a short term thing at best. Good Luck Limey - glad you're at PSU now.
 

I wish limegrover the best
 



I hardly post on this site

#2Gopher said:
Wonder what's going on in Kill's head with these comments.
Click to expand...

But Limy < Limy, Limy, Limy... what a fricking waste of several years with this guy and i fault kill big time
 

Whatever you’re going to pay me, I’m fine. … I didn’t need a lot of money. I made way more money than probably anybody should make when I was at Minnesota.”

Now he tells us:D
 

I wouldn't get too comfortable . The natives are restless. If they can't win big with the recruits they've been reeling in the staff will be history. That said, great opportunity for a Pennsylvania kid and I'm happy he's there.
 

Glenn Mason at one time used a OL coach/OC but he came back from a national coaching meeting and changed his mind to a QB coach/OC. Media asked why? the QB coach has a better understanding of the offense.
 



I'm wondering if Kill being absent more and more led to Limegrover burning the candle from both ends.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Congratulations to Limey on landing where he wants to be, doing the job he prefers.

I'm sure there are others on this board who have found themselves trapped in a job that they didn't feel free to leave. It isn't fun.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I'm wondering if Kill being absent more and more led to Limegrover burning the candle from both ends.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

The opposite. Kill was up with early with Limey trying to fix the offense if you remember his comments. Limey caused Kills setback IMO.
 

I am starting to believe that most GopherHolers would have never heard of Jerry Kill if he didn't have both Tracy and Limey for all of those years. He might never have gotten out of Southern Illinois without them. The evidence appears to indicate that the problems with the offense were mainly on Kill and not Limey.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
I am starting to believe that most GopherHolers would have never heard of Jerry Kill if he didn't have both Tracy and Limey for all of those years. He might never have gotten out of Southern Illinois without them. The evidence appears to indicate that the problems with the offense were mainly on Kill and not Limey.
Click to expand...

Kill would agree with you.
 

I hope this works out as well as it can for Limey without PSU rising back to national prominence. I'm sure he felt caught between a rock and a hard place. He was clearly unable to do both OC and OL at the Power 5 level, knew he couldn't, but had a very close friend as a head coach who was battling his own issues. I'm sure he felt like he couldn't "abandon" JK by resigning and didn't want to leave a void by taking a demotion.

I feel like a sucker because every time the Gophers changed coordinators under Brew I always felt like the next guy was going to improve the offense/defense and that would answer whatever issues. I kind of feel like that again.

I've read that Coach Kill was very unhappy that Limey got fired, which implies JK wouldn't have done it. I just don't know how a guy can publicly state that he can't adequately do the job(s) he's hired for and stay employed without a major change. He said in interviews more than once that he couldn't do both jobs, even before JK left. I appreciate loyalty, but keeping him in those roles was like saying you didn't want to win.
 

Things we don't know:
Did Limegrover tell Kill he was having trouble handling both jobs?
If he did, what was Kill's response?
Did Limegrover ask for help from any of the other coaches?
Did any of the other coaches express concern to Kill that the current situation wasn't working?

Bottom line - If Limegrover believed that his dual role made him unable to do his best job as OC or OL coach, then he should have said something or done something. Instead, it appears that he tried to gut it out, and in the process, may have hurt the team. if we're assigning blame, then Limegrover and Kill have to share that blame.
 

Lakeville Goldy said:
I feel like a sucker because every time the Gophers changed coordinators under Brew I always felt like the next guy was going to improve the offense/defense and that would answer whatever issues. I kind of feel like that again.
Click to expand...
Brew's problem was hiring a spread coach, and then panicking and deciding he wanted to switch to a power offense.

The biggest takeaway from this change is to the offensive line, not offensive coordinator. Limegrover wasn't able to be with them during games to make adjustments, or devote as much time as Miller will to coaching. Personally, I think having Adam Weber as an extra coach is huge as well. But Bart Miller to me is the most important coaching hire, and our success will depend on that line.
 

4four4 said:
Glenn Mason at one time used a OL coach/OC but he came back from a national coaching meeting and changed his mind to a QB coach/OC. Media asked why? the QB coach has a better understanding of the offense.
Click to expand...

I looked it up and you're right. Uzelac (1997) and Loney (1998 and 1999) were Mason's OCs and OL coaches when they were here. Then Mason made Browning and Peterson co-OCs. I know Browning helped with the O-line (TEs and OTs), but wasn't in charge of the whole line like Limegrover was.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Things we don't know:
Did Limegrover tell Kill he was having trouble handling both jobs?
If he did, what was Kill's response?
Did Limegrover ask for help from any of the other coaches?
Did any of the other coaches express concern to Kill that the current situation wasn't working?

Bottom line - If Limegrover believed that his dual role made him unable to do his best job as OC or OL coach, then he should have said something or done something. Instead, it appears that he tried to gut it out, and in the process, may have hurt the team. if we're assigning blame, then Limegrover and Kill have to share that blame.
Click to expand...

Kill was Limey's mentor. Right or wrong very few people ever want to disappoint their mentors. My guess is that once Kill made a decision that was pretty much it. I don't think he was open to further discussion. It is possible that Kill wanted Limey as both OL coach and coordinator so that he could be more hands on with the offense and play calling. I think Kill had Limey on a very short leash with the offensive game plan, play calling, and possibly the recruiting of "his" kind of player.
 

Well he has a hell of a lot less to do as far as offensive play calling and etc now, and on a new team. Yeah that would be refreshing after last years struggles.
 

UpnorthGo4 said:
Kill was Limey's mentor. Right or wrong very few people ever want to disappoint their mentors. My guess is that once Kill made a decision that was pretty much it. I don't think he was open to further discussion. It is possible that Kill wanted Limey as both OL coach and coordinator so that he could be more hands on with the offense and play calling. I think Kill had Limey on a very short leash with the offensive game plan, play calling, and possibly the recruiting of "his" kind of player.
Click to expand...

I think you are probably pretty much spot on with your take on the relationship. My guess would be that Limegrover was fine doing both jobs at Northern and Southern because they were in lower profile situations but when the bright lights of the Big Ten started shining he realized he wasn't cut out to be an OC at this level. However because he had been with Kill for so long and Jerry was struggling with other issues related to his health he probably didn't feel it was wise to rock the boat in order to get out of the role and shift back to being just an OL coach.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I think you are probably pretty much spot on with your take on the relationship. My guess would be that Limegrover was fine doing both jobs at Northern and Southern because they were in lower profile situations but when the bright lights of the Big Ten started shining he realized he wasn't cut out to be an OC at this level. However because he had been with Kill for so long and Jerry was struggling with other issues related to his health he probably didn't feel it was wise to rock the boat in order to get out of the role and shift back to being just an OL coach.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. At lower levels, execution can cancel out physical talent because the gap between players' athleticism isn't as high as it is at higher levels. I've seen that problem on both sides of the ball for the Gophers under Kill and Claeys, but it is much more pronounced on the offensive side of the equation.
 

Sounds a little 'Sour Grapes' to me. Offensive line seemed to do OK in the Bowl game without Limegrover. We will see how he does with Used Car Salesman Franklin.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom