Rate and rank our Head Coaches

WestTexasGopher

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I'm always intrigued (amused!) by our contant analysis/critique of head coaches. So, just out of curiosity, of the head coaches we've had here say, since Mason (though many of us recall coaches prior to Mase, I think many on this board were not watching Gopher fb then), how would you rate them in terms of which you'd like to have as our HC.

I dont' think I can do this through our board tools, so here's a survey link.

I'll post the results after a day or two.
 

I rated them:

Fleck
Mason
Kill
Claeys
Horton
Brewster

Go Gophers!!
 


On field performance only?


Best to worst:


Coach Season Years Won Lost Tied Pct.
Tracy Claeys 1+ 2015-16 11 8 0 0.579
Glen Mason 10 1997-2006 64 57 0 0.529
Cal Stoll 7 1972-78 39 39 0 0.5
Jerry Kill 4+ 2011-15 29 29 0 0.5
Lou Holtz 2 1984-85 10 12 0 0.455
John Gutekunst 6+ 1986-91 29 36 2 0.441
P.J. Fleck 1 2017-pres. 5 7 0 0.417
Jeff Horton Interim 2010 2 3 0 0.4
Joe Salem 5 1979-83 19 35 1 0.352
Tim Brewster 3+ 2007-2010 15 30 0 0.333
Jim Wacker 5 1992-96 16 39 0 0.291
 

I rated them:

Fleck
Mason
Kill
Claeys
Horton
Brewster

Go Gophers!!

Pre 2000 Mason
Fleck
Kill
Post 2000 Mason

These guys are all suited to be position coaches/coordinators far more then they are to be head coaches.
Horton
Brewster
Claeys
 


Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.
 

Pre 2000 Mason
Fleck
Kill
Post 2000 Mason

These guys are all suited to be position coaches/coordinators far more then they are to be head coaches.
Horton
Brewster
Claeys

While the body of work for PJ Fleck is still being written, he has shown in this class that he can recruit comparable to Brewster in 2008-2009.

I would Rank him #1 with a question mark
Then Mason in his glory days
Jerry Kill
Tracy Claeys
Lou Holtz (based on his short stint record)
Cal Stoll
John Gutekunst
 

Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.

1. Fleck
2. Mason
3. Kill

None of the following because they’re not cut out to be head coaches:
1. Claeys
2. Horton
3. Brewster
 

Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.

Undoubtedly PJ Fleck. But, he has to show us what he can do in the next three years with the higher talent level that he has been able to recruit.

Would have loved Lou Holtz had he stayed.
 



Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.


Oh, in that case, I'm going with
1. Fleck
2. Mason
3. Kill

4. Brewster
5. Claeys

4 and 5 could be switched either way, but I give the nod to Brewster because he's still providing value as a recruiter for other major schools.
 

Based on December 11, 2017 I have
1) Kill
2) Fleck - Fleck could pass Kill by the end of next season
3) Mason
4) Claeys
5) Brewster
6) Horton - Don't really count him as a head coach. It should be N/A.
 

Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.

Oh, then you want a list based solely on potential. If you throw-out on field performances, gotta go with Fleck then.

Why would any Gopher fan not want Fleck then, unless they think that he and his staff won't be able to coach as well as Mason, Kill etc.?
 




1. Fleck
2. Kill
3. Mason
4. Horton
5. Claeys
6. Brewster


I had to give Horton props for the Iowa win. He won more trophies than Claeys did in worse circumstances with a far worse team.
 


1. Kill - Program was moving in right direction.
2. Horton - Best win during my 15 years with season tickets; most likeable coach since Murray Warmath.
3. Brewster - Two bowl games; best recruiting class during my 15 years with season tickets; wanted to go to the Rose Bowl.
4. Fleck - No bowl game; no signature wins; no quarterback; no offense; no trying to win; no 2017 season because it was Year Zero.
5. Mason - Wanted to be somewhere else; stopped trying to win after 2003; hated the media (and fans); high school coaches (and fans) hated him.
6. Claeys - Worst scandal in Gopher history on his watch; threw his AD, school president, and school under the bus in front of the entire country.
 

1. Fleck
2. Mason
3. Kill
4. Horton
5. Claeys
6. Brewster


Neither Kill nor Mason had the facilities they have now. I feel like Mason did more with less. He didn't have the on-campus stadium or the athletic budget that they have today. Mason was instrumental in getting the on-campus stadium built while Kill was behind the athletes village project and was a big proponent for that.

Mason and Kill could both be #2/#3 but in the end, I went with Mason primarily because he did beat Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabama and Oregon. His ability to recruit and develop some good RB's and o-line as well. He was also the last coach to beat Wisconsin.
 

In my memory
1) Kill
2) Mason
3a) Claeys had a good first year, no way of knowing how it would have turned out.
3b) Too early, good recruiter, but he will never out talent big ten, like his Cotton Bowl team did in the MAC. Still have concerns about his ability to coach them up in the big ten. But he has three more years to prove it
5) Wacker. ****ty record, but my first memory gopher football are his wins Vs Wisconsin
6) Brewster. Had no plan kept changing his philosophy on offense and that dysfunction did him in
I don't count Horton, but that Iowa is a nice memory
 

Actually, I'm not interested in field performance, per se. What I'd like to know is, on the whole, who would each of us prefer as a head coach.

1. Lou Holtz
2. PJ Fleck
3. Jerry Kill (if he was healthy)
4. Glen Mason
5. None of the rest (My days only go back to Holtz)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

1. Mason
2. Kill (although I think he would have passed Mason had he been able to stick around)
3. Fleck (high potential to move to the top of the list
4. Claeys
5. Horton
6. Brewster
 

I felt like Jerry Kill was all in. He was giving me everything he had to make Minnesota football great again. Glen Mason had some great highlights but he always seemed like he wanted to be somewhere else. He's much more likable as a TV/radio personality. PJ is the only guy with the opportunity to achieve greatness. He has the energy, the facilities, support of administration and seemingly the budget. He's all about PJ but he has a plan. It appears he can recruit. He proved he could coach on the field in his final WMU season. If I forget the words Farmers Alliance and Year Zero I'm optimistic we will be very good in 2019.
 

It's too soon to make a judgement on Fleck, and we probably don't have enough to go on with Claeys, either.

I would put Kill and Mason ahead of Fleck for now, but I hope Fleck jumps to #1 quickly. We can guess on Claeys, but nobody can say how (or whether) he would've grown into the role after never having done it before.
 

I felt like Jerry Kill was all in. He was giving me everything he had to make Minnesota football great again. Glen Mason had some great highlights but he always seemed like he wanted to be somewhere else. He's much more likable as a TV/radio personality. PJ is the only guy with the opportunity to achieve greatness. He has the energy, the facilities, support of administration and seemingly the budget. He's all about PJ but he has a plan. It appears he can recruit. He proved he could coach on the field in his final WMU season. If I forget the words Farmers Alliance and Year Zero I'm optimistic we will be very good in 2019.

And yet Mason really seems to have settled here...
 


I put Kill ahead of Mason only because without Jerry we would not have the new facility. I think they are both good coaches.
 

I'm genuinely curious why Kill is the only person in the world that would've gotten the facilities done. Would Fleck not be able to glad hand enough to help kick-off a major capital project? I think a little too much credit is being given for that effort, not that is wasn't great work but that it is a differentiator between coaches.
 

I'm genuinely curious why Kill is the only person in the world that would've gotten the facilities done. Would Fleck not be able to glad hand enough to help kick-off a major capital project? I think a little too much credit is being given for that effort, not that is wasn't great work but that it is a differentiator between coaches.

Nobody is saying he is the only one that could have gotten it done. Just that he is the one who did.

There is no right or wrong answer here. Opinions are subjective.
 



Ancient History:
1) Bierman (5 national championships, eight conference championships)
2) Doc Williams (78% winner, 1 national championship)
3) Murray Warmath (1 national championship, two Rose Bowls)

More recently:
1) Mason: 8 All-American players in 10 years, plus 7 bowls; wins AT Ohio St, Penn St, Michigan; bowl wins over Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon.
2) Jerry Kill: turned program around, built on defense - especially pass defense, 4 bowls in 4 1/2 seasons. 1 All-American.
3) Tracy Claeys: best won/loss percentage since Bierman and all his losses were close and to tough, top-ranked teams. Won a big bowl victory over Washington State, a great passing team he held to two field goals until the final minute or so, an did it with a depleted roster.
4)Fleck: 5-7 is not bad for a first year coach, but most of us feel it should have been 7-5 and a bowl. Never developed a QB, a passing offense, or an offensive identity. Jury is out.
5)Horton: did a decent job pulling out a couple of victories from a terrible season.
6) Brewster. Had never been a HC or even a coordinator, and proved that experience is everything. But not quite as bad as his record suggests (opened second season 7-1, then had injuries that slowed everything to a crawl. Still made a bowl).
 




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