Alex Kaliakmanis: Trying very hard not to comment on a program that our family decided to cut ties with.

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Panthadad2 said:
Factor in Yards per Attempt and it was the worst in either the Fleck or Kill eras. This was with 4 all conference pass catchers (past and present) in Jackson, BSF, Crooms and Spencer. Not a good year for the offense.
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Did you just present Crooms and Spencer as advantages for the offense? Oh my. Crooms was Ok. I didn’t even know Spencer was in the team for most of the year.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Factor in Yards per Attempt and it was the worst in either the Fleck or Kill eras. This was with 4 all conference pass catchers (past and present) in Jackson, BSF, Crooms and Spencer. Not a good year for the offense.
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I was trying to run that stat but couldn’t find it. So had to settle for the other
 

Spoofin said:
Did you just present Crooms and Spencer as advantages for the offense? Oh my. Crooms was Ok. I didn’t even know Spencer was in the team for most of the year.
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Brockington made a cameo appearance at the of the season. If he is ready for a full game in Detroit it will be a big addition.
 






That was a very clunky article to read. It's like it was being told by a 4-year-old right after he ran around the block a couple of times on a hot summer day.

I should have known right away when I saw that font and that many pop-ups.
 



FredCoxRocks said:
That was a very clunky article to read. It's like it was being told by a 4-year-old right after he ran around the block a couple of times on a hot summer day.

I should have known right away when I saw that font and that many pop-ups.
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Wait, that's an athletic 4-year-old that can run around the block a couple of times on a hot summer day.
 

disco said:
www.minnesotasportsfan.com

Why Did Athan Kaliakmanis Enter the Transfer Portal?

Report surfaces on why Athan Kaliakmanis decided to leave the Minnesota Gophers and enter the NCAA transfer portal.
www.minnesotasportsfan.com www.minnesotasportsfan.com
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Interesting.

Whatever transpired, it seemed to be a rather abrupt ending, and this reporting would seem to corroborate that scenario.

Something must have really set PJ off, because this is the first I've ever heard of him chewing out a player for poor play. Maybe AK was a bit of a prima donna and didn't take correction or criticism too well. Maybe PJ targeted him unfairly. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

It is no fun getting your behind chewed out, but it happens to everyone at some point. While upsetting, it certainly is not going to kill you. The problem with some of these guys is they have been coddled their entire lives once someone figured out they could throw a football 70 yards on a frozen rope. Then the real world pays a visit and they crumble. Many times one or both parents will be heavily involved in solving their kid's problems. They never learn mental toughness because mom or dad are always there to bulldoze any adversity or criticism out of their way.

Being QB1 at a P5 school is a big responsibility. P5 football is also big business. Leaders either perform, or they are replaced. Nothing is guaranteed.
 

DarthGopher said:
Interesting.

Whatever transpired, it seemed to be a rather abrupt ending, and this reporting would seem to corroborate that scenario.

Something must have really set PJ off, because this is the first I've ever heard of him chewing out a player for poor play. Maybe AK was a bit of a prima donna and didn't take correction or criticism too well. Maybe PJ targeted him unfairly. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

It is no fun getting your behind chewed out, but it happens to everyone at some point. While upsetting, it certainly is not going to kill you. The problem with some of these guys is they have been coddled their entire lives once someone figured out they could throw a football 70 yards on a frozen rope. Then the real world pays a visit and they crumble. Many times one or both parents will be heavily involved in solving their kid's problems. They never learn mental toughness because mom or dad are always there to bulldoze any adversity or criticism out of their way.

Being QB1 at a P5 school is a big responsibility. P5 football is also big business. Leaders either perform, or they are replaced. Nothing is guaranteed.
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PJ got in Daniel Faalele's face during a practice once and Daniel walked out for a little while and then returned. PJ described it as challenging him and he wanted to see how he would respond. I wouldn't be surprised if it was maybe something similar. Some guys take that well, others less so.

At the Wisconsin game I watched PJ and AK talking on the sidelines, PJ seemed to be coaching him about something based on his moments (like a QB), so whatever happened they were still chatting it up then.
 

The story certainly isn't going to help AK find a new landing spot. I don't think he lands with a P5 team (or is it P4 now with the PAC-2 situation?), especially if AK says he'll only accept an offer if he's going to be the #1 QB.
 



The Athan story is wild. From how I perceive PJ to be, it wouldn't surprise me that he lost it on Athan after the Purdue game. He probably was holding it in after the Illinois game and the Purdue loss was such a horrible look for PJ that he looked to lash out at someone. I am obviously not saying it did happen (or that PJ did something horrible if it did), just that it wouldn't surprise me. Look how fired up PJ got about NIL after the Northwestern debacle on his radio show and then he's much more positive about the situation like a week later when he doesn't feel embarrassed about a recent outcome.

I have a hard time believing Athan wasn't guaranteed to start the bowl game as Cole is graduating. If that was the case, that would seem to be PJ trying to push him out the door. PJ's public comments on Athan definitely became more critical later in the season to the point that it wasn't surprising we prioritized a portal QB immediately following the Wisconsin game.
 

GopherDog1 said:
Wait, that's an athletic 4-year-old that can run around the block a couple of times on a hot summer day.
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Nah!
mountain-dew-jacked-up.gif
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
The story certainly isn't going to help AK find a new landing spot. I don't think he lands with a P5 team (or is it P4 now with the PAC-2 situation?), especially if AK says he'll only accept an offer if he's going to be the #1 QB.
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I was thinking the same thing. It is a small world and people talk. Not guaranteeing him the bowl start was probably meant to push him for the next month to dial it in and improve. Instead of accepting the challenge, he pouted, turned tail and ran. I still wish him the best of luck, but if this story is even half true, the young man has a lot of growing up to do.

On the flip side, if the QB1 is causing that much consternation for the coach, the coach can also yank him for a spell. PJ didn't have to keep him in there when he was clearly melting down at times. However, if the QB1 is that fragile, he was probably between a rock and a hard place. A public benching may have had the same effect, and now you have an in-season distraction if the QB1 decides to throw a tantrum and leaves the team.

Glad I don't have to manage that crap.
 


disco said:
www.minnesotasportsfan.com

Why Did Athan Kaliakmanis Enter the Transfer Portal?

Report surfaces on why Athan Kaliakmanis decided to leave the Minnesota Gophers and enter the NCAA transfer portal.
www.minnesotasportsfan.com www.minnesotasportsfan.com
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Good lord....if this story is even remotely true then Athan may as well eliminate all power 4 schools from consideration as a landing spot and look for an FCS or maybe G5 school to finish out his college career.
 

My son has been telling me for three or four months that 8 just doesn’t like playing football with his body language he was certain of it. if this article is remotely true and I do think that Doogie is a dumb shit then maybe he won’t have to worry about it any longer he can just ride off into the sunset and be a student going forward.
 

Gopherchase said:
My son has been telling me for three or four months that 8 just doesn’t like playing football with his body language he was certain of it. if this article is remotely true and I do think that Doogie is a dumb shit then maybe he won’t have to worry about it any longer he can just ride off into the sunset and be a student going forward.
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For the record I don’t put stock in a single thing Doogie says. He literally just throws stuff at a wall to see what sticks.
 


Yeah the source (Doogie) is 50/50 at best. And I just highly doubt a source "close to Athan" would put out this story because it does not make Athan look good at all.

And yeah whoever wrote that "article" needs to take Comp 1001 again. Holy cow was that awful.
 

FredCoxRocks said:
That was a very clunky article to read. It's like it was being told by a 4-year-old right after he ran around the block a couple of times on a hot summer day.

I should have known right away when I saw that font and that many pop-ups.
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It is really hard to read.

"I'm gonna tell you why, well here's some vague second hand stuff and maybe that's not why ..." repeated.
 

I think there were plenty of games where Athan could have gotten his ass chewed out, but the Purdue game feels like the strangest one. That was the worst defensive performance in recent memory and it wasn't really close. 18-42 (43%) isn't a good completion percentage but he put up 30 in a Big Ten West game, that should be more than enough to win.

Hopefully it was an effort to ignite some fire in him rather than leaving him to shoulder much of the blame for this season's struggles. He had little help from any receiver that wasn't Daniel Jackson (looking at you, BSF and Crooms), and the offensive scheme was excruciatingly bland. That doesn't just seem like an Athan thing, either, because the offense has been in reverse since 2019.

I hope Max Brosmer pans out and allows PJ to really open up the playbook/gameplan. If they don't it would very likely limit his impact on this team.
 
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People are going to bag on our pass catchers in 2023 relentlessly. It’s understandable why. A dropped pass of any kind can only appear to be a dropped pass.

But the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about for some reason is ……

If you throw a ball that’s harder to catch …. it’s harder to catch it!

You really think that all of a sudden, from nothing … that Simon and the WR just decided “hey, let’s start practicing to not catch the ball this year!”


This will be dismissed and hand waived away.

But I will be vindicated in 2024 when, somehow magically with a lot of the same pass catchers, we start catching the ball again!
 

MplsGopher said:
People are going to bag on our pass catchers in 2023 relentlessly. It’s understandable why. A dropped pass of any kind can only appear to be a dropped pass.

But the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about for some reason is ……

If you throw a ball that’s harder to catch …. it’s harder to catch it!

You really think that all of a sudden, from nothing … that Simon and the WR just decided “hey, let’s start practicing to not catch the ball this year!”


This will be dismissed and hand waived away.

But I will be vindicated in 2024 when, somehow magically with a lot of the same pass catchers, we start catching the ball again!
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Some of the drops may certainly have been Athan's fault but there were some I can clearly remember that should have been caught including multiple TDs. The biggest one that jumps out at me though was a ball thrown to BSF that would have led to a first down or possible TD (Iowa game maybe) that hit him right in the hands and was thrown just fine.

Bottom line is that our pass catchers didn't do Athan a ton of favors although Jackson did make some really tough catches on balls that were not thrown particularly well.
 

So … you really think that our receivers got out of bed this year saying “let’s drop a bunch of balls!! Way more than ever before. Way more than makes any kind of sense!”

Hmm. Interesting
 

but it seemed like those with the Gophers were trying to pin like literally everything on him.
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Of course those close to him are going to defend him. More than likely this wasn't actually the case, it just "seemed" that way because family is always going to get defensive.

The "didn't promise he'd start the bowl game" is a joke.
 

MplsGopher said:
So … you really think that our receivers got out of bed this year saying “let’s drop a bunch of balls!! Way more than ever before. Way more than makes any kind of sense!”

Hmm. Interesting
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Assuming that was in response to my post that is not anywhere close to what I said in any way shape or form.

I'm not going back through all 12 games and analyzing each of the 25 or so dropped balls we had this year.

If I had to guess it was probably a 50/50 or 60/40 (one way or the other) split as to who's fault the drop was. I can definitely recall some that were 100% on the WR or TE, and I have zero doubt that some were primarily Athan's fault as well. BSF had a stretch this year where he was having a really hard time catching the ball and I don't recall thinking at the time it was because the passes he was dropping were uncatchable due to how they were thrown.
 


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