Iceland12
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-The Strib talks about Bobby Bell getting his number retired.
-Charley Walters continues to push Gary Barnett for the Gophers.
-"Hitting the rock" does not mean to just run the ball
From the Strib:
"The University of Minnesota will retire the jersey of former Gopher and NFL great Bobby Bell during Minnesota's homecoming game against Northwestern on Oct. 2.
Bell's name and familiar number 78 will be immortalized, along with the names and jersey numbers of Bronko Nagurski (72), Bruce Smith (54), Paul Giel (10) and Sandy Stephens (15), on the façade of the upper deck in TCF Bank Stadium.
"I think it's a great thing for me," Bell said. "I'll be joining four other guys who are up there and are great football players. It's just an honor. For me, to come from North Carolina playing six-man football and come to Minnesota and become ... I just can't explain it to you. That's history. Once you go up there ... that's something they can't take away from you. It's always going to be there."
Bell will sign autographs inside the TCF Bank Stadium gates near the Tribal Nations plaza before the game. He is also scheduled to take part in the pregame coin toss."
From Charley Walters
"— Two-time Big Ten football coach of the year Gary Barnett, who led Northwestern to the 1996 Rose Bowl, was at TCF Bank Stadium as analyst for Sports USA Radio for Saturday's 32-21 win by Southern California over the University of Minnesota.
Before that Rose Bowl, the Wildcats, known more for academics than football prowess, had been to only one bowl game in school history, the 1949 Rose Bowl. Before Barnett took over, Northwestern had arguably the nation's worst major college football program.
It took four years for Barnett to coach Northwestern to the Rose Bowl. The Gophers haven't been to a Rose Bowl since 1962.
I asked Barnett, 64, how he managed to make Northwestern a winner and whether he could offer any advice for Minnesota.
"The way it happened for us was with continuity with our coaches," Barnett said. "We recruited good kids, and we were just persistent about where we wanted to go. We just kept hitting the rock, hitting the rock, hitting the rock, doing the same things, but we did it with good kids.
"And eventually we had four or five players who could play for most teams. The other 17 or 18 guys were really just good team members and decent football players. But we kept them all; we didn't lose any to eligibility, to test scores and that sort of stuff, and we were able to develop them. That's basically what happened."
Barnett is also modest about his success at Northwestern.
"We flew under the radar quite a bit, too, and I don't know that Tim has had the opportunity to fly under the radar," Barnett said of embattled Gophers coach Tim Brewster.
Barnett, who said he was interested in the Minnesota job that went to Brewster, said he would coach again "in the right place for the right athletic director."
"But I'm at that age where I know that a lot of these jobs are about marketing, the athletic department being able to market the head coach," he said. "And I don't know that at my age that I'm a marketable item anymore."
Barnett has been out of coaching since he left a scandal-plagued Colorado program during the 2005 season."
Bobby Bell is still "behind Brewster 100%"
Thaileagle says "fire Brewster now".
-Charley Walters continues to push Gary Barnett for the Gophers.
-"Hitting the rock" does not mean to just run the ball
From the Strib:
"The University of Minnesota will retire the jersey of former Gopher and NFL great Bobby Bell during Minnesota's homecoming game against Northwestern on Oct. 2.
Bell's name and familiar number 78 will be immortalized, along with the names and jersey numbers of Bronko Nagurski (72), Bruce Smith (54), Paul Giel (10) and Sandy Stephens (15), on the façade of the upper deck in TCF Bank Stadium.
"I think it's a great thing for me," Bell said. "I'll be joining four other guys who are up there and are great football players. It's just an honor. For me, to come from North Carolina playing six-man football and come to Minnesota and become ... I just can't explain it to you. That's history. Once you go up there ... that's something they can't take away from you. It's always going to be there."
Bell will sign autographs inside the TCF Bank Stadium gates near the Tribal Nations plaza before the game. He is also scheduled to take part in the pregame coin toss."
From Charley Walters
"— Two-time Big Ten football coach of the year Gary Barnett, who led Northwestern to the 1996 Rose Bowl, was at TCF Bank Stadium as analyst for Sports USA Radio for Saturday's 32-21 win by Southern California over the University of Minnesota.
Before that Rose Bowl, the Wildcats, known more for academics than football prowess, had been to only one bowl game in school history, the 1949 Rose Bowl. Before Barnett took over, Northwestern had arguably the nation's worst major college football program.
It took four years for Barnett to coach Northwestern to the Rose Bowl. The Gophers haven't been to a Rose Bowl since 1962.
I asked Barnett, 64, how he managed to make Northwestern a winner and whether he could offer any advice for Minnesota.
"The way it happened for us was with continuity with our coaches," Barnett said. "We recruited good kids, and we were just persistent about where we wanted to go. We just kept hitting the rock, hitting the rock, hitting the rock, doing the same things, but we did it with good kids.
"And eventually we had four or five players who could play for most teams. The other 17 or 18 guys were really just good team members and decent football players. But we kept them all; we didn't lose any to eligibility, to test scores and that sort of stuff, and we were able to develop them. That's basically what happened."
Barnett is also modest about his success at Northwestern.
"We flew under the radar quite a bit, too, and I don't know that Tim has had the opportunity to fly under the radar," Barnett said of embattled Gophers coach Tim Brewster.
Barnett, who said he was interested in the Minnesota job that went to Brewster, said he would coach again "in the right place for the right athletic director."
"But I'm at that age where I know that a lot of these jobs are about marketing, the athletic department being able to market the head coach," he said. "And I don't know that at my age that I'm a marketable item anymore."
Barnett has been out of coaching since he left a scandal-plagued Colorado program during the 2005 season."
Bobby Bell is still "behind Brewster 100%"
Thaileagle says "fire Brewster now".