Warmath and Fleck- Parallel Career Paths?

[Nomellini]

The 2021-2022 Gophers feel to me a lot like the 1956-1957 editions. Yes, I am THAT old. Warmath's 1956 squad went 6-1-2 and blew a Rose Bowl bid by losing to Iowa in a game Minnesota dominated statistically. The 1957 team returned lots of talent and it raced off to a 3-0 start and a #4 national ranking. The quarterback, Bobby Cox, even graced the cover of "Sports Illustrated"! But a debacle at Illinois burst the Gopher bubble and a tailspin began. Minnesota rebounded briefly with a 34-0 pasting of a bad Indiana team but then lost their last 3 to finish at 4-5. Are you with me so far?
We are all wondering how the 2022 season will end and a 1957 repeat is a distinct possibility. Fleck will have to do some serious work to rebuild for 2023. Warmath was faced with the same task, but with no portal, and things did not go well. The 1958 team went 1-8 and the 1959 outfit finished at 2-7. That team lost 5 games by 8 points or less but that "improvement" was lost on most. Warmath was hanged in effigy and his home pelted with garbage. But Murray was putting together something special (2 Rose Bowl appearances and a cumulative 22-6-1 record over 1960-1962).
How will Fleck fare in his rebuilding project? If things go as badly as they did for Warmath, what kind of vitriol would he face? Would he be given same chance for redemption that Murray was afforded? If so, could he revive his career similarly? Different eras, different circumstances, of course, but intriguing to me nonetheless.

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

The 2021-2022 Gophers feel to me a lot like the 1956-1957 editions. Yes, I am THAT old. Warmath's 1956 squad went 6-1-2 and blew a Rose Bowl bid by losing to Iowa in a game Minnesota dominated statistically. The 1957 team returned lots of talent and it raced off to a 3-0 start and a #4 national ranking. The quarterback, Bobby Cox, even graced the cover of "Sports Illustrated"! But a debacle at Illinois burst the Gopher bubble and a tailspin began. Minnesota rebounded briefly with a 34-0 pasting of a bad Indiana team but then lost their last 3 to finish at 4-5. Are you with me so far?
We are all wondering how the 2022 season will end and a 1957 repeat is a distinct possibility. Fleck will have to do some serious work to rebuild for 2023. Warmath was faced with the same task, but with no portal, and things did not go well. The 1958 team went 1-8 and the 1959 outfit finished at 2-7. That team lost 5 games by 8 points or less but that "improvement" was lost on most. Warmath was hanged in effigy and his home pelted with garbage. But Murray was putting together something special (2 Rose Bowl appearances and a cumulative 22-6-1 record over 1960-1962).
How will Fleck fare in his rebuilding project? If things go as badly as they did for Warmath, what kind of vitriol would he face? Would he be given same chance for redemption that Murray was afforded? If so, could he revive his career similarly? Different eras, different circumstances, of course, but intriguing to me nonetheless.

Thanks for this interesting bit of history. I do remember that Warmath's turn-around from 1959 to 1960 was a big topic of sports conversation - maybe it was a record at that time, from 2-7 to 8-2.

 

[jonnyganas]

The 2021-2022 Gophers feel to me a lot like the 1956-1957 editions. Yes, I am THAT old. Warmath's 1956 squad went 6-1-2 and blew a Rose Bowl bid by losing to Iowa in a game Minnesota dominated statistically. The 1957 team returned lots of talent and it raced off to a 3-0 start and a #4 national ranking. The quarterback, Bobby Cox, even graced the cover of "Sports Illustrated"! But a debacle at Illinois burst the Gopher bubble and a tailspin began. Minnesota rebounded briefly with a 34-0 pasting of a bad Indiana team but then lost their last 3 to finish at 4-5. Are you with me so far?
We are all wondering how the 2022 season will end and a 1957 repeat is a distinct possibility. Fleck will have to do some serious work to rebuild for 2023. Warmath was faced with the same task, but with no portal, and things did not go well. The 1958 team went 1-8 and the 1959 outfit finished at 2-7. That team lost 5 games by 8 points or less but that "improvement" was lost on most. Warmath was hanged in effigy and his home pelted with garbage. But Murray was putting together something special (2 Rose Bowl appearances and a cumulative 22-6-1 record over 1960-1962).
How will Fleck fare in his rebuilding project? If things go as badly as they did for Warmath, what kind of vitriol would he face? Would he be given same chance for redemption that Murray was afforded? If so, could he revive his career similarly? Different eras, different circumstances, of course, but intriguing to me nonetheless.

Thanks for the historical perspective. History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes (I think that's a Mark Twain quote?)

It remains to be seen what happens for the rest of the Fleck era, but I do think he has what it takes to adapt to new circumstances, learn from the past, and build something special. The program under Fleck has teased heights I hadn't felt since 2003. Count me as hopeful.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Anything is possible.

MN just needs to recruit the modern equivalent of Sandy Stephens, Judge Dickson, Carl Eller, Bobby Bell, Tom Brown.............

you're talking about a team that had multiple Hall of Fame players on it.

 

[Mulligan]

I'm damn near as old I'd guess; but, no, don't think there is much to compare. It's a Viking town and PJ will be made fun of but he isn't going to be hanged in effigy if the program goes completely belly up. The passion for Gopher football isn't there any more. You don't have a Sunday peach section with at least 4 full pages devoted to the Gopher game. You don't have people all over the state being able to know if the Gophers are winning or losing just by the tone of Ray's voice. Too many cupcakes to end the season with only 1 loss. Conversely, PJ isn't going to win a national championship unless Southern universities suddenly stop recruiting black football players.

 

[Nomellini]

I'm damn near as old I'd guess; but, no, don't think there is much to compare. It's a Viking town and PJ will be made fun of but he isn't going to be hanged in effigy if the program goes completely belly up. The passion for Gopher football isn't there any more. You don't have a Sunday peach section with at least 4 full pages devoted to the Gopher game. You don't have people all over the state being able to know if the Gophers are winning or losing just by the tone of Ray's voice. Too many cupcakes to end the season with only 1 loss. Conversely, PJ isn't going to win a national championship unless Southern universities suddenly stop recruiting black football players.

I loved the Sunday Peach with lots of Gopher game photos, especially those that trace the path of the football in a sequence on an important pass play.