Would beating Iowa get us a better Coach?

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I have to believe that some potential coaches had to take note that the Gophers cupboard is not completely bare and there are at least a few Big 10 worthy players on our team if we can could beat a decent Illinois team on the road.

Do you think if we beat Iowa it might cause a potential hire that might be on the fence about throwing their name in for consideration to say what the heck, there is some hope there and a win against Iowa would be enough for them to take the plunge to pursue the job....or would a win be a non-factor? If you take a look at most of our losses this year we have not been horrible and are respectable, at least we did not have any WI-IN type losses.

I think if we beat Iowa it could cause some coaches to take a harder look at coming here.

Thoughts?
 

I think it will only help the process. It would show some of the character the players on the team have.
 

I think ending on a positive note by beating Iowa would give the existing players hope for the future and some satisfaction from this year. I don't think it would impact a prospective coach that much. The coach is going to assume a huge rebuilding effort anyway.
 


I don't think it would get us a better coach. I think it would get us a better record next year! I think it would leave a positive for returning players, encourage them to work harder in the off season, gain confidence. Looking at Oregon, WI, Illinois, and the Gophers, regardless of how good your team is there will be a couple games (at least) every year that come down to a couple plays. Does your team have the confidence to make those plays?


Lets say your player X, you are sitting out the last couple of games and thinking about transferring. But you like the coach that was hired so you stay and the team won the last two games of the season while you were out. I think that player would be motivated to work harder in the off season/ change focus to earn playing time next year.

In a way it is kinda like when Mike Tice went for a two point conversion to win the game in either his time as the interim coach or his first year. It didn't change the season but it built momentum for the next year.
 


It would help recruiting. It would give the new coach something to work with. It is also a conversation starter during follow up calls. A two game winning streak at the end would be nice all around.
 


I think it definitely couldn't hurt. Simpletons think that much like the professional ranks, if you aren't going to win it all you might as well play for draft picks. Obviously in college, that holds no weight.

Any coach looking to take up a rebuilding project would much rather have some pieces in place than nothing at all.

It's like restoring a classic car. You hope that the chassis is in good shape and that you can salvage anything possible. Nobody wants to walk into a complete, 180 degree restoration.

/end clunky car metaphor.
 

I would hope not. The process has been going on for almost a month now, we better have a list of guys that are interested.

If we are still gathering names then I am very worried about this administrations ability to make a decision.
 



a win never hurts

As others have mentioned, beating Iowa would have a lot of positives for next year. Beating IL was huge for demonstrating that this team isn't a total train wreck. Although ironically it could mean we wind up competing with Illinois for a new coach if the Zookster gets S-canned.

I would hope that whomever we bring in as our next coach isn't basing his decision on whether we can beat Iowa, or Illinois for that matter. He had better be committed to taking on a major project, regardless of our record. If he needs convincing, I question whether he's the right guy, or if his heart's in the right place.

That said, it would definitely help if we don't get our dicks kicked 55-0. And I don't want to hear about any Iowegians playing hide the salami in the restrooms at TCF. Of course, for an Iowan, getting it on in a crapper is as much a stretch goal as it would be to join the 5 mile high club for anyone in the other 49 states. :D
 

Is anybody worried that beating Iowa would get us a coach named Jeff Horton next year? Would they consider that direction more if we beat Iowa?
 

Gopher Gold said:
Is anybody worried that beating Iowa would get us a coach named Jeff Horton next year? Would they consider that direction more if we beat Iowa?
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I don't think so. This was still a bad team this year and I think the results of the final two games (should the gophers win) would be more a result of the opponent being down rather than the gophers playing great football (the did look good/not great against Illinois). The also were no where near competitive with MSU or OSU. Horton has done a good job keeping order in the program and the kids are to be commended for still playing hard (at least we are not Indiana).

The only way you could consider keeping Horton on (and I don't think you can) is if Brewster was so over barring and a control freak in areas of play calling and game prep that Horton wasn't allowed to be the offensive coordinator until Brew was fired. From an offensive standpoint (points per game) the team isn't terribly improved from last year.
 

How long before Horton finds another job? If we take too much time after the season, he's going to be gone on another job, and we would need someone to mind the store until the next coach gets here. Horton isn't going to be our next head coach, but if he wants to go to the head coaching route again, there might be a lower tier school that would be interested.
 



RodentRampage said:
How long before Horton finds another job? If we take too much time after the season, he's going to be gone on another job, and we would need someone to mind the store until the next coach gets here. Horton isn't going to be our next head coach, but if he wants to go to the head coaching route again, there might be a lower tier school that would be interested.
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I would bet you a large amount of money (and give you nice odds) that Horton isn't a head coach anytime soon. He just snapped a long losing streak of his own. His stint as a OC ended with the HC being fired. He most likely wasn't the problem on this team, but he wasn't a solution either. I don't think their will be more than two weeks from the end of the Iowa game until a head coach is named. I think the store will survive, either way it will be gutted and remodeled when the new coach gets here.
 

Any coach that would be positively influenced by an Iowa win doesn't have what it takes to turn this program around.

I also believe any coach good enough to turn this program around can not be signed by an AD of Maturi's caliber. The U and its athletic department are in as bad a need of an upgrade as the coaching staff. To U needs its upgrade before any coach good enough to take us to the next level will come.
 

Silvio said:
I would bet you a large amount of money (and give you nice odds) that Horton isn't a head coach anytime soon. He just snapped a long losing streak of his own. His stint as a OC ended with the HC being fired. He most likely wasn't the problem on this team, but he wasn't a solution either. I don't think their will be more than two weeks from the end of the Iowa game until a head coach is named. I think the store will survive, either way it will be gutted and remodeled when the new coach gets here.
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His stint at HC was 12 years ago, he just might be a better coach now than he was then. It's quite possible that he may get a chance to be a HC at a lower level, if he wants to go that route.

The problem with this team is clearly defense. The Gophers scored 259 points in the regular season last year (ignoring the bowl game for a fair comparison), this team is ahead of that after only 11 games at 262 points. The 2009 defense gave up 295 points in the regular season, this team has already given up 351 points through 11 games. The defense has already given up the 5th most points in Gophers history. The worst was the 1983 team with 518 points given up, the second and third worst were Brewster's 07 and 08 defenses.
 

RodentRampage said:
His stint at HC was 12 years ago, he just might be a better coach now than he was then. It's quite possible that he may get a chance to be a HC at a lower level, if he wants to go that route.

The problem with this team is clearly defense. The Gophers scored 259 points in the regular season last year (ignoring the bowl game for a fair comparison), this team is ahead of that after only 11 games at 262 points. The 2009 defense gave up 295 points in the regular season, this team has already given up 351 points through 11 games. The defense has already given up the 5th most points in Gophers history. The worst was the 1983 team with 518 points given up, the second and third worst were Brewster's 07 and 08 defenses.
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If you look at the offensive and defensive rankings by points scored and points against they are both terrible. So lets assume they are shut out by Iowa (let me play devils advocate) would you consider an 11 point improvement on offense to be good considering almost everyone was back.

The defense has been terrible, but the offense has not been good. In fact I think if you were to compare the two years for BigTen play only they would be quite similar.
 

It doesn't make any difference. Maturi already has the new coach picked out!
 

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