asking for a friend

that since the banquet was today we would hear soon the status of Claeys, yes?

On XM radio college sports right now.

"There are programs where eight wins wouldn’t be an acceptable season. Minnesota is not one of those programs. It’s a good debut for Claeys.

Grade: B"

Link: Florida State preview

From @E.J. Stevens

Florida State is an interesting team this year.. They kinda mirror the Gophers in the sense that they are trying to incorporate a few new players(5 new players, I think).... They haven't beat any real good teams yet and lost to Temple in a very close game considered an upset. They beat Illinois but Illinois is not playing real good either as they lost to Winthrop at home(as a sidelight, the Bromans from Duluth play for Winthrop) before these last tournament losses for the Illini.

Florida State is athletic and long but I think Minnesota can play well against them.. They can turn the ball over a bit and they really have not played an opponent that would be considered a big win, so far. I think we can beat them but if Lynch doesn't play with the ankle issue, that could make things a bit more difficult. Need solid guard play and good rebound technique... If we take care of the ball and shoot better than we did the last game, I think we can steal a win in Tallahassee.

Their coach is Leonard Hamilton... Hamilton has been around D1 coaching a long long time(46 years as an assistant or head coach).. His original 'claim to fame'; was recruiting a New York City playground legend in 1971 to Austin Peay, where he had started his college coaching career as a 22 year old. Hamilton made his name by recruiting a guy named James "FLY" Williams, who was a legend in the NYC RUCKER LEAGUE at the time.. It fostered the famous cheer " THE FLY is open, let's go Peay(pronounced PEE)" when he would play home games at Austin Peay.

Joe B Hall was impressed with Hamilton's recruiting and took him as an assistant at Kentucky in 1974. Hall figured if Hamilton could get a legend like WIlliams to a town like Clarksville, Tennessee(home of Austin Peay which is 50 miles NW of Nashville and just a few miles south of Fort Campbell on the Tennessee-Kentucky border), he could recruit real well at Lexington, which he did during his time for the Wildcats. Hamilton was assistant for Kentucky in John Wooden's last game as coach(UCLA beat Kentucky in that game) and assisted for the 1978 national championship win for Kentucky against Duke.

Hamilton took the Oklahoma State job, then Miami(FL) position where he won coach of the year in the Big East with a 15-13 record...He coached in the NBA for the Wizards, as well. He also won a coach of the year award at Florida State making him the first coach to win coach of the year of both the ACC and Big East. He is a guy a lot of people have talked about over the years but what is interesting is he has never gotten out of the 2nd round of the NCAAs as a head coach when his teams made the tournament. Looks young for 68 years old but has a lot of mileage on his history as a coach.

Anyways, I think the Gophers are going to get a challenge but like I said, we have to shoot a bit better, take care of the ball, and the bigs have to rebound/defend well so the Seminoles cant get out into the open floor. Similar to the Gophers in that fashion though I think Florida State may be a little bit bigger.

Here is a pregame read on what to expect tonight in the game against the Seminoles.

https://minnesota.rivals.com/news/florida-state-preview-26

Here is my rant about recruiting. Just want to get it off my chest...don't mean to take any personal shots at Claeys or really spark that debate too much but want to get the board's take because there certainly seems to be a lack of excitement.

Last year TC said two weeks before Signing Day they would sign 28. A couple days before Signing Day he said they were going to sign 25. None of us thought they would sign that many and they signed 20. This year it appears we're following a similar pattern. None of the recruiting sites have had much buzz and certainly aren't predicting we'll land enough of our remaining top targets to get to the 22-25 size this class will be.

I think we'll both come short of filling our allotted scholarships and have to flip some MAC/Sun Belt guys in the final 2 weeks. Some say to not be concerned about not filling scholarships because that way there's more space to award walk-ons and get late qualifiers, but let me remind you...most schools oversign, not undersign and there's a reason for that. And some that oversign still find room for late qualifiers or late additions like Greene.

When I look at recruiting...
We haven't flipped our lone top target at QB. That's concerning since he's been the only guy we've wanted for over 4 months and he's committed to Colorado State. A p5 program that consistently goes to bowl games, has new facilities coming, and has a graduating senior QB should be able to flip someone from Colorado State in that time period. Wouldn't be opposed to giving Taamu a scholarship.

At RB, we appear unaware of who our top target is. MJH says Jaykle Holmes but before he's said he's a slot guy and that they wanted to evaluate him more. Well he played QB this year so we didn't get to evaluate him at either QB or WR. No visit set up either during the season...so if we sign him I'm assuming we're getting a guy we kind of liked but didn't love. Wooden and Huntley appear to be backups...at this point it just seems like were only going through the motions with RB recruiting.

WR recruiting is concerning. All targets other than Hawes that we liked after evaluating junior film and spring ball are elsewhere or have Minnesota off their list.

Jake Paulson seems to be the man at TE. Hope we can get him and that more p5 programs don't offer like Illinois did. Not sure why Sal Cannella was ever a target as TE isn't a spot we need JUCOs for right? Hopefully that's not a sign that Brandon Lingen's injury is longterm or that Witham hasn't looked good. @kcgorilla I'd love to hear if you've heard anything...but of course I get it if there's information you can't share.

Not worried about OL no matter what happens with Gaynor. We're pretty set for next year. If there's someone who can find guys late, Bart Miller shown he's the guy plus I think he'll recruit well in future classes.

DL recruiting seems like it's going down the same comical train wreck path as last year. Croslen's a beast tho. Seems bizarre Boye Mafe hasn't committed yet and at this point I wonder if he picks up another p5 offer late when his film goes out and then goes there. It just doesn't make sense that he's not committed yet. He's had the offer for 2.5 months and visited elsewhere...this is way past sleeping on it, talking it over, and making sure it's the right fit. We've been Hubbard's favorite forever but for some reason still haven't decided if we want to take him. MJH says we want JUCOs but we haven't talked to Berry and Clemons is going bigger places? Who are we talking to then?

Not worried about LB recruiting no matter what happens...Sherels is the man and an ace recruiter.

Not worried about DB recruiting as long as Sawvel is here. I place full trust in him. Plus we turned away Terry right? We have more DBs that want to come here than we can make room for!

A little concerned we're giving a scholly to a kicker that was 5/12 this year. Carpenter is only a sophomore...we don't even need a kicker this class.

IMO we'll continue to be good at what we're good at (DB, LB). I think with Bart Miller we'll be able to add OL to that list too. I have concerns about RB and TE recruiting but we've struggled getting TEs before and always turned out more than fine. QB recruiting seems to be mismanaged just like it was under Limey/Z. DL recruiting is a clusterfvck like it's been the past couple years.

Hope we finish strong...Go Gophs!

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Does anyone have access to news media? Heard there was an on campus shooting. 8 injured ( 1 critical) one shooter apprehended (or shot). Not clear on more details.

I don't see him listed in the blurbs discussing each hour of the show.

If the next QB is gonna have any chance to succeed, we need to upgrade the talent and coaching at the wide receiver position.

Any ideas? This staff has a lot of career coaches.

I had a sort of idea. Maybe it's time to get creative?

I'm wondering if there are any talented, personable, recently retired NFL WRs who are looking to get into coaching? We don't have anybody like that on staff, and maybe it would be a recruiting and technique teaching boost to a position of need.

So to all the NFL fans on this board----does anybody fit the bill?

The Purdue Rivals writers don't know whether or not Fleck will be the guy but their tone wasn't hopeful. Also this "We also have very good reason to believe he and his family might be looking for a more metropolitan sort of community than Purdue would offer on top of numerous other considerations"

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun interviewed for the job which is surprising since he's brought up as a candidate for every job and never seems interested. He's been great at AFA and would be a home run for a team like Purdue.

He may not be playing professionally in football but I got to give this guy credit.. I would think he will be a 'shoe in' for any job he applies for in the state of Minnesota. Kid handles criticism like a pro, shows leadership and dedication, and is faithful to those he works with and under....What I have read, he works hard with a great attitude... I agree that QB may not be his future but that is the type of guy I would hire in a heartbeat, coming out of college. Even if he does not have technical knowledge, you can work with a guy like that and succeed.. I know most agree but I think this should be a point of emphasis as he is coming from a great college with some real good character traits developed in his life.

http://m.startribune.com/gophers-ad...tball-coach-tracy-claeys/403293716/?section=/

Interesting note I haven't seen anybody mention thus far. Claeys had a small buyout, but the assistants are also guaranteed through next year? So if they get canned that's another $2.93M on top of his $500K.

If that's true there's no way we'll eat that money. None.

I can't believe I haven't heard this mentioned before now.

Assuming that TC is either extended or fired when will that information come out?Technically they don't have to announce anything right now since he has another year but nobody coaches in the last year of their contract.

My guess is not until after next weekend... My personal dream scenario is TC fired and hire Fleck who brings his offensive staff and keeps most of the current staff on defense.

I simply keep going through the situations in my head and I can't figure it out.

What was our issue?

Was it good coaching but terrible QB play ?

Was it bad WR play that made our QB look worse?

Was is bad play calling and game management/motivation by our current staff ?

I can see parts of each but I can't say "it's all Claeys" or "its all Mitch" or "it's all play calling and WRs".

I honestly have no idea what we need to do in order to take the next step.

We are not bad. We are not good. We are better than average. But how do we get to the next level? No clue

Blaise Andries, Brett Kitrell, Javan Hawes, Dominik London, and Grant Ryerse will take their official visits December 9-11.

Rodney Smith - MVP
Rodney Smith - Bruce Smith Award (Outstanding Offensive Player)
Damarius Travis - Carl Eller Award (Outstanding Defensive Player)
Emmit Carpenter - Bobby Bell Award (Outstanding Special Teams Player)

Antoine Winfield Jr. - Outstanding Defensive Freshman
Tyler Johnson - Outstanding Offensive Freshman
Gary Moore - Defensive Work Team Player of the Year
Seth Green - Offensive Work Team Player of the Year
Damarius Travis - Defensive Back of the Year
Jonathan Celestin - Linebacker of the Year
Steven Richardson - Defensive Lineman of the Year
Nate Wozniak - Tight End of the Year
Drew Wolitarsky - Wide Receiver of the Year
Rodney Smith - Running Back of the Year
Jonah Pirsig - Offensive Lineman of the Year

Damarius Travis - Tony Dungy Award (great character on and off the field)
Nick Rallis, Jack Lynn, and Mitch Leidner - Neil Fredenburg Award (love of the game)
Mitch Leidner - Paul Giel Award (most concern for the University)
Blake Cashman - Gary Tinsley Award (underdog)
Scott Ekpe - Butch Nash Award (commitment on the field and in the classroom)

before we score.........leaving 59 seconds on the clock

It was second down.

Why are we calling timeout?

Bucky knows who we are and decided not to go for it, but still, that was stunning.

It was completely bonehead actually!

I watched part of the post game interview with Harbaugh and observed him complaining and whining over several calls by the refs. First, I thought this was inappropriate and against BIG 10 rules as Claeys has always refused to criticize officials after the game saying it was against conference rules to do that. Second, regardless of policy, it is very poor sportsmanship to complain, cry and whine about officiating after the fact. The game is over. Its in the books and the complaints will not change the outcome. Finally, it sends a very poor message to all the young athletes watching such a poor display of sportsmanship.

Darren WolfsonVerified account
‏@DWolfsonKSTP Darren Wolfson Retweeted Ryan Templin
Why blank? His options more limited than weeks ago. Mid 60's offers me pause. But if curious if Les would come here, hear now yes. #Gophers

Darren Wolfson ‏@DWolfsonKSTP
@jdohrn08 Hmmm. Been reporting on sports in this market for 20 years. Just might now a person or two. Word weeks ago was no. Now, it's yes.

I'm sure he does as he needs to or it would be career suicide, but I get the feeling he'd be a much happier guy in a film room as a highly paid DC that doesn't have to be the face of a team, out glad-handing, and being a closer in recruiting.

Maybe I'm way off, but he does not look comfortable and engaged as a HC. Coyle could end up doing him a huge favor if he goes another direction.

Hypothetical: Would you be opposed to Charlie Strong coaching at Minnesota? Regardless of his record at Texas, he teams were fantastic at Louisville.

Strong was fired today BTW.

Given what happened at Wisky, I think it's time for some positivity. It's hard to get overly excited about a team coming off of a crap year like last year, however, having watched all the games so far I can honestly say that this is a totally different team. I have been pleasantly surprised at the style of play, the pace of play and to some degree the defensive intensity. Turnovers have been kept way down compared to last year, and we appear to have some three point shooters now. Amir Coffey is the real deal.

Feel free to disagree. I should mention that I feel the game against FSU tomorrow night will be a big test for these boys and a chance to prove they are a new team.