ESPN reporting Strong will coach final game against TCU and then will be owed $10.7 million buyout for last two years

The more I think about it, its the perfect timing to hire a new coach. We normally hire a new coach after we sucked and need to rebuild. Need to gut the roster, start over with the culture, etc

In this case, we just decide not to extend the interim coach. We return the entire OL (sans Pirsig but we played quite a few games without him), two amazing JR running backs, all receivers other than Wolitarsky and all the TE's.

The new coach lands a JUCO QB and we are off an running...and a couple of stud receivers

The new facilities are already being built...

Its a perfect storm for a guy like PJ Fleck in my opinion. Fleck would inherit a roster that can compete right now and he would recruit to a MUCH higher level.

Again, this isn't firing Clayes...its not extending him after giving him the interim job

Would love to keep several staff members too.

One of the greatest centers in the college game ever... If it wasn't for injury, he was probably headed that way in pros.

But I just heard him do the color analysis of the Tennessee-Wisconsin game out in Hawaii. Brutal is being nice. BTW,Wisconsin won.. But ESPN has to do something to correct Bill or tell him maybe it is time to hang it up. The game is going on and he is talking about plants he saw on his bike ride on the island with Rick Barnes.. Repeated himself a few times.. Would not get back to the game when he would go on his diatribes of things in his life....He is very interesting but as a color analyst, it is not the right time to share his memoirs with the world on TV when the result of the game was still in doubt. Maybe too much Grateful Dead, mushrooms, time on the beach, whatever.... But I have not been that embarrassed for a color analyst in sports for a long time... GREAT GREAT GREAT PLAYER who is interesting but maybe color analyst in a game situation has passed him by... WOW.

Tired of seeing the FLECK thread never ending.

Rittenberg @ ESPN - "But Minnesota should never fire an eight-win coach. Claeys deserves to keep coaching with greater security."

Really? We should view 8 wins as our acceptable ceiling? Interesting. Thoughts?

lly extend your arm to pat yourself on the back if this is the effort we are going to see this winter.

That was a fun 2nd 10 minutes of the 1st half. Hope it continues.

Per the Pioneer Press.

He'll walk with the seniors today on Senior Night.

It will be interesting to hear what Claeys says at the postgame presser about this.

Demry Croft and especially Seth Green have looked good in practice, and if Green or Croft will be the guy next year, it makes sense.

If it has to do with the rumors about him not getting his scholarship renewed, that would seem like a fairly ridiculous move from the Gophers staff, so I'm assuming it's not related to that.

As much as enjoy the potential that this year's team shows, it was painfully obvious tonight that the key to success this year will be Akeem Springs.

Adding Lynch and Curry up front has given us great depth up front. If Murphy can discontinue his habit of getting in foul trouble so quickly, he, along with the two newcomers will make a nice trio in the paint. Coffey is solid at the 3, and McBrayer and Mason should also be competitive as a starting backcourt.

The biggest concern I would have, were I coaching it, would be that there is ZERO depth behind McBrayer and Mason. I had heard about an out of control Springs in scrimmages, exhibitions and non-TV games, and unfortunately, Springs lived up to that tonight.

I expected so much more from a grad year transfer. Silly me.

Springs reminds me of Morris in that he is skilled enough to look good in an undisciplined game, but either too immature or too selfish to understand how to play the game without just looking to hoist it every time he touches it.

Gilbert is a stop gal who can play limited minutes, and Coffey, despite looking like a really nice 3, should not be a primary ball handler, so not sure what we're going to do when we get to the Big Ten games if/when one or both of our guards get banged up or in foul trouble.

If I'm Pitino, I'm continuing to throw Springs out there during the non-conference (though with a very short chain when it comes to poor decision making). We need him to be a reliable cog in the backcourt rotation if we have any hope of post-season play.

Other thoughts?

Big Ten is best conference in college football with 3 teams in top 5; 4 in top 8, 5 in top 17.

Gophs rank pretty well in Big Ten:

#4 scoring offense
#6 scoring defense
#5 rush off
#3 rush def
#2 in turnover margin
#2 in sacks
#1 in sacks against
#1 in fg made
#1 in kick off coverage
#2 in fg pct
#3 in red zone TDs
#5 time of possession
Rodney #5 rusher: good to see a 1,000 yard guy again
Woli #3 WR receptions

What do ya think?

Schedule breaks into four 3-game segments nicely:

1) all three (first year of only 3) non-con are at home...get Oregon State, Indiana State, bye week, Colorado State.

you've got to like our odds in those three...but, we struggled to beat CSU (overtime), Kent State and Ohio last year in non-con (both fg wins).

2) then we get at Penn State, Iowa here and at Maryland.

need to win one of those three, two would be nice. Figure Maryland best odds for a win. But, we beat Penn State in '13, destroyed Iowa in '14. Penn State had a lot of turnover on roster and staff. Maryland all new staff.

3) then we get Rutgers here, at Illinois, Purdue here

sweep those three. Illinois beat us in '14. All new staff at Rutgers. Huge staff and roster turnover for Illini. Purdue must have over half of staff new.

4) we finish at Nebraska, Northwestern here, at Wisconsin. We beat Nebraska in '13 and '14, beat Northwestern in '13 qnd '14. Have to beat Wisconsin sometime.

win one of those three, two would be nice. Figure Northwestern best odds.

so 3-0, 1-2. 3-0, 1-2. that would be 8-4 overall. 5-4 in conference. should get you a decent Bowl game. You can get to that by just taking care of business in games you should be favored in and handling Maryland and Northwestern.

I don't think that is an overly optimistic scenario.

Do all that plus pull off another win or two from IA, WI, NE or PSU and now you are looking at 9-3 or 10-2 and we are at that next step forward from 2013 and 2014 we were hoping for.

keys:

OL: it all starts here....team will be as good or bad as this unit. Oline lost a ton of guys...hoping on two jucos to be major contributors, hoping on Moore to develop another step...hoping Pirsig is healthy and has a big final year....after that, I don't know what will happen. Claeys has thrown out the Connelly and Dovich names, but that is about all. New guy Bart Miller has his hands full. Need Mayes, Oseland, Weyler,

QB: get a healthy Mitch playing like (and a little better) he did post-Kill (minus Wisconsin game). Hope Croft is a more than able back-up or a true frosh blossoms quickly. I actually feel OK about this spot.

RB: Strength of the offense. Need those two-backs to take another step forward, hope juco McCrary adds something, maybe JFC or JJ surprise.

TE/H-Back: Lingen stays healthy, takes another step forward...same with Woz. Maybe Hart, Scarver, Beebe or Witham find a role in the new offense. You can feel OK about this spot.

PASSING: Jay Johnson figures out how to replace KJ Maye. Returning Woli, Carter and Lingen can do some things; after that a lot of questions...Can you mix in a RB as a rcvr? Maybe you find a role for Strevy? Can you get something out of Woz as a rcvr? Does one or more of Still, Gentry, Holland, Register become reliable and a speed/size threat? Does Mayer or a true frosh surprise? After Bart Miller, Brian Anderson has hardest job on offense, but he has a lot of guys to work with. Better o-line, better QB play, improved backs

K: Santoso takes a step forward.

Safety: Travis comes back like they hope he does and Rogers comes back like they hope he does and this unit is a strength That would be huge. Some experienced depth, but they need McGhee and Ayinde to get better. Or they need one or more of Dior, Craighton, Huff, Cashman to step up.

CB: Need Myrick to be huge and healthy. Need three guys from Hardin, Shenault, Buford, Durr, Thomas, Winfield to be Big Ten ready. Nice job by Sawvel to get bodies.

LB: After Lynn and Poock, I don't know what they do and Poock seems injury prone. Celestin and Huff move well and tackle well but seem a little undersized against some of the big Big Ten lines. Rallis going to go one more year? Maybe Everett Williams or Dixon impresses in Spring? Jaylen Waters might be the guy to step up. Claeys seems to like Jaylen. Has a little more size. I like the three LB recruits, true frosh may push older guys.

DT: actually looks like a strength with Richardson, Ekpe, juco Jackson, Stelter, Moore and Timms a nice three deep.

DE: need Hank and Elmore to make big steps forward. after that, a LOT of questions: Kafo, Gibson, DeLatti, a new frosh de guy? Sawvel and Phelps may have to be creative here.

P: Santoso has a big leg. Some walk-ons in the system.

LS returns.

Does Claeys as the HC change the overall performance? What does O'Brien bring to the mix in the secondary? Sounds like he might also have special teams along with one of the new ga/qc guys. Does Jay Johnson improve the offense? Does a Jay Johnson/Adam Weber combo improve QB play? Does Miller and two new GA/QC guys with oline background improve oline play? Does Keanon Cooper bring a little something to the secondary as a GA?

Half a year to Fall camp.

MJH,
Are we done with O Line Recruiting or does Rasmussen graduating add another spot?

i feel like we have shut down Shannon Brooks ourselves. He needs more touches....he had runs last year that were inspirational....Rodney Smith is really good but....

Last home game of the year !

This game is huge for bowl placement as a win puts us in a good spot in the pecking order.

We come out strong behind a good mix of passing and running. Our D looks good at controlling their running game but gives up a few splash plays to their passing game.

Halftime:

Gophers 10
wildcats 7

The 2nd half is where it gets ugly. We can't pass and we go into conservative mode.

Final:

Gophers 13
wildcats. 21

What say y'all ?

Today versus NW, if I told you Claeys gets a 4 year contract and remains the coach if we beat NW OR...

If we lose, we get Fleck at years end because they let Claeys go...

What do you cheer for? A win or a loss ?

Honestly ???

Claeys opened up that they got out of the gate quick, and that it was good to get out in front early since the defense is built to play with a lead. He said he was extremely proud of the defense’s effort and that they get better each week. The offense made the plays it needed to to win the game. He said this was the best effort defensively they have had this year, and that even on the one scoring drive that Northwestern had a few breaks that went their way.

Coach gave credit to Shannon Brooks really helping them ice the game by running hard and catching passes, then gave credit to Mitch for making the throws he needed to and icing the game with the TD pass to Drew Wolitarsky.

In reference to settling for field goals, Claeys said if they hadn’t missed the first extra point he would’ve gone for it on fourth down, but that he wanted a two score lead. Once we had a two score lead, he felt confident that we would be able to keep it.

The offensive coaching staff came up with idea of Matt Leidner snapping the ball to Mitch Leidner during the final moments, pretty cool moment for them and their family.

The senior class finishes this year 6-1 at home, and has worked extremely hard to turn the team around and has done a great job leading in the offseason. To have two winning records in the Big Ten over three years hasn’t been done here in the Big Ten, so Claeys mentioned this senior class starting a trend for the Gophers of consistency each year.

Claeys mentioned Steven Richardson may be the best defensive tackle in the Big Ten, and that if it wasn’t for his height he could’ve played anywhere he wanted. Coach even said he thinks he has more upside too since he missed some time last year.

He gave credit to Blake Cashman for his big day, said he is a classic “tweener” between safety and linebacker. Not good enough cover guy to play in the secondary, and too small to play linebacker, but in passing situation with spread teams he is able to run and match up well with running backs. He is hard to block and has a great motor.

Each game we’ve lost on the road has come down to a series, so although it will be tough he expects to be competitive and be in it. He credits the coaches for putting together solid game plans in being competitive in each big game. Coach said it is imperative that we come out strong, and last time we went to Wisconsin we came out strong, but didn’t finish strong.

On most of the starters returning next year, Claeys mentioned by name that Tyler Johnson and Rashad Still are both young and coming back, as well as both of the running backs. On the offensive line, he said that we will miss Jonah Pirsig, however we’ve been redshirting some guys so that next year there shouldn’t be a depth issue on the offensive line. On defense he mentions by name Jalen Myrick as a guy we have to replace, but that we have six corners and he likes the athleticism of their kids. By playing younger players it gives you a chance to be competitive and grow each year.

There was some talk with Wisconsin dropping off before the season started, but they’ve done a great job replacing their seniors from last year. They are extremely aggressive in play hard. Coach said they match up pretty similarly, both of our defenses are one of the better ones in the conference and both rushing offenses are in the top of the conference. Coach said it’ll be a challenge, but they are looking forward to it.

Claeys said that a few seasons out is far away from now, but that if we do a good job recruiting and if you can get to November and have it mean something, that is important. If we win Saturday and Nebraska loses, we won’t win the Big Ten championship, but we would still be considered co-Big Ten West Champions. Eight wins three out of the past few years hasn’t been done here, same with 6-1 records at home, and that is the consistency they are trying to build.

Coach said Wisconsin was more balanced last year, but that they won’t beat themselves. They are patient with their run game and use their two running backs well. They have a very good defense, and that the games usually go fast because they do such a good job running the ball.

Next week’s game at Camp Randall is scheduled for 2:30PM.

Gophers don't make it. I've said that I was hearing conflicting reports on Hafiz and wasn't really sure how interested Minnesota really was in him. Even with the official visit, I don't think Minnesota ever had strong interest in Hafiz, as crazy as that sounds. And I'm not just saying that now that Minnesota's off his list.

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NOT easy to play at Minnesota all the time but I loved the way the guys came to play today.. Mitch, Woli, Travis, Myrick,.......All the linemen.....They went through a lot but came to give Gopher fans all they had today.. Cant criticize this win.........

I WANT TO BE WRONG, BABY.. I said before the season that their record for the regular season would be 8-4.. I want us to be 9-3 and believe with the right effort, we can give the Badgers a rough time.. C'MON GOPHERS, PROVE ME WRONG WITH A WIN NEXT WEEK BUT BE SURE TO ENJOY THIS ONE, TONIGHT

This game is a toss-up.

The drunks are not any better than us. If Mitch can play a solid game, and we can go even or +1 in the turnover battle, and not get F'd by the officials, this game is ours for the taking.

It's been 13 G'Dam years since we've hoisted the axe. The players are all sick of it, and are finally going to do something about it.

We walk into Madison and ruin their playoff hopes, the taste of victory will be sweeter than ever.

http://www.bigten.org/library/stats/fb-confldrs.html

Notable:
33 sacks, 7 of them by Richardson.
Rodney Smith still right there in total production (TDs and total yards)

There is an increased push for legalization of recreational use of marijuana in many if not all states... Yet many of those same people have acknowledged the heroin epidemic... A kid I used to tutor in math and history(turned out to be a good student with a bachelors degree) overdosed on heroin after struggling with addiction and died this past weekend so I admit it is a fresh and emotional issue for me...Many of the dozen or so people that have been on heroin that I have known, all say that marijuana usage was the start of their addiction.. How can you want to legalize its usage on one hand, yet try hard to fight against the heroin epidemic on the other, when many admit there is a correlation in usage??..... I just dont get it.

I know I'll never be able to walk a mile in the shoes of those who feel challenged by the outcome of this election, but just go home. It's my opinion you'll make a larger impact by setting a favorable example through your focused actions amongst the people closest to you. Probably utopia thinking but channeling your energy and emotions into your job, family, and faith is a more efficient path to yielding the outcomes you're looking for. Get some sleep America.

Just a few Gopher commits and targets still in action. Check out how they performed last weekend.

https://minnesota.rivals.com/news/fnl-big-games-from-glover-handy-holly-holmes-injured