On at 9 am on BTN

What's going on? Some signs that it's serious.

Link: Sandy Creek coach thinks Hawes will stretch the field immediately for the Gophers

Link: QB Ty Brock talks recent, hard Gopher interest

Spoke with Texas QB Ty Brock about his recruitment, and it seems he is really hoping for a Gopher offer, and the staff must realize that. He's very intrigued by the school and conference. If the Gopher's do end up offering, which is very possible, he may commit on the spot.

Ivan Maisel interviewed Tracy on today's college football podcast.

Tracy is on at 28:43
http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=17264427

Fill on the blank ________________.

Dominik London was the only recruit at practice. He and his brother Marcus spent a lot of time with Billy Glasscock.

Mark Coyle was at practice, and Richard Pitino may have been at some of practice early on, too. Pitino was in the Rod Wallace Indoor Field shortly before practice started.

Although I didn’t see them, two people behind me at one point said that the Lions and Panthers both had scouts in attendance.

Cody Poock was in an orange jersey, signaling an injury. He was working out with trainers using resistance bands and didn’t seem to be too restricted with his movement. Others in orange jerseys were Garrison Wright, Coney Durr, Matt Morse, and Alex Starks. Durr overextended his knee and will be back to practice in a few days. Wright’s injury is unknown to me at this time, but Tracy Claeys said after practice that Wright would be back soon, as well. I didn’t see either Brandon Lingen or Shannon Brooks at practice. Lingen is out with a shoulder injury, but the injury isn’t serious. Brooks has a foot injury and will be seen by a doctor today. Claeys said he’d update the media on Brooks’ foot on Saturday. His tone did not indicate that the injury was all that serious.

There was more hitting today than any practice I’ve ever been to. Players were in pads the whole time and were full-on tackling (other than the quarterbacks) for most of practice.

Claeys was more vocal than he was at any of the spring practices.

One quick note about the environment: they’ve definitely changed up the music, and it’s kind of funny. Lots of throwback dance hits that made it feel like it was the playlist for a middle school dance or roller rink.

Lastly, before I dig into notes on different players and positions, know that I can’t really comment on personnel groupings and formations. The front seven showed several different looks, but that’s not something I’m allowed to be specific about.

Mitch Leidner and Demry Croft looked very good during the drill portion when I watched, but less accurate during the scrimmage portion (although I don’t mean to imply they played poorly; they did fine). Leidner threw two or three great balls to the flats in pretty narrow windows to Colton Beebe. With a healthy left foot, he’s now able to push off of it without pain, and it shows. He does a good job stepping into his throws and his balls were mostly tight and on a rope. His best throw that I saw was about 30 yards down field to Eric Carter in what would have been a touchdown. Both Leidner and Croft in the scrimmage portion had to evade some pretty heavy pressure in the pocket, and they did well to find space and find a receiver in those situations. Croft also had two nice scrambles. His passes always had a tight spiral and an appropriate amount of velocity. Almost all the quarterbacks forced passes at times.

I didn’t see a lot of Seth Green’s reps and he really didn’t get a lot of reps in the scrimmage portion. His motion doesn’t seem to have changed that much and he still throws the ball closer to his helmet (maybe he has a lower release point?) than most. He made a couple great throws, but was fairly inconsistent and was inaccurate when feeling rushed.

DeMarcus Williams moves very well and is very agile. He was inconsistent throwing the ball, though. The first throw of his I saw was very wobbly and didn’t get to the intended target. He seemed to be underthrowing receivers quite a bit in the drill portion, while Croft was overthrowing receivers every now and then. Johnson will have to work with Williams on his mechanics, as he just doesn’t appear to throw the ball naturally as other QBs. He did look better throwing the ball later in the day and a really good 20-yard completion down the middle. I hope and don’t mean to come off as overly harsh on Williams. He’s an excellent athlete and I really didn’t see a whole lot of him. He only got a few snaps, maybe just one series, in the scrimmage portion. Almost all the snaps went to Leidner, Croft, and Rhoda.

Rodney Smith had a couple nice runs, but never broke anything big. As always, he’s a trusty blocker in the backfield. Kobe McCrary also had a standout moment pass blocking. He pushed back a linebacker about three or four yards that was blitzing. McCrary got some reps with the first team, as I’m sure the staff wants to keep Smith healthy. McCrary really doesn’t look 235 pounds at all. He’s more comfortable going North-South than East-West, which is fine as running downhill will be his role.

Jonathan Femi-Cole has always impressed physically, and this spring I was impressed with his lateral movement, as the knock on him has been that he’s a little stiff. Today, there were a couple runs where he showed some quickness and good change of direction behind the line of scrimmage but also a play or two where it seemed as if he doesn’t change direction fluidly and struggles to turn the corner. Sometimes he looks great, sometimes stiff. He always runs hard, though, and is strong and pretty fast in a straight-line sense.

The first team wide receiver group was Drew Wolitarsky, Eric Carter, and Rashad Still. Brian Smith Jr. and Melvin Holland Jr. received the most reps with the second unit. Carter and Still both had drops that should have been easily made, especially Carter’s drop. Melvin Holland also dropped a deep ball that would have been a touchdown.

Hunter Register mid-air extended pretty far back to make a nice catch, on a pass that was thrown by Croft. To me, it was the catch of the day. He picked up a few yards in the open field and then Antoine Winfield Jr. took him down with a big hit.

Tyler Johnson and someone on the defense (I missed who) got into a scuffle at one point.

With Brandon Lingen out, Colton Beebe got some time with the first team in the skeleton and had a couple nice grabs. He’s so built and compact that he’ll be a great blocker, and if he catch passes like he showed today, he’s going to be an excellent tight end and fullback for the Gophers in a couple years, and I think he’ll play right away, as well. Nate Wozniak spent the most time with the ones and looked great blocking. Bryce Witham got some time with the second team, with Lingen out.

At times they struggled to create push, but for the most part the offensive line looked good, both in pass protection and in opening up holes for Rodney Smith. With Garrison Wright out, Chad Fahning was the first team left tackle, but I also saw Fahning at left guard at one point. Vincent Calhoun was excellent, although he has a tendency to get his hands up near his opponent’s face. Tyler Moore and Connor Mayes, as expected, both did very well.

As has been talked about by fans and coaches alike, the offensive line’s depth is a little bit of a concern this year. The second and third team offensive line struggled a bit today. During the scrimmage portion of practice, there was a time when it was 4th and 2, and the second team offense didn’t convert. Claeys was very frustrated and made them keep replaying the down. “Not good enough” was heard several times by everyone in attendance. It took seven tries, and it was a nice scamper by James Johannesson up the middle that got the first down and drew applause from the crowd.

Sam Schlueter has a great frame and will be able to add more weight.

Nick Connelly was hurt towards the end of spring practice. I didn’t see what happened exactly, but he was carted off after practice ended. Marcus Fuller thought it might have been a concussion.

I was impressed with the defensive line, particularly in run defense. Gaelin Elmore played with the first team at defensive end quite a bit, but also got a series or two at defensive tackle. He had the first “sack” (in quotations because they can’t hit QBs) when the lineman were competing against one another. Merrick Jackson, Andrew Stelter, Scott Ekpe, and Steven Richardson all rotated in with the first team at defensive tackle. Elmore, as noted above, also played some DT. Richardson actually played quite a bit with the second team, but I wouldn’t necessarily read into that. He did well and blew up the entire interior line at one point. Gary Moore also looked very good and had success against the second team offensive line. I remember Moore totally blowing up Quinn Oseland, and then a couple series later, Matt Leidner. In the drill portion, he drove Connor Olson to the ground. I think Olson bends at the waist right now, and also lacks some sheer strength because of his youth. Defensive tackle is very deep and will definitely be the strength of the defensive line.

Jerry Gibson looked great rushing the passer and got pressure on the quarterback several times. He looks bigger, and even taller, than last year. He can add more weight, but he doesn't look out of place with the defensive ends at all. He’s quick off the edge.

Tamarion Johnson is very skinny and will need to add weight. He has the frame to do so. He’s quick, and that led to beating Quinn Oseland and forcing a rushed pass once. Taiyon Devers has definitely added weight since this spring.

The second and third teams as a whole struggled at times, but Jared Weyler stuck out to me twice as a lineman who was getting good push or sustaining his block against a pass rusher for a lengthy amount of time. Ted Stieber did very well before the scrimmage portion holding his own against Merrick Jackson when I watched during the drill portion.

With Poock out, it was Rallis who filled his place on the first team.

Jack Lynn had a big hit on Rodney Smith in the backfield. He was pretty vocal on the field, as well.

Kamal Martin impressed me in drills with just how fluid of an athlete he is. During the drill portion, he rushed the passer off the edge. Thomas Barber bends a lot better than I expected him to. He’s compact, already filled out, and a thumper, but he’s not stiff. Carter Coughlin got some run with the first team early on in practice, and really impressed. I definitely think we’ll see him get meaningful playing time on defense against Oregon State. He beat Chad Fahning and others blitzing around the edge. He’s quick and good with his hands, although he could work on staying lower when pass rushing.

Blake Cashman moved from safety to outside linebacker in the spring. He’s added weight and certainly looks big enough to play there. Cashman’s a good athlete and was getting some time with the second team. I could see him earning a scholarship down the road. He was a good special teams player last year.

Julian Huff played middle linebacker a little bit. He showed great closing speed today, and of course, loves to hit.

KiAnte Hardin worked with the first team opposite of Jalen Myrick early in practice, and Ray Buford was opposite of Myrick later. I thought both did well. Buford got hurt when the team was practicing kickoff coverage but returned later and appeared to be completely fine.

KiAnte is thin but isn’t afraid to get physical. He really jammed Hunter Register at the line of scrimmage once. Buford’s size lets him be pretty physical too, and he totally threw off Rashad Still’s route once, which caused Leidner’s pass to Still to fall 15 yards away from Still.

Kunle Ayinde was usually the safety opposite of Damarius Travis with the first team.

Dior Johnson’s size was talked up when he was a recruit, but he also has really good feet. He’s quick in and out of his breaks. Zo Craighton also appears to be back at corner, after moving from corner to safety before. He looked good and played with the first team on a couple series. He looked Eric Amoako is built and probably the most compact corner on the team.

Returning punts were Jalen Myrick, KiAnte Hardin, Phillip Howard, and Drew Wolitarsky. The group back to return kicks were Rodney Smith, Jalen Myrick, Phillip Howard, KiAnte Hardin, Antonio Shenault, and Kiondre Thomas. Hardin had a great return.

Ryan Santoso didn’t kick and worked a lot on punting. I think that’s where he’s needed most and will be his spot moving forward.

TLDR: The quarterbacks were okay throughout, but more accurate earlier in the day. Brandon Lingen (shoulder), Shannon Brooks (foot), Coney Durr (knee), Cody Poock Garrison Wright, and Matt Morse all didn’t practice because of injuries. Nick Connelly was hurt at the end of practice. The first team offensive line was solid, while the second unit struggled. The Gophers are deep at defensive tackle, and Merrick Jackson and Gary Moore both made some nice plays. Carter Coughlin spent some time with the first team at the start of the scrimmage portion. Ray Buford spent the most time opposite of Jalen Myrick, followed by KiAnte Hardin and Zo Craighton. Kunle Ayinde spent the most time opposite of Damarius Travis. Ryan Santoso will punt this year.

Link: Indiana commit Michael Ziemba talks Gopher interest

Spoke with two-star TE Michael Ziemba. He's committed to Indiana as of right now, and will be very tough to flip, but Minnesota is still contacting him for now.

Highlights that came out tonight:

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Link: Washington State Commit talks Gopher interest

Spoke with three-star corner Zaire Webb from Florida. Currently committed to Washington State, but I would be very surprised if he were to stay committed. Minnesota is yet to offer, but he says he expects it to come very soon.

Look. I admit it. I am more right than left. I HATE clinton.

That said, she is on the Republicans payroll and all far left people know it.

But when Trump says "people will write books on how to run a campaign because of him", and then he insults the Muslim family that had a son that died for this country...i am done.

**** clinton, but Trump is everything I hate about people. Arrogant. Egoistical. One-sided. I am out.

My vote goes to Johnson. He has no chance to win, but I don't can't back the "main 2". They both should be killed by ISiS and the world would be better because of it. (I am joking of course...relax).

****UPDATE: CLAUDIN CHERELUS IS A GOPHER****

Link: Cherelus talks commitment

---

First of all, I'm so sorry the servers crashed. What a terrible time for that.

Second, a defensive back has committed to Minnesota, although Minnesota has not accepted his commitment yet. Last I heard, he was a take. However, I hear it's possible Minnesota might not officially accept his commitment until he's on campus.

This recruit has not tweeted out his commitment yet, and I'm not sure Minnesota has talked about it yet. I imagine it will be sorted out tomorrow morning when the coaches meet.

Shannon Brooks foot injury? Please say its minor.

Major props to American Lilly King for not being PC and saying what needed to be said. I'm sure some of you will think it is brash, but I am all for calling a spade a spade. The athletes that are clean deserve to compete against clean athletes. The dopers and users get to play pro soccer, MLB, NBA and NFL

http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimmi...g-beats-yulia-efimova-controversial-spotlight

we play Penn State and Limegrover and Claeys feel obligated to shake hands?

I think Kill and Claeys are fine at this point, but I gotta imagine there is a lot of resentment on both sides between Claeys and Limey.

Didn't stay for the entire practice but a few observations:

Coughlin and #44 (freshman lb) both look legit and were reps with the 1's & 2's. Expect both redshirts burned.

Depth at RB is great even with Brooks missing

Our DL is pretty damn tough

Our O-line THE biggest concern for me. Little depth, one of the juco's had the orange shirt on. (Calhoun I think?)

D-line stuffed the o-line about 7 times in a row on a 4th & 1 situation

Out receivers must have had about 7 drops. Still had 2 where he was wife open, had easy catches to make and dropped them both.

Claeys is so mild and stationary compared to Kill going from group to group and yelling all the time.

Link: Breakout PG down to five

Bede's final five are Butler, La Salle, Minnesota, UMass, and Virginia Tech. That means several HMs like Missouri, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Oklahoma who offered late didn't make the list. Boston College offered before Minnesota I believe and they didn't make the list either.

So with Minnesota being one of two or three HMs, I think they're positioned well. I'll try to get a hold of Bede after football practice.

Ex-Gophers quarterback Philip Nelson gets another chance at East Carolina

By JOEDY McCREARY Associated Press

AUGUST 6, 2016 — 6:47PM

AP
Philip Nelson

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Quarterback Philip Nelson is out to make the most of his chance at East Carolina.

The 22-year-old former starter at Minnesota looks to redeem himself with the Pirates, more than two years after he was involved in a nightclub fight that left a former college football player with a serious brain injury and led to his dismissal from Rutgers without playing a regular-season game.

Nelson declined to discuss the specifics of his case because of a pending civil suit. He said Saturday that he's grateful for another chance and wants to focus on the future.

Going through it "has completely made me a better person, and I'm happy with where I am as a football player and as a human being right now," Nelson said during media day.

Nelson walked onto the team in August 2015 and sat out that season because of the transfer. New coach Scottie Montgomery gave him both a scholarship and the starting job at quarterback this spring.


"It's very clear who the leader of this team is," said Montgomery, referring to Nelson. Offensive coordinator Tony Petersen called him "perfect" for how he wants the air-it-out Pirates to play.

"He can do it all. There's nothing about Philip that doesn't fit our offense," he said. "He's exactly what I would recruit every day."

Nelson threw for 2,179 yards and 17 touchdowns while starting 16 games for the Golden Gophers from 2012-13. His rise to the top of East Carolina's depth chart came partly because of his strong spring and in part because some competitors left the program.

Blake Kemp, who threw for 2,653 yards last season, transferred to Northern Arizona. Kurt Benkert, who would have been the starter in 2015 had he not suffered a season-ending knee injury before the opener, left after spring ball for Virginia and a reunion with ex-East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill.

Nelson said he expected to compete with Benkert through preseason camp for the job and was surprised that he left.


But if anyone could relate, Nelson could: He originally transferred from Minnesota to Rutgers after the 2013 season, hoping to play in a more pass-friendly system. He only played 2014 spring football at Rutgers before the night in May that changed several lives.

Witnesses to the nightclub fight in Minnesota told investigators that Nelson shoved former Minnesota State-Mankato player Isaac Kolstad after mistaking him for a bouncer that kissed his girlfriend. Kolstad knocked Nelson to the ground, but a third man punched Kolstad in the head and Nelson then kicked Kolstad in the head. Kolstad suffered a brain injury that required emergency surgery and spent months recovering at the Mayo Clinic.

Nelson was kicked off the team at Rutgers two days after the fight and was charged with felony first- and third-degree assault. He pleaded to a misdemeanor fifth-degree assault charge and was sentenced to two days of jail time already served and 100 hours of community service. Three doctors reported a lack of medical certainty as to whether Nelson's kick caused Kolstad's brain injury.

McNeill brought him to East Carolina, and Nelson climbed the depth chart during his first spring with Montgomery.

"You learn a lot about life through that," Nelson said. "To be able to come back here and meet these players and coaches and everyone that comes with this community, it's kind of reassuring to me to know that people do appreciate me and like me for who I am. I'm not some person that some other media have made me out to be."

From : http://bennyshouse.freeforums.net/thread/2036/orange-colored-glasses-say-start

Minnesota is decent but not great
Idaho 'State'..lose that one..and it's disaster city
Blue 'donks..Not the 'donks of old, but still the 'donks...At least it's a home game
Colorado - fellow predicted cellar dwellers...
....
The only game that scares me of those first 4 is the BSU game. Boise St is always tough and they will be the best offense of those 4 teams we'll face. Unfortunately potent offenses will not be the best match up for the Beavs this season. The defense will be too young and inexperienced. However, I'm not saying 4-0 is impossible. The Minnesota game will be tough no matter how ya slice it, young Beaver team, on the road, facing a Minn. team with something to prove as well but I see Darrell Garretson coming up for us in that game.
...
Minnesota:
- best win last year was over #68 Illinois 32/23
- 10 point loss to #20 Wisconsin
- 5 point loss to #18 Iowa
- 14 point loss to #2 Ohio St
- 3 point loss to #9 Mich
- 23 point loss to the #40 Fighting Mike Rileys
- 27 point loss to #28 NW
- 6 point loss to #12 TCU
- 14 returning starters and a 3 year starter at QB
- They lost their starting CBs and only return 2 OL-men
PREDICTION - Beavers win 31 to 10
...
Minnesota on the road will be a revealing peek at what we have for consistency. I can deal with a few penalties, turnovers, sacks and giving up Big Plays since we are not a real machine like Alabama but if we cross the line from "some mistakes" to a pantload of poop, our goose is cooked. Minnesota is a decent enough team to give a good opponent some heartburn but they are not overpowering. What we did vs Michigan and Stanford in the 1st half showed we could play Gopher grade ball for a half so it is obvious they had more consistency than we did as indicated by more wins for them.
...
I love the color orange! I see 2-2, 3-1 possible, taking down Minnesota at their house so green will be really hard, but a real game to bring kids up to speed, rather than Idaho state right out of the box.
...
If the Beavs can take down Minnesota, anything's possible - a team with confidence that buys into their system, and with some consistency at quarterback will be able to ride through adversity.
...
2-2, w/wins over Idaho State and Colo. and close games against Boise State and Minn, and I'll be happy. Any blow out losses and I'll be in "Here we go again," territory. And that's true for the rest of the season as well. Blow out losses destroy your morale. Close losses make you hungry. In 1998 our worst losses were 20 points and all the others were close. Some very close. That's the kind of season we need although I don't expect 5 wins this time.
...
Well, STRAP IN SON!

My research tells me that the Gopher OFFENSE is capable and experience, they will score points, the Beav D as you know is NEITHER of those things.

That said, I expect the OSU offense to be MUCH better than last year, but not RIGHT OUT OF THE CHUTE. Minn has the same questions on Defense that are mirrored in Corvallis so that is a positive.

But still, I think Beavers could lose this game by at least 10 points, maybe worse if the offense sputters.

After that, it will depend of the offense and in particular the passing game.

I think the Defense will probably be below average for the entire season given inexperience and the depth available, I am not hopeful that our luck will be any better than recent history and will suffer all the "academic victims" (ie Simi Kulis) for the JUCO and 4* freshmen.

But really, I think OSU will steal at least 1-2 Pac12 game they have no business in, but November will be VERY ROUGH, my suggestion, take a long hunting trip.

Link: Texas DE talks recent Gopher Interest

Rashuad Powell had a good junior season and has picked up interest from a few schools. Could be close to a Minnesota offer, and offers from a few other schools he's mentioned.

Friend of mine was diagnosed with throat cancer 5 months ago and had surgery shortly after. Hadn't talked with him much about it until a golf outing yesterday. Doc said it was squamous cell carcinoma, which is skin cancer. Doc said it was caused by the HPV virus, which usually happens in men because of oral sex. So he asked the Doc 'So I got cancer from going down on my wife?' Doc responded 'That would be my educated guess. Might not be the happy ending she was hoping for.'

Really?? Now we have to worry about throat cancer from going down under?

Well, here we go folks...we finally have some news on the JRob Xanax scandal with Assistant HC Brandon Eggum being named Acting Head Coach!! No word yet on what will happen to J...or when the investigation will be done.

At least now, we have clear interim leadership so that we can actively pursue the high level recruits that I've mentioned on the board lately.

Go Gopher Wrestling!!!


Brandon Eggum Named Acting Head Coach for Gopher Wrestling

The University of Minnesota on Monday announced that Brandon Eggum has been named the Acting Head Coach of the school’s wrestling program



Gophersports.com
Aug. 1, 2016

The University of Minnesota today announced that Brandon Eggum has been named the acting head coach of the school’s wrestling program. Eggum will assume this new position immediately.

“Given the University’s internal investigation of Coach Robinson, it is important to have clear and continued leadership as the program prepares for the 2016-17 academic year,” said Minnesota Director of Athletics Mark Coyle. “Coach Eggum is an effective leader and will ensure continued stability within the wrestling program.”

Eggum joined Minnesota’s coaching staff in 2001 immediately after finishing his wrestling career with the Gophers.

As a wrestler at Minnesota, Eggum was both a four-time letterwinner and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. He finished his final three seasons as an All-American and won two individual Big Ten titles. He ranks among the program’s 20 best all-time in wins and winning percentage. On the international level, Eggum won silver medals at the 2001 World and 2002 Pan American Freestyle Championships.

As a coach, Eggum has been with the Minnesota staff for each of the program’s three national titles, as well as five Big Ten team championships. Gopher wrestlers have won 27 individual conference crowns and 62 All-America medals with Eggum on staff. He has served as the program’s head assistant coach for the past five seasons.

The University is conducting an ongoing internal investigation into Head Coach J Robinson and allegations made against him earlier this year. Robinson is currently on administrative leave.

http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2016/08/oregon_state_fall_camp_practic_7.html

With their running back out, they have a freshman taking reps with the 1s and he did well. can't wait until game day!

http://saturdaytradition.com/minnesota-football/minnesota-this-years-iowa/
Saw this posted somewhere else and too good of an analysis not to share. What most outsiders (national media and magazines) don't realize is our 2016 team is much closer to the team that showed up in 2014, than the record that was reflected in 2015. You have to dig a little under the surface which most don't do. Love this summary from the article:

"
The Verdict

What did we learn from all of this? You shouldn’t be convinced that the Gophers are destined for mediocrity. You also shouldn’t be convinced that returning starters + a favorable schedule = a division title.

You should be convinced that Minnesota’s upside is far greater than some might realize. It’s certainly greater than any other team that won two conference games in 2015. The pieces are in place this year for Minnesota’s surprise run. The pieces were in place last year for Iowa’s surprise run."

delaboiture defense....
Croft offense (hope he red-shirts)