Peoria (Ill.) defensive tackle Kendrick Green is visiting the weekend of September 23. He has a top three in no order of Minnesota, Syracuse, and UCF. Syracuse and UCF are both recruiting him as a center. He recently visited UCF. Recent stories on Green from TGR and Edgy Tim, here and here.

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Safety commit Claudin Cherelus is visiting the weekend of October 21.

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Guard commit Corey Gaynor is visiting September 8-11.

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Wide receiver commit Javan Hawes says he's tentatively planning to take an official visit during his next bye week, which would be the weekend of September 23 for the Colorado State game.

MONEY COMING IN - Tax receipts for fiscal year 2016 (i.e., the

12 months that will end on 9/30/16) are projected to be 17.8% of

the size of the US economy. Tax receipts (as a percentage of

the economy) have exceeded 17.8% only 20 times in the last

85 years (source: Office of Management and Budget).




IN JUST ONE YEAR - The US government reported a national

debt of $18.151 trillion as of 8/31/15. The US government

reported a national debt of $19.510 trillion as of 8/31/16 (source:

Treasury Department).

Fuller reporting Xavier and Tubby's Memphis no longer being considered. It's us or the Flyers.

Minnesota head men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino announced Thursday that veteran mentor Ed Conroy has joined the staff as an assistant coach.

“We are excited about the addition of Ed Conroy,” said Pitino. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that I know will be extremely valuable to me and our staff.”

Conroy, who has more than 25 years of college coaching experience, most recently spent six seasons as head coach at Tulane. While there, he led the Green Wave to two post-season berths and a 20-win season, their first in 13 years, while directing the program through a transition from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. The back-to-back postseason appearances for the Green Wave were the first since 1996-97, a span of 18 years.

During Conroy’s tenure, Tulane marked a number of signature victories, including their first win over Memphis since 1992 and first over Cincinnati since 1991. Last season, Conroy led the Green Wave to the AAC semifinals, the first Tulane team to win two conference tourney games since 1983. He guided Green Wave players to seven all-conference honors, including 2012 C-USA Freshman of the Year Ricky Tarrant.

“I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to join Coach Pitino’s staff, as I am excited to work with him but also because I am excited about the future of Minnesota basketball,” said Conroy. “Being a Midwesterner and growing up a Big Ten fan, I am well aware of the quality and depth of this great league. I also know how passionate Gopher fans are and how much the program means to the community and the entire state. My family and I look forward to being a part of it all.”

Prior to arriving in New Orleans, Conroy was the head coach for four seasons at his alma mater, The Citadel. Named the 2008-09 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and Skip Prosser Man of the Year, Conroy led the Bulldogs that season to a 20-13 record and postseason berth in the CIT, finishing runner-up to future NBA All-Star Stephen Curry and his Davidson Wildcats. It was the school’s first 20-win campaign in 30 years and second in program history.

The Davenport, Iowa native has served as an assistant coach at six different schools throughout his career. Prior to landing the head job at The Citadel, he spent one season as an assistant at Coastal Carolina, following stints at Tennessee (2003-05) and Tulsa (2000-01).

Conroy’s first head coaching job came from 1997-2000 at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., where he earned the Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year award in 1998. That was preceded by assistant coach stops at Furman (1994-97), VMI (1993-94) and N.C. State (1990-93).

A four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs from 1985-89, Conroy is sixth on The Citadel’s all-time free throw shooting ranking (.815) and ranks as the school’s eight-best career 3-point shooter (.395). His 245 career assists are 12th among the Bulldog record books. A three-year starter, he served as team captain as a senior and held the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Corps of Cadets, the highest rank achieved by a basketball player in the modern era at The Citadel.

Conroy, who has made four trips overseas to the Middle East as part of Operation Hardwood, and his wife Ginny have three children: daughter, Hannah, and sons Riley and Hunt. His son Riley is a redshirt sophomore on the Green Wave while Conroy’s brother, Duffy Conroy, is an assistant basketball coach at Louisiana Tech.

So the one day that I don't check the news 3-4 times a day to see if J got fired yet...he gets the axe! No matter. It's taken me part of a day to catch-up on all of this and I found a copy of the 31 page U internal report - along with J's response - and the firing letter. The report is long and heavily redacted, and it does make public the name of the source of the drugs (who sold to the 4 Gopher Wrestlers). Here they are:

U Report:

http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/University of Minnesota Wrestling Investigation Memo.PDF

J's Response to U Report:

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U Termination Letter:

http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/Letter to J Robinson from Mark Coyle.pdf


What I gathered from the U report was that they gave J a lot of chances to cooperate, which may likely have led to a settlement and a buyout. But, to obtain that settlement J would have had to tell the investigators information which would have incriminated his student athletes. J was not going to do that as he didn't want to hang a felony of these First Time Offenders...so he withheld his cooperation.

I'm not a lawyer, but it sure seems like this is all set-up for a long drawn out lawsuit, which will expose a good amount of negligence about the U administration. I'm not sure what J's goals in this lawsuit would be? I suppose he'd like his job back, but that one has to be pretty tough to attain. I think he would like to receive the rest of the money from his contract, and he would like to partially clear his name by showing that he was not the only culprit in this mess. Even though he likely deserved to be fired with cause, he might still feel vindicated if he not only went out "protecting his kids", but also got a monetary settlement and shared culpability with the U.

With a one year contract, Interim Head Coach Eggum will have a year to show how he can lead the program. This could lead to a search for a new HC, where Eggum would be one of the applicants. Or, if somehow Eggum does an unbelievable job, it's possible he might get the Interim tag removed.

The big question that remains is what will happen to the 4 sellers and the 10-12 users (I forget the exact #)? All of the wrestlers are now having discussions with an internal Ethics Board, so this is still not clear. Even if all 4 drug sellers are expelled, the team will still be viable. And if they are suspended, we will be a top 10 team when they return.

For you naysayers who want to dump on the team, go right ahead as Gopher Wrestling will prove you wrong. Our results will be better than you think and our future will be brighter than you think!

Yes, J did things that were clearly wrong...and for that he was fired. But, I submit to you...were many of us in the same position, we would have done the same thing he did. He protected his kids!! And I will tell you that every one of those kids' parents are happy that they entrusted them to J!!!

Go Gopher Wrestling!!!
Back to the Top!!!

Link: Pirsig explains new OL trophy; talks pancakes, snaps, play of JUCOs

*Merrick didn't play until 2nd half. Letting the guy ease in or a hidden issue?

*Donnell Greene shows up on participation report, anyone see him play? XP or FG unit?

*Kicking moves seemed to support decision after game one results. Santoso was incredible with both distance and touch, and Carpenter did what he needed to do.

*Very small WR rotation for first game with no Howard, Register, Holland, and Gentry, although a couple may be dinged.

*Really hope Fahning in white jersey is a short term issue as we need his depth.

*Notice the difference between how little Mitch was touched in the pocket v. how many sacks and shots we got on Garretson? I know they dropped back more, but still our lines did well in that regard.

*The combo of Garretson and his targets will be in the top 3 toughest QB/WR combos we face all season.

*In that regard, notice how Myrick locked down their best receiving threat Villamin?

*Hope that first game jitters played a large role in miscues, plus I think there is a little extra pressure for the team knowing the potential of the season. But the fact that we can survive 5 motions penalties, muffed punt leading to a TD, 2 bad snaps, one leading to a safety and the other a driver and field position killer, and then losing 3 key players to targeting, says something about the team, especially against a P5 school.

*Poock's loss really hurt as he was already involved in 2 early tackles and could have easily had a monster game.

*Hope we adjust to the screens and slip screens v. blitzes as every team will now try that against us as that was the majority of OSU's offense.

*Hardin is going to be real good.

can't find who's on the call.

Pitino said at the State Fair recently that Coyle has no involvement in the Lynch situation. It's a "University investigation"....and there is no end in sight.

Has practice resumed yet? Does anyone know who is conducting the investigation? Is it political? Does anyone have any idea of what's going on?

The only thing we do know is there's no evidence to charge Lynch.

Not sure the link will work with the tout video, but if not, Wright explains that he picked Minnesota over TCU because he liked Claeys as a coach and "trusted" him when he said he would hire a good o-line coach that fit into what they were trying to do. For those that have some hesitancy re: Claeys and his ability to recruit, this is exhibit A showing that his genuineness and straightforward approach will appeal to some good players. Getting Wright (a critical piece to our line this year) when we didn't even have a position coach, over an offer and visit to a top ten school like TCU, is a great recruiting victory and clearly Claeys took the lead. Opie, I'm truly not trying to bait you, but you should really look beyond just the rivals rankings and get into the specifics, and give Claeys a chance before drawing conclusions. https://t.co/kiHpOAQRaQ

Tyler Johnson will be in the National Football League one day.... I am just thrilled to watch this kid this season and beyond

In case you were wondering...

Sideline: Tracy Claeys, Jay Sawvel, Brian Anderson, Bart Miller, Jeff Phelps, Pat Poore, Rob Reeves
Coaches' Box upstairs: Jay Johnson, Keith Jordan, Dan O'Brien

I think all the GAs and lower-level assistants like Dom Barber, Lee Grimes, Keanon Cooper, etc. are in the box other than maybe Adam Hippe and Adam Weber.

are the Gophers on TV this weekend? If so, where? Will their game against Oregon State be on BTN in 60 anytime this week? WIsco, Mich., OSU, and Nebraska have been on about twenty-five times each so far.

Trent #13 5 Star - not coming here
Sims #54 4 Star - Texas commit
Washington # 62 4 Star - not looking good
Bede #66 4 Star - maybe
Ruevers #84 4 Star - committed to our biggest rival
Davison #92 4 Star - committed to our biggest rival

Theo John NR 3 Star
McKinley Wright NR 3 Star

I'm STOKED, in just 3 short days, I'll be watching 1 of 7 precious home football games this year, and 1 of 12 regular season games.

Folks, the season is short, each moment is precious. I don't care if we are playing Edina, Indiana St or the Drunken Sconnies. My chili is hot, the tailgate starts at 7, I'm fired up, lets get this thing going!

I'm not feeling the juice week, who's with me?

I read our offense is lacking a WR that can 'stretch the field.' My question is, have we ever had one? I think of possession receivers when I think of Minnesota receivers.

Link: Friday Night Lights: Big games from Hawes, Moore, Clemons; Brock breaks leg

@EJ Stevens gives an update on the performances of Gopher targets and commits from the past weekend.

cut by packers. they cut their future MVP. go figure.

O-Line is Big10 like size:

6'7 310
6'2 310
6'4 340
6'3 270
6'7 320

back-ups are: 6'8 310, 6'8, 380, 6'1 315 & 6'6 315.

There LB's are 225, 230 & 240. So Briggs would approve.

Wyatt Wozniak is their starting Right Guard. Any relation to our Woz from Indiana?

Link: Claeys recaps Oregon State game

Bill Clinton paid $18 Million dollars to be an honorary chancellor at a for profit college

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...96db42-655b-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html

Let's do this!


Ok. Here we go, over the course of the season, the most "closest picks" winner gets a free year of Rivals subscription. I am sure the mods will approve.

Gophers start slow. We actually trail at the half, 10-17.

The 2nd half is nerve wracking but a key turnover in the 4th gives us our first lead. We hold on to a 27-24 win.

The offense looks average. The defense gives up way too many rushing/QB scrambling yards. Things to work on the next 2 weeks.


Gophers 27
Beavers 24



Alright, whatcha got?

Alright, I'm making my annual trip, want to stop by for a breakfast beer. Where you conservatives hanging out?

fellas, it's sticker week! We haven't seen stickers since when? Helmet stickers baby! Who's ready!