Claeys since season ended:
1) cut loose Limegrover and Zebrowski, apparently w/o Kill blessing
2) cut loose Poljian and Foster, cooled on Kegel?
3) locked down jucos with Power 5 interest Garrison Wright, Vincent Calhoun to immediately bolster o-line
4) locked down juco Merrick Jackson, All American with Power 5 interest to immediately bolster d-line
5) got Seth Green signed and on campus ready for Spring reps....Green move was very impressive
6) got Barber and Dievers signed and on campus...Barber family has been very, very good to Minnesota...both end up on d-line?
7) got verbals from Winfield Jr., Durr...Winfield and Durr both have big offer sheets...Durr may stray, but hung in through UNC full-on
8) landed good regional guy in Kieft... looks like Lingen...made decision to go with guy they liked and had
9) won the bowl game with impressive defense and good play from Mitch
10) saw some transfers, but nothing devastating; kept some guys who were rumored as leaving
11) landed what looks like two good coaches/recruiters in Miller and Johnson...landed some good GAs in Cooper and Grimes...added a very popular, experienced guy in O'Brien to staff
That was a big,big flurry of positive and aggressive moves in December. This after going toe-to-toe with Michigan, Ohio State on road, Iowa on road, taking care of business vs Illini. Disappointing finish vs Wiscy.
Moving into January, continued being decisive and aggressive... he made the decision to move on from Daniels drama, but stayed with Snelson...apparently passed on Epting and Moye...
took a run at some guys with good verbals to SoCar, MO, WI in Cush, Castillo, Kasl...tried for Watts, Byrd, Fant, Lucas, got beat by Pitt, ?, Iowa, Duke...
got another juco in McCrary to bolster young position group, add physicality...
got nice pub and validation of player eval/player development with BBC, Cockran, Campbell, Maye and Murray all at Senior games
final days I'll look to check these boxes:
signs Coughlin: one of most highly touted guys to ever sign here
signs Schlueter, Johnson: two in-state guys who could have gone to other Big Ten schools
signs Howard and Hmielewski and Kieft: two in-state guys and a near-state guy with impressive athleticism; if they had waited and camped/looked around more prbly get more offers
signs Olsen and Martin, solid in-State athletes with athleticism and size
hangs in with and signs Kiondre and Winfield
brings in two good looking projects in TaMarion and DaMarcus
maybe surprises me with one or more of Snelson, Durr, Byrd, the Auburn interest guy, Tyrez, a grad transfer, a late qualifier
lands some good preferred walk on guys (esp for d-line) like the Muskego WI dt guy, the Providence/Wayzata de guy, the East Ridge fb, the SSP kid, Darrell's kid.
Go Gophers!
1) cut loose Limegrover and Zebrowski, apparently w/o Kill blessing
2) cut loose Poljian and Foster, cooled on Kegel?
3) locked down jucos with Power 5 interest Garrison Wright, Vincent Calhoun to immediately bolster o-line
4) locked down juco Merrick Jackson, All American with Power 5 interest to immediately bolster d-line
5) got Seth Green signed and on campus ready for Spring reps....Green move was very impressive
6) got Barber and Dievers signed and on campus...Barber family has been very, very good to Minnesota...both end up on d-line?
7) got verbals from Winfield Jr., Durr...Winfield and Durr both have big offer sheets...Durr may stray, but hung in through UNC full-on
8) landed good regional guy in Kieft... looks like Lingen...made decision to go with guy they liked and had
9) won the bowl game with impressive defense and good play from Mitch
10) saw some transfers, but nothing devastating; kept some guys who were rumored as leaving
11) landed what looks like two good coaches/recruiters in Miller and Johnson...landed some good GAs in Cooper and Grimes...added a very popular, experienced guy in O'Brien to staff
That was a big,big flurry of positive and aggressive moves in December. This after going toe-to-toe with Michigan, Ohio State on road, Iowa on road, taking care of business vs Illini. Disappointing finish vs Wiscy.
Moving into January, continued being decisive and aggressive... he made the decision to move on from Daniels drama, but stayed with Snelson...apparently passed on Epting and Moye...
took a run at some guys with good verbals to SoCar, MO, WI in Cush, Castillo, Kasl...tried for Watts, Byrd, Fant, Lucas, got beat by Pitt, ?, Iowa, Duke...
got another juco in McCrary to bolster young position group, add physicality...
got nice pub and validation of player eval/player development with BBC, Cockran, Campbell, Maye and Murray all at Senior games
final days I'll look to check these boxes:
signs Coughlin: one of most highly touted guys to ever sign here
signs Schlueter, Johnson: two in-state guys who could have gone to other Big Ten schools
signs Howard and Hmielewski and Kieft: two in-state guys and a near-state guy with impressive athleticism; if they had waited and camped/looked around more prbly get more offers
signs Olsen and Martin, solid in-State athletes with athleticism and size
hangs in with and signs Kiondre and Winfield
brings in two good looking projects in TaMarion and DaMarcus
maybe surprises me with one or more of Snelson, Durr, Byrd, the Auburn interest guy, Tyrez, a grad transfer, a late qualifier
lands some good preferred walk on guys (esp for d-line) like the Muskego WI dt guy, the Providence/Wayzata de guy, the East Ridge fb, the SSP kid, Darrell's kid.
Go Gophers!
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