I have closely watched University of Minnesota football and Big Ten Conference teams since the 1950s. I first started writing about the Gophers in the 1960s. Ask my closest friends and they will tell you I said from day one it was a mistake to hire Glen Mason as Minnesota’s coach.
Mason had coached for nine seasons at Kansas before coming to Minnesota in 1997. His record of mediocrity and inconsistency was documented. Mason’s records in his last four seasons at Kansas were 5-7, 6-5, 10-2 and 4-7. “He’s just good enough to get you beat,” a Jayhawk fan said in the late 1990s.
He followed the same pattern at Minnesota. His 10-3 record in 2003 was followed by two 7-5 seasons and a 6-7 record, and those records included some of the softest non-conference opponents to be found on any Big Ten school’s schedule. His overall record at Minnesota was 64-57, but he was 16 games below .500 in the Big Ten.
Mason couldn’t sustain or build upon success at Minnesota. He beat No. 2 ranked Penn State in 1999 and the Gophers finished the season in fourth place in the conference, their best showing in the Big Ten standings since 1986. The 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons produced fourth, 10th and seventh place finishes.
He had other potentially program turning games such as a win against Ohio State in Columbus in 2000 and the famous blown opportunity in 2003 when the 6-0 Gophers led Michigan 28-7 in the second half only to lose before a rocking, near capacity Metrodome crowd that wanted badly for the Gophers to make a statement performance. The next week, instead of a full house, about 38,000 showed up to watch the Gophers tank against Michigan State in a 44-38 loss.
Not only should Mason never have been hired, he should have been fired after the 2005 season when only one season remained on his contract. No doubt the Gophers’ embarrassing Insight Bowl game loss to Texas Tech Friday night prompted soul searching by the University administration. That defeat and resulting public unrest met head on with the Mason 10 year track record and low expectations for the future.
The Mason buyout will cost the University about $2 million, plus deferred compensation. Still, the administration is counting on bettering itself financially with fund-raising efforts for the new on-campus stadium and increased revenues from football games by hiring a new coach who will initially excite the public and long term producing winning teams (not only did Mason never have a conference champion, but none of his teams played in a New Year’s Day bowl game).
On Wednesday the University has scheduled a gathering before the regents to unveil plans for the stadium. There will be a sweet breeze of relief and renewal blowing through campus.
Do you still think that now?
Mase would have gone to bowls every year from 2007-11.