McKinley Boston told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview last week that he tried to hire Bob Stoops as Gophers football coach when Boston was Minnesota’s athletic director.
The Gophers were floundering after the 1995 season under coach Jim Wacker. Wacker was 3-8 in 1995 and had won just seven Big Ten games in four seasons at Minnesota after Boston had hired him away from TCU. The “Air Wacker” show was a success offensively, but the Gophers defense was a “bomb.”
Boston, now athletic director at New Mexico State, comes to town this week for Saturday’s game between the Aggies and Gophers. He talked last Friday about his memories at Minnesota, where he played for the Gophers from 1964-67, and later served as athletic director and then as University vice president for student affairs.
Boston said back in the mid-1990s he had the commitment of governor Arne Carlson, University president Nils Hasselmo and Minnesota’s Board of Regents to take Gophers football “back to the glory days” of the 1960s. “We knew the (public) perception that we were not committed (to improving football),” Boston said.
Stoops, then the defensive coordinator for coach Steve Spurrier at Florida, was one of the hottest young names in college coaching. The Gophers were prepared to offer a $1 million per season salary, far above the going rate at that time for a big time head coach.
Spurrier, though, advised his young assistant (35) to wait another season, predicting the Gators would win a national championship in 1996 and Stoops could have his pick of head coaching jobs. Stoops, who knew the Big Ten from playing and later coaching at Iowa, was also incentivized to stay at Florida by a $500,000 raise, according to Boston. “If Spurrier doesn’t do what he did, I think we get him,” Boston said.
Oklahoma hired Stoops after the 1998 season and in 2000 he won the national championship. His record at Oklahoma is among the best in the country and he’s won seven Big 12 titles.
Wacker was allowed to coach one more season at Minnesota after the Stoops mission failed, finishing 1996 with a 1-7 conference record, 4-7 overall. By then Boston had moved into academic administration at the U and Gophers athletic director Mark Dienhart hired Glen Mason from Kansas as head football coach.
Boston has been athletic director at New Mexico State since December of 2004. He hired Hal Mumme whose passing circus was similar to Wacker’s and so was his record, never having a winning season with the Aggies. Now Boston’s coach is DeWayne Walker who played for the Gophers in 1980-81 and was defensive coordinator at UCLA before going to New Mexico State. Walker’s first two seasons have been difficult, winning five games and losing 20. Both New Mexico State and Minnesota are historically known as challenging places to win football games.
“I am very optimistic about this season,” Boston said last week. “This is his (Walker’s) third year. There’s a lot of chemistry and a lot of discipline.”
Boston, 65, plans to continue at New Mexico State for another “four or five years.” This week will likely be his only return to Minneapolis as AD watching the Aggies since Minnesota and New Mexico State aren’t scheduled to play beyond this season.
On Friday night a lot of Boston’s Minnesota friends will gather for a homecoming party at J.D. Hoyt’s downtown. “Minnesota was home for a long time,” Boston said. “I spent a total of 15-16 years there. Lots of friends and lots of memories. I am looking forward to it (coming back).”