Author: David Shama

Marc Trestman, the Minneapolis native and former Gophers quarterback, is likely not a candidate for the University of Minnesota head football coaching position.  Trestman, who yesterday coached Montreal to its second Grey Cup title in three years, has his name rumored with the Gophers job but I am almost certain he won’t be on the list of final candidates.

Trestman, 54, might be a favored candidate of at least some past football letter winners at Minnesota but the Gophers search is believed to be concentrating on candidates with college head coaching experience, and University administrators likely aren’t pursuing Trestman.  He was an assistant coach at the University of Miami in the 1980s and spent two seasons as offensive coordinator at North Carolina State (2005 and 2006) before being fired along with head coach Chuck Amato.

But Trestman has been a career assistant in the NFL and for the last three seasons Montreal’s head coach in the Canadian Football League.  He’s known as an offensive innovator and gifted developer of quarterbacks who has worked for coaching gurus Bud Grant, Bill Walsh, George Seifert, Jon Gruden and Sean Payton.  He was offensive coordinator of the 2003 Oakland team that played in the Super Bowl and lost to Tampa Bay.

Not well known is that Trestman interviewed for the Gophers job in 1996 when he was San Francisco’s offensive coordinator.  In his 2010 biography “Perseverance” with local author Ross Bernstein, Trestman writes that he wasn’t expecting to be among the candidates to replace Jim Wacker.

“I was intrigued, so I met with the Gophers athletic director Mark Dienhart on the tarmac of the San Jose airport,” Trestman said in the book.  “It was late at night and completely under the radar.  I was not well prepared and dealing with the exhaustion of the season.  Also, in the back of my mind was the fact I never really saw myself in the position of a college head coach.”

Trestman is a Miami law school graduate but never practiced law and except for a couple of years selling bonds has been a career coach.  His first pro head coaching offer came from Montreal although he writes in his book that several years ago he turned down the top job at Cornell.

Yesterday Montreal defeated Saskatchewan, 21-18, to win Trestman’s second straight Grey Cup championship.

Congratulations to Bob Hughes and other Goal Line Club leaders for yesterday’s outstanding Gopher Football Banquet at TCF Bank Stadium.  The emotion-filled event included a celebration of Minnesota’s 27-24 upset win over Iowa on Saturday. The Floyd of Rosedale trophy was a focus of picture taking along with the Gophers players including the team’s seniors and those honored with awards.  Interim coach Jeff Horton fought back tears when he made a surprise presentation of an honorary M to Connor Cosgrove, the wide receiver who had to leave school this year because of leukemia.

Adam Weber, the Gophers three-year captain and four-year starter at quarterback, was the Bronko Nagurski Award winner, the team’s MVP.  He received a standing ovation from the audience yesterday. Wide receivers MarQueis Gray and Da’Jon McKnight were co-winners of the Bruce Smith Award given to the team’s outstanding offensive player.  The Carl Eller Award for the outstanding defensive player was won by linebacker Gary Tinsley.

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi was in San Diego last week.  San Diego State coach Brady Hoke has acknowledged that he’s conversed with another school about its football opening.

Sports Headliners believes Maturi might pay over $5 million in salaries to his head coach and new assistants.  He’s determined to make the Gophers very competitive in compensation.

The new Big Ten football title game starting in 2011 is expected to provide each conference school with about $2 million of additional revenue and will certainly help Maturi’s football budget.

In 2007 the Gophers were the first conference school to offer multiyear contracts to coordinators.

Horton and the other assistants hired by ex-coach Tim Brewster will see their contracts end on February 15.  The new coach will be under no obligation to retain any of the coaches.

The Gophers’ season record of 3-9 is the worst in the Big Ten but Horton believes there’s reason for optimism about a better future program.  “It’s not as far away as people think,” he said last week.

The areas where the Gophers need the most upgrade in talent and experience for next season are offensive line, wide receivers and defensive backs.  The new coaching staff is likely to be in pursuit of junior college players.

Gophers running backs DeLeon Eskridge and Duane Bennett will be seniors next fall, plus younger runners Devon Wright, Donnell Kirkwood and Lamonte Edwards will make that position a team strength.  “I think the competition at running backs is going to be off the charts,” Horton said.

Horton talking about Brewster who was 6-21 during three-plus seasons in the Big Ten:  “He’s a good person.  He’s a good football coach.”

After Brad Childress was fired last week as Vikings coach, it might be precedent setting for a major city like Minneapolis to have both its NFL and major college head coaching jobs open at the same time.  Childress and Brewster are friends and it won’t be surprising if the two spend time together in Florida where Brewster has been running the beaches of Naples.

St. Paul’s Gene Harrington was the NFL’s first conditioning coach, filling that role for Green Bay’s Vince Lombardi in 1965.  Harrington celebrated his 82^nd birthday last week.  He covers local teams including the Vikings for two national radio networks.

When the Vikings play at Detroit in their last regular season game on Sunday, January 2, the two teams could be competing to avoid last place in the NFC North.  The Vikings are 4-7 after yesterday’s win over Washington.  The Lions are 2-9.

Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett seemed like a good fit for the Gophers’ job in 2007 before Tubby Smith was hired.  Bennett, the son of former Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett, was making national headlines as Washington State’s coach.  Now Bennett coaches the Virginia team (3-3) that plays the Gophers tonight as part of the ACC/Big Ten challenge at Williams Arena.  Among the losses is a 106-63 game against nationally-ranked Washington.

Trent Lockett, who played for Hopkins, is now a sophomore at Arizona Sate where as of last week he was leading the Sun Devils in scoring at over 20 points per game. He averaged 6.7 last season.  He had a career high 24 points last week versus Weber State.

Rick Stelmaszek, among the Twins coaches recently signed to contracts through 2012, is the longest tenured coach in major league baseball having been Minnesota’s bullpen coach since 1981.

The Twins’ interest in Japanese infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka is indicative of the franchise’s scouting for international players.  The Twins are in a 30 day negotiating period to reach a contract agreement with the speedy Nishioka.  In recent years the franchise has signed players from the Dominican Republic, Germany and Australia.

St. Paul Saints president Mike Veeck will talk about a possible new ballpark for his franchise at a luncheon starting at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday at Mancini’s Char House & Lounge.  The event is sponsored by the Minnesota Minutemen with more information available at www.minnesotaminutemen.com.

Nick Schultz purchased hats for his Wild teammates and other team personnel who are growing moustaches as part of the “Movember” promotion.  The red and white hats have the Wild logo and a large black moustache with the words “Wild Mo Bros” written across the top.  “Movember” is a moustache growing charity effort during November to create awareness about prostate cancer.