Gerry DiNardo had high praise for the Gophers football program this week.
The Big Ten Network’s in-studio analyst, and former head football coach at Indiana and LSU, came to Minnesota’s campus earlier this spring and Tuesday night voiced this opinion on the Big Ten Football Report show:
“Big picture is this. A year ago I thought if you ranked the teams 1 thru 12 in spring practice, Minnesota would be 12th. I don’t see it that way right now. I think Minnesota has made the most progress of any of the teams that we’ve seen from one spring to the next. …”
DiNardo said the Gophers are a different program under Jerry Kill who was hired in December of 2010 to replace Tim Brewster. “…The offense, the defense has changed, but more important I think the reason it has been such a good and tough transition is—and this word is overused—Jerry Kill has changed the culture. The way they do things. That was culture shock a year ago—man, have they come a long way in one year.”
Fans can make their own judgments tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. in TCF Bank Stadium when Minnesota plays its annual spring game. Most observers who have watched the program in recent weeks believe the Gophers are bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic and sure of themselves than the group that practiced last spring.
What does that mean for next fall? Probably a better team and more wins than in 2011 when Minnesota was 3-9. The 2012 schedule looks less formidable than last fall and anything less than a 4-0 nonconference start against UNLV, New Hampshire, Western Michigan and Syracuse will be a mild disappointment. If the Gophers can find two wins in an eight-game league schedule then Minnesota would have a 6-6 overall record and bowl eligibility.
Not only are Kill and his staff more settled in with themselves and the players, but the Gophers have a talented senior starter at quarterback. A year ago MarQueis Gray was trying to win the job but now he’s in the conversation about the Big Ten’s better quarterbacks.
Gray will need to be healthy and extremely productive for the Gophers to have a .500 season or better. A lot of teammates will have to step up, too, because despite the program’s progress there are many more questions than answers about this team.
Offense? Defense? Special teams? The Gophers have to improve all three units in the next 12 months if DiNardo is going to consider making the same pronouncement in 2013 he did this week.