Golden Gophers – Page 182 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Volleyball Following Golden Script

Posted on November 29, 2018November 29, 2018 by David Shama

It looks almost predestined for the Golden Gophers volleyball team to win the 2018 national championship.

Minnesota’s path in the NCAA Tournament begins tomorrow night at home in Maturi Pavilion. If the Gophers keep on winning they can land at Target Center next month in the Final Four, never having left Minneapolis.

The Gophers are the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular season championship. At times during the season Minnesota was ranked No. 1 nationally in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, and now are at No. 2.

Earlier this month Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon was honored with induction into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. McCutcheon coached the U.S. men’s volleyball team to the 2008 Olympic gold medal. He directed the American women to the 2012 Olympic silver medal. At Minnesota he won the 2015 Big Ten title and twice has led teams to the Final Four.

Clearly this is a storybook season so far for McCutcheon and the Gophers, and the final chapter to their story could have a very happy ending. But what friends know about McCutcheon is that no matter how this narrative ends, the coach will keep it all in perspective and try to use the results as a learning experience for himself and his players.

McCutcheon photo courtesy of Minnesota athletic communications.

McCutcheon is a coach’s coach. Others in the coaching profession, regardless of sport, seek his counsel. Understanding process, temperament and relationships are common threads in all sports. McCutcheon goes about his business in a personable and engaged manner but you sense he is always under control, and calculating a next thought or move.

Asked this week what the Gophers will do next year without one of their stars, McCutcheon said, “We’ll miss her, but we’re going to keep playing volleyball.”

Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi hired McCutcheon and describes him as a very special coach. Maturi told Sports Headliners that McCutcheon not only knows what needs to be accomplished but makes the necessary adjustments. With him the Xs and Os of the sport don’t block out relating to his players and getting the best out of them. “He does it better than anybody I’ve been around,” Maturi said.

In an email Maturi reflected on McCutcheon’s use of process: “He has the ability to get his athletes to focus on the process rather than the score as well as any coach I know. No emotion over a mistake or good point. It is about the next point.

“As you heard (at a McCutcheon talk), it is about relationships. Understanding each athlete and their needs, yet holding them accountable and responsible. He is special.”

The Gophers, 25-3, play Bryant, 22-12, on Friday night. If the Gophers win they will advance to the second round Saturday and compete against Friday night’s Colorado-South Carolina winner also at Maturi Pavilon. By winning out over the weekend Minnesota can keep on playing in the tournament and at the Pav December 7-8. The Final Four at Target Center is December 14 and 15.

Worth Noting

The Gophers are fourth nationally in average home volleyball attendance at 5,354 fans per match. Nebraska leads the country with an average of 8,188.

Maturi Pavilion and adjacent Williams Arena will both have air conditioning installed next year. A volleyball performance center at the Pav where players can train is also being planned.

Big games and limited time during the next seven days puts pressure on the Gopher men’s basketball coaches and players. Minnesota, 5-1, plays Oklahoma State, 4-2, in a game that doesn’t start until 9 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Sunday night the Gophers open their Big Ten season against 6-0 Ohio State in Columbus. Then next Wednesday, Minnesota has a second conference game—playing Nebraska, 6-1, at Williams Arena.

If the Gophers can earn at least two wins, in March they might look back and say that stretch contributed to an NCAA Tournament invitation. To have success during the next several days Minnesota will have to improve its shooting from Monday night’s loss at Boston College. The Gophers made 19 of 65 field goals, including 5 of 30 three-point attempts.

Friday night’s game is part of the U.S. Bank Stadium Basketball Classic—a two-night trial run on the basketball configuration and logistics in the facility for next spring’s NCAA Final Four. St. Thomas and UW-River Falls meet prior to the Gophers and Cowboys in the first basketball games ever played in the facility that opened in 2016. Saturday night North Dakota State plays Drake, followed by South Dakota State and Northern Iowa.

The classic is being administered and promoted by the stadium management company, SMG, and not the University of Minnesota. Only lower level seating will be set up, with SMG targeting attendance of 12,000 to 15,000 Friday and 10,000 to 12,000 Saturday. Ads in the Star Tribune have been promoting $15 tickets.

Memphis might be a leader in the “sweepstakes” for a commitment next spring from Rochester John Marshall superstar and senior Matthew Hurt. The new Memphis staff, featuring head coach Penny Hardaway, and assistants Mike Miller and Sam Mitchell, all have impressive NBA backgrounds. They can talk to Hurt from experience about how positioned the three are to get him best prepped for a pro career.

Kirk Cousins has thrown for more yards this season than Tom Brady, his quarterback rival in Sunday’s showdown game between the Vikings and Patriots in New England. Cousins’ total is 3,289 while Brady, whose leading receiver is running back James White, is at 3,031.

Jason Williamson, the Owatonna running back and free safety who has verbally committed to the Gophers, is one of 11 finalists for the Mr. Football Award given annually to an outstanding high school senior in the state. The other candidates are Bryce Benhart, Lakeville North; Matt Cavanaugh, Edina; Alex Folz, Spring Grove; Nick McCabe, Caledonia; Cade Plath, Chanhassen; David Roddy, Breck; Luke Ryan, BOLD; Treyton Welch, Buffalo; Brandon Westberg, Cambridge-Isanti; and Cole Woodford, Redwood Valley.

The award winner will be announced December 16 at the Doubletree by Hilton Minneapolis Park Place Hotel. The Mr. Football Award is sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Vikings.

Antonio Montero, last year’s Mr. Football winner from Eden Prairie, has been a starting linebacker as a true freshman at Rice this fall. He had six solo tackles in one game.

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck has his 38th birthday today.

Stepan Falkovsky, the 6-7, 224-pound defenseman the Wild acquired last week from the Kings, is only 21 and not yet on Minnesota’s roster while he gains more lower level experience. If he were on the team now he would be the Wild’s tallest player.

Meanwhile, the Wild’s Matt Dumba is the leading goal scorer among defensemen in the NHL with 10.

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Mike Zimmer Still Confident about Kicker

Posted on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday notes column focusing on the Vikings.

Mike Zimmer is working with his fourth kicker in five seasons as Vikings head coach. There have been enough ups and downs to write a book about those experiences, with the latest tribulation coming Sunday night when Dan Bailey missed on two of three field goals.

“I still have a lot of confidence in this kid. I believe in him,” Zimmer told KFXN-FM after the game. “I watch him every single day. It was big for him to go out there and get that last one.”

Bailey’s 37-yard third quarter field goal against the Packers put the Vikings ahead 17-14 in a vital game they went on to win 24-17. The subject of field goals in a Packers game is a touchy one after Minnesota rookie Daniel Carlson missed three in the opening game for both teams in September.

That game ended in a 29-29 tie that doesn’t do much for the Vikings’ postseason ambitions. At 6-4-1 Minnesota is pursuing an NFC North Division title, or a wild card entry, to make the playoffs. Tight games in the fourth quarter could mean Bailey’s leg will be the difference in winning during the five remaining games on the regular season schedule and qualifying for the playoffs.

Bailey has made 75 percent of his field goals since joining the Vikings and all but one of his extra points. In seven previous seasons with the Cowboys he converted on 88.2 percent of his field goals.

Meanwhile, Carlson, who was cut and replaced by Bailey after the Green Bay opener, is seven of eight on field goals and a perfect eight for eight on extra points after playing in five games for the Raiders.

Former Viking Pete Bercich talking to Sports Headliners before Sunday night’s game about defensive end Everson Griffen, who rejoined the team in late October: “I think he’s working his way back. I think with defensive ends a lot of it is timing. Being out as long as he was, it’s going to take him a little bit, and conditionally, (being in the best shape). I think he’s dong all right.”

Griffen missed five games earlier this season. In six games he has 11 tackles and 3.5 sacks, with totals of 7 and 2.5 since rejoining the team for the New Orleans game October 28.

Griffen was a Pro Bowler last season for the third straight year but because of his missed time this fall the Vikings did not include him among players spotlighted to the media on Sunday encouraging Pro Bowl voting. The eight players who are being promoted for promoting and playing in the 2019 Pro Bowl are quarterback Kirk Cousins, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, defensive end Danielle Hunter, defensive tackle Linval Joseph, tight end Kyle Rudolph, safety Harrison Smith, wide receiver Adam Thielen, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

In Pro Bowl voting totals released last week by the NFL, Smith was the top vote getter among free safeties. Hunter was second among defensive ends.

Although the Vikings offensive line had one of its better games against the Packers Sunday night, the unit remains among the lower rated groups by NFL authorities. A Vikings source, who didn’t want his name in print, said the club is well aware of the line’s limitations.

His view is the Vikings will have to change some personnel among starters to improve. The club wanted to prioritize offensive linemen in the most recent NFL draft but their options were limited when other teams were better positioned to make selections.

The source said his team got an athletic tackle in rookie Brian O’Neill who was taken on the second round. He said O’Neill needs to become stronger and while he won’t become a perennial All-Pro he can be a solid lineman. Earlier this season Pro Football Focus rated him the third best rookie offensive lineman in the NFL.

After Sunday’s game the Vikings ranked 30th in NFL rushing with 85.3 yards per game. That is an indictment of the offensive line and the source stressed even in today’s pass-happy NFL having an effective running game is important to creating a balanced offense.

Blake Cashman and other Minnesota natives who play for the Gophers were recognized on the field during the Vikings game at U.S. Bank Stadium for their team’s upset win Saturday against Wisconsin. The players displayed Paul Bunyan’s Axe in front of an appreciative crowd. Cashman simulated rowing a boat, an acknowledgment of coach P.J. Fleck’s well-known mantra.

David Raih, the Packers wide receivers coach and an Edina native, is a classic work your way up from the bottom success story. In 2008 he quit a lucrative sales job to accept an unpaid internship in the football department at UCLA, per a 2016 ESPN story. The 38-year-old Raih attended St. Thomas Academy before being a reserve quarterback at Iowa from 1999-2003.

Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs turns 25 on Thursday, and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson will have his 28th birthday on the same day.

Despite speculation Mike Grant, 61, said yesterday he isn’t planning to retire as Eden Prairie’s 11-time state champion football coach. With humor, Grant mentioned he gets along well with the EP athletic director. (For those who don’t know he is both the head football coach and AD at the school).

The Eagles lost last Friday in the 6A title game to Lakeville North. It was the second time in 2018 the Panthers have defeated EP and Grant praised Lakeville as the better team.

Eagles senior quarterback Cole Kramer, who plays for the Gophers next year, is the only 6A QB ever to start in three consecutive state title games.

Tonight there will be a dedication ceremony to rename the Hutchinson High School gymnasium for Lindsay Whalen. The legendary Hutch native, now in her first season as Gophers women’s basketball coach, will direct Minnesota against Syracuse on Thursday night at Williams Arena. Both teams are in the Associated Press top 25 with Syracuse No. 12 and Minnesota No. 20.

Whalen speaks to the Capital Club on December 20 at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul. Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton talks to the group on December 12 in downtown St. Paul at the 317 on Rice Park Event Center. The networking group features prominent speakers, many of them from athletics. More information about the Capital Club is available at Capitalclubmn.com, or from Patrick Klinger, patrickklinger@klingercompany.com.

Janel McCarville, Whalen’s Final Four teammate during playing days with the Gophers, has been playing professionally this year in Sweden.

The Wild play Arizona tonight at home, and fans will continue to evaluate coach Bruce Boudreau’s decision to split up top pair defensemen Matt Dumba and Ryan Suter.

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Contract Extension Next for Fleck?

Posted on November 25, 2018November 25, 2018 by David Shama

Will Golden Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle extend football coach P.J. Fleck’s contract after yesterday’s stunning and potential program changing 37-15 upset of Wisconsin?

I asked Coyle about an extension earlier this month and he was noncommittal, answering that he will address the subject later this year after more evaluation. Coyle hired Fleck in January of 2017 and in November of last year extended the coach’s contract one year through 2023.

While contract extensions provide more security to coaches and are a reward for good work, they are often for public perception too—sending a message to potential high school recruits that an athletic director is solidly behind his coach. Adding on another year to Fleck’s deal certainly meets the criteria described here.

From the outside looking in, earlier this month Fleck’s program was gloomy as the weather that contributed to embarrassingly small crowds for home games against Indiana, Purdue and Northwestern. Three weeks ago lowly Illinois humiliated the Gophers 55-31, gashing the defense with long runs and coming up with 646 total yards. The loss left Minnesota with a 1-5 Big Ten record and no more “softies” remaining on the schedule to make bowl eligibility likely.

Minnesota rallied, though, winning two of its last three games to finish with a 6-6 overall record and an invitation coming soon for a bowl game. Fleck had the wisdom to fire defensive coordinator Robb Smith after the Illinois game and named Joe Rossi as his replacement. Since then Minnesota has improved dramatically on defense while defeating Purdue 41-10, losing to Northwestern 24-14 and beating Wisconsin while giving up only two touchdowns including one late in the game.

Those wins in the last three games are the most impressive and significant in the Fleck era. Purdue is the only team to defeat 11-1 Ohio State, the Big Ten’s best program. While the Gophers could have played better, they made a competitive game out of their November 17 matchup with Northwestern, the Big Ten West Division champions. Against Wisconsin Fleck and the Gophers earned that signature win they have been pursuing for two years.

Minnesota went into yesterday’s game against the Badgers with a Big Ten worst minus 11 in turnover margin. That’s not what Fleck has had in mind since Day One while preaching “the ball is the program.” Minnesota redshirt freshman quarterback Tanner Morgan had three turnovers in the loss to Northwestern but he played clean against the Badgers.

Minnesota scored 24 points off of turnovers yesterday. Badgers quarterback Alex Hornibrook threw three interceptions and had a fumble. Jonathan Taylor, the nation’s leading rusher, was held to 120 yards.

Don’t let anyone diminish the value of what the Gophers did in dominating the Badgers in Madison. Yes, the Badgers have been dealing with injuries (what team isn’t this time of year?), and have stumbled from preseason predictions of playing for a national championship to finishing with a regular season 7-5 record. But this is a team that only a week before at Purdue had rallied from a 27-13 fourth quarter deficit to win in three overtimes as the Boilermakers couldn’t control Taylor who ran for 321 yards.

Wisconsin has long been the standard-bearer in the Big Ten West Division, often beating almost everyone in the conference, and dominating programs like Minnesota. Until yesterday the Gophers hadn’t won in Madison since 1994. They hadn’t taken home Paul Bunyan’s Axe since 2003.

Minnesota’s futility against Wisconsin had become a symbol of a program that too often has been in rebuild mode and had surrendered its winning edge in college football’s most played rivalry. In a series that started in 1890, the record between Minnesota and Wisconsin is now 60-60-8.

Fleck and his program have earned a win that could one day be seen as a game changer for Gophers football. Last year Minnesota won just two Big Ten games, beating dysfunctional Nebraska and awful Illinois. Before defeating Purdue, Fleck’s only other conference win was over so-so Indiana this fall. Three wins that didn’t provide a lot of credibility to Fleck’s goal of building a winning program, but now perceptions are changing.

The Gophers will return most of their players for next season. The roster will have more quality and depth than seen here in awhile. The personnel will include stars and difference makers such as defensive end Carter Coughlin, safety Antoine Winfield Jr., wide receiver Tyler Johnson, and running backs Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith. The quarterback position that has failed the Gophers since Adam Weber ran out of eligibility in 2010 will have two experienced starters returning in Morgan and true freshman Zack Annexstad.

Fleck’s coaching staff looks solid led by offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca and Rossi who had his title changed from interim to permanent defensive coordinator this weekend. Minnesota has given up a total of 49 points in the last three games after allowing Illinois 55. Adding to the optimism is that Fleck’s third recruiting class will arrive next year and likely will provide more quality players and greater depth.

Minnesota also has a favorable schedule next season. The Gophers avoid games against Big Ten bullies Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. The conference schedule also has five home games, with four on the road. The nonconference schedule is friendly except for a road game against Fresno State, a potential top 25 preseason team.

This program has a long way to go and much to prove but maybe Fleck can restore it to what it was decades ago—a Big Ten contender and prominent name on the national scene. West Division rivals Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin flipped long ago from bottom feeders to champions.

After a giddy win over Wisconsin the most loyal and optimistic of Gopher fans can hope that Fleck becomes a savior like Iowa’s Hayden Fry, Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez and Northwestern’s Gary Barnett. Their names live in football immortality in Iowa City, Madison and Evanston.

Take a look at the three coaches’ records on Wikipedia and read how they earned and sustained success after a few seasons at places on the shortlist of laughing stock programs. Fry’s third team at Iowa was 6-2 in Big Ten games and tied for the 1981 conference title. Alvarez’s fourth year (1993) the Badgers went 10-1-1, including a Rose Bowl win. In Barnett’s fourth season (1995) Northwestern changed from the “Mildcats” to the Wildcats winning the Big Ten title. It was the program’s first conference championship since 1936.

That’s a drought Gophers fans can relate to. Minnesota’s last Big Ten title was 1967.

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