Golden Gophers – Page 271 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Zimmer’s Vikings Path Similar to Grant

Posted on December 28, 2015December 28, 2015 by David Shama

Notes following last night’s Vikings win, and prior to today’s Gophers bowl game.

Coaching legend Bud Grant led the Vikings to a division title in his second season in Minnesota. Next Sunday in Green Bay second-year coach Mike Zimmer can lead the Vikings to the NFC North Division championship with a victory over the Packers.

In Grant’s first season of 1967 his record was 3-8-3 (14-game regular season). But in 1968 a rebuilt roster helped Grant coach the Vikings to a division winning 8-6 record.

Zimmer’s record last season was 7-9 but this fall his club has been one of the NFL’s surprise teams. Given minimal chance to win the NFC North before the season started, the 10-5 Vikings can put an end to the Packers’ recent dominance of the division with a win next Sunday night in Green Bay.

Bud Grant (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

There’s already some speculation Zimmer will become the Vikings’ best coach since Grant, the stoic field boss who led the franchise to four Super Bowls. Both men have shown a common sense and no-nonsense approach to leading their teams. The two are pure football men who are about substance, not flash. They have reputations for being able to judge personnel including whether players are committed to minimizing mistakes and doing what’s necessary to win.

Who wins at Lambeau Field next Sunday in a matchup of 10-5 teams? The offensive lines might have more to do with the game’s outcome than any other units. The Packers’ line was dreadful yesterday, allowing eight sacks in a 38-8 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was under so much pressure he had two fumbles that the Cardinals scooped up and ran into the end zone for touchdowns.

The Vikings’ defense, including the team’s sack specialists, might be “drooling” this week while watching film of the Green Bay offensive line. Zimmer has one of the NFL’s highest defensive I.Q.’s and is a master of disguising and then bringing pressure on quarterbacks.

The Vikings’ offensive line has also struggled with pass protection while showing efficiency to run block for Adrian Peterson, the NFL’s leading rusher. The Packers’ defense isn’t equal to the Vikings, but Green Bay did hold Minnesota to two touchdowns when the teams met in Minneapolis on November 22.

In that game the Vikings rushed for only 94 yards, including 45 from Peterson in a 30-13 loss. The Vikings will almost certainly need more than 45 yards from Peterson on Sunday. His offensive teammates can help him with a solid run-pass mix, and they do have a hot quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater who has only one interception in his last seven games while completing 60 percent or more of his passes.

Rodgers and the Packers have dominated the Vikings in the past. Minnesota’s last win in Green Bay was during the 2009 season. Some fans who root for the Purple might be cocky after last night’s 49-17 Vikings’ win over the Giants and the Packers’ meltdown in Arizona. Maybe the Packers’ offensive line has too many holes to patch but Rodgers is probably the NFL’s best quarterback and he can work miracles for his teammates. Just ask the Lions who Rodgers beat with a Hail Mary in Detroit earlier this month. …

A Gophers insider who is typically cautious didn’t hesitate in predicting a Minnesota win over Central Michigan tonight in the Quick Lane Bowl at Detroit’s Ford Field. The 5-7 Gophers are favored by several points over the 7-5 Mid-American team and Minnesota seems likely to cover the spread and win its first bowl game since 2004.

The program’s seven-game bowl losing streak is something head coach Tracy Claeys has talked to the team about, mentioning how the seniors can be the first upperclassmen to earn a postseason victory in several years. Claeys and most of the coaching staff have been at Minnesota since 2011 and are 0-3 in bowl games.

Among the top seniors is wide receiver KJ Maye who led the Gophers in receptions with 65 and receiving yards at 706. He is a much improved player after early career numbers that included 16 catches for 298 yards as a junior.

Maye believes he had a “great year” and when asked for a letter grade said “A-.” The 5-10, 199-pound former high school quarterback expects to be drafted by an NFL team and looks at the bowl game as an opportunity to impress pro scouts. What would he do with his first paycheck as a pro? “I’d put it in the bank,” he said laughing. “I am not touching it.”

Claeys said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle show yesterday his team is the healthiest it has been since midseason. Players who have been injured he indicated could play tonight in the bowl game include Jon Christenson, Scott Ekpe, Brandon Lingen, Steven Richardson and Rodney Smith. Claeys expressed concern about the conditioning of players who haven’t played for awhile.

Claeys expects to name his offensive coordinator soon, replacing Matt Limegrover who was let go. That person will also have responsibility to coach a position group. “My main thing is that whatever position they coach…it needs to be either tailbacks, quarterbacks or the tight ends,” Claeys said. “The less kids you have to worry about in practice, the better off you’re going to be on calling the plays on game days.”

Rumors are that players with remaining eligibility will leave the program after the bowl game. “It happens everywhere,” Claeys said. “Especially at certain positions where only one (player) can play, or two can play at a time. …”

Passionate Gophers fans may speculate that among players who might transfer are reserves Berkley Edwards (running back) and Jacques Perra (quarterback). Competition for playing time next season at running back and quarterback looks challenging.

Claeys had his 47th birthday on Christmas Day in Detroit and the players sang Happy Birthday to their first-year coach.

University of Minnesota officials, including leaders from the Gophers athletic department, fly to Detroit today and return after the game. The team departed Minneapolis on Christmas Eve day and participated in bowl game activities including a dinner on Saturday night attended also by Central Michigan. Players received gifts including $200 gift cards from Best Buy and headphones.

With school not in session at Minnesota until next month, many Gophers won’t directly return to Minneapolis after tonight’s bowl game. Instead, they will head home including to warmer climates where their families reside.

The bowl game will be the coaching debut of Dan O’Brien whose title is assistant to the head coach, assistant defensive backs coach and co-special teams coordinator. O’Brien had been a senior administrator in the Minnesota athletic department overseeing football. Interim athletics director Beth Goetz now directly supervises football and some other sports.

The bowl in Detroit dates back to 1997 and has been known as the Motor City Bowl, Little Caesars Bowl and now the Quick Lane Bowl. Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center has more than 700 locations nationally, according to the company website.

The matchup between the Gophers and Chippewas might attract a crowd of less than 20,000 at Ford Field, a covered facility seating about 65,000. The game will be televised by ESPN2 and may draw a national TV audience of two million viewers or more.

That may seem like a high viewership number for a bowl game far down on the list of attractive sites and team matchups, but positives include being televised by a popular cable network during prime time hours with no other college football in direct competition for most of the event. Sportsmediawatch.com reported on January 14 of this year that the last Quick Lane Bowl had about 2.8 million viewers while the three College Football Playoff games each had 28 million or more viewers.

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U Frosh 2nd in Big Ten Rebound Average

Posted on December 21, 2015December 21, 2015 by David Shama

Jordan Murphy looks like a candidate to not only average double figures in rebounding but also to lead the Big Ten Conference in that category. The Gophers freshman forward from San Antonio had a season high 18 rebounds in 31 minutes in his last game and is averaging 8.7 rebounds during the nonconference schedule.

Murphy ranks second among Big Ten players in rebounding average. He could be the first Gopher to average double figures and lead the conference since Trevor Mbakwe in 2011. “He’s doing a lot of things that have nothing to do with coaching,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said about Murphy.

Murphy has particularly impressed with his offensive rebounding. He had 11 offensive rebounds among his 18 in the win last week over Chicago State. But Pitino wants improvement from Murphy with his defensive rebounding.

“I agree with him 100 percent that I could be a better defensive rebounder,” Murphy said. “I think that’s the difference between getting 20 rebounds and 18, just being a better defensive rebounder.”

The defensive numbers can improve, Murphy said, if he becomes more effective in blocking opponents from having superior rebounding position. And both his defensive and offensive rebound totals will almost certainly increase with more playing time. So far Murphy hasn’t been a starter and is averaging 22.4 minutes. That is the fifth highest average on the team and means he is playing only a little more than half of the 40 minutes per game.

Pitino is noncommittal about whether Murphy becomes a starter anytime soon. The coach seems to like having the 6-6, 230-pound Texan provide rebounds, points and energy off the bench. Murphy is averaging 10.3 points per game and while he might continue to be a nonstarter for awhile, he is likely to see his minutes increase closer to 30 per game and be on the floor when the Gophers try to close out opponents.

“I don’t really care about starting,” Murphy said. “I am not really here to just make demands and say I gotta start. It’s not me. I am just here to provide energy whenever I need to and just to do whatever coach asks me.”

Murphy is one of the team’s best players already. His instinctive offensive rebounding, characterized by a sense for finding the ball before others do, makes him a special first-year player. As a rebounder, he might prove to be one of the best in school history.

Murphy acknowledges “having a knack for getting the ball,” and credits his father Bernard with helping him develop. A few years ago his dad told him he had rebounding skills and should focus on becoming better at it. “He would actually take me to the park and start throwing up ‘bricks’ (bad shots), and I’d have to go catch them and put them back up,” Murphy said.

He admitted to being a “little” surprised by his early success with the Gophers. Asked if he could lead the Big Ten in rebounding, Murphy said he didn’t know and will have to work hard to have a chance at it.

The Gophers, 6-5, play their final nonconference game on Wednesday night at home against Milwaukee. Then comes the 18-game Big Ten schedule beginning with the opener at Ohio State on December 30. That will be another test for Murphy but so far he is off to a promising start to his college career.

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Looking for Clues in U AD Process

Posted on December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 by David Shama

While sources have no solid information about who will be the next Gophers athletics director, the educated guess still points to Beth Goetz who has worked in the University of Minnesota athletics department since 2013.

The actions of University president Eric Kaler could be interpreted as pointing to a Goetz appointment. Initially he demonstrated confidence in Goetz by promoting her in early August to the position of interim AD. Kaler has been in no rush to start the search process, and perhaps that indicates a willingness to give Goetz, 41, a lengthy tryout for the permanent job.

In a Star Tribune story last Wednesday Kaler told the newspaper he will begin a search to replace former AD Norwood Teague after the first of the year and hopes to have the new person running the department by July 1. He also told the Star Tribune he might not use a search firm. That could indicate a preference to consider a limited field of candidates for the job, with Goetz at the top of the list.

Maybe Kaler wants to wait until spring to let the school year wrap-up around the country. If he wants to court a sitting AD, or top assistant at another university, perhaps that person will be more willing to make a change when not only the school year is ending but the football and basketball seasons—the highest profile sports at Power Five conferences—will be over too.

It’s interesting that Dan O’Brien, who was a senior administrator in the athletic department, has joined the football coaching staff. O’Brien was a person some U boosters advocated as a candidate to become the next AD. Did O’Brien intuit he wouldn’t be a leading candidate because Goetz or someone from the outside will be hired?

There are boosters, too, that warmed immediately to the idea of Jerry Kill becoming the athletic director after his health caused him to resign as football coach. Multiple sources indicate that neither Kaler nor Kill is interested in pursuing that possibility.

The road ahead could be paved for a Goetz hire. Indications are her performance so far is worthy of consideration, and Kaler, the person who apparently holds most of the cards in naming the next AD, may be very pleased by Goetz’s work. The announcement, if it comes, will stir both supportive and critical responses from the public and probably inside the athletic department, too.

Goetz, although never a previous AD, has years of experience in athletic department administration at Minnesota and other schools. She could become the first woman AD at Minnesota to run a combined men’s and women’s department. Both inside and outside the University there is a Goetz constituency who want her to make history not only at Minnesota, but to become one of the few female athletic directors ever in the Big Ten.

Others have a different vision about the person who should lead the athletics department. Some Gophers fans no doubt want Kaler to hire an established major college AD with an impressive track record of hiring coaches, fundraising and administering—probably minimizing the risk of finding a great leader for the department.

The Gophers have a 25-sport, $100 million-plus budget with over 700 student-athletes. Many of the qualities needed to successfully lead a department like Minnesota’s are often possessed by an accomplished business person. It’s been advocated that such a business woman or man could bring new thinking, entrepreneurship, marketing, hiring and leadership skills to the job. That person might also have a dynamic, even charismatic personality to help win over a sometimes apathetic alumni and fan base.

Jim Hackett, the retired CEO of Steelcase, Inc., is the interim athletic director at Michigan. He seems like a business poster boy for what Minnesota could consider. Since taking over at Michigan about 16 months ago he has hired Jim Harbaugh—perhaps the best football coach in the country, negotiated a rich sponsorship contract with Nike, administered a $151 million department budget, and continued a track record of academic achievement among the school’s student-athletes.

Hackett doesn’t want to continue in the AD job and Michigan’s president announced earlier this month the school is starting an immediate search for a successor. Michigan will use a search firm to assist with the process.

Meanwhile, the hiring of the Gophers next athletic director apparently rests with Kaler, who fumbled the last time when he hired the infamous Teague. It will be very interesting to watch Kaler’s process and ultimate choice.

Worth Noting

The St. Thomas football team that plays for the Division III national championship Friday night in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl wasn’t even rated in the national top 10 by d3football.com in its preseason poll. Now the Tommies have become the second school in the poll’s history to reach the national title game.

The Tommies, who were ranked No. 14 in the d3football.com preseason poll, also had no preseason All-Americans, nor any returning players from 2014 who earned that honor. But UST, of course, has talented players including running back Jordan Roberts, who had 32 rushing touchdowns this fall—the most of any college football player. The d3football.com All-American team will be announced on Friday, but earlier this week St. Thomas offensive tackle David Simmet was named to the American Football Coaches of America All-American team.

The Tommies’ perfect 14-0 season has resulted from more than exceptional players and superior coaching. There is a collective sense by players of knowing what to do in games and how to adjust. Coach Glenn Caruso said in most games this season things fell into place for the Tommies but there were four when things didn’t click so well.

“We’re a very intuitive group and we do a really good job of figuring out what we need to do…during the game,” Caruso said. “I’ve never, in 20 years of coaching, been around a team that is as dynamic as this one. …Dynamic means you can find different ways to win games, and this team has it because they’re tremendously adjustable.”

Mount Union, the St. Thomas opponent on Friday, is also 14-0 and a gold standard for Division III football. Mount union (Alliance, Ohio) has won 11 Stagg Bowls since 1993 and played in all but one of those bowls since 2000.

UST and Mount Union are the only teams among 660 in college football averaging over 50 points per game on offense while holding opponents to under 10 points defensively. Kickoff from Salem, Virginia on Friday night is at 7:05 p.m. with ESPNU televising.

Condolences to family and friends of Glen Sonmor who died earlier this week. Sonmor, 86, will be remembered for coaching the Gophers, North Stars and Fighting Saints but those who knew him well cherish his friendly manner and passion for life. I can never remember a time when Sonmor wasn’t helpful and available to talk hockey.

Two of the most prominent sports in women’s college sports are hockey and volleyball. The Gophers won the national title in hockey earlier this year and could add another NCAA women’s championship in volleyball this week in Omaha.

Coach Hugh McCutcheon’s Gophers, the No. 2 seed, meet No. 3 seed Texas starting at 6 p.m. Thursday in a nationally televised match on ESPN2. No. 4 Nebraska plays No. 9 Kansas in the other Final Four match, scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m.

McCutcheon became the Gophers volleyball coach after leading men’s and women’s teams in international competition including coaching the U.S. men to the 2008 Olympic gold medal. His first season at Minnesota was 2012 and it’s turned out to be a superb hire by then athletics director Joel Maturi. McCutcheon’s winning teams have drawn capacity crowds at Williams Arena. Players apparently enjoy playing for him and are exposed to a continual learning experience.

The Gophers (30-4) have 12 Minnesotans on the 16-players roster. Senior Daly Santana is from Puerto Rico and is the team’s MVP, but there are a lot of other contributors too including the Tapp twins, Hannah and Paige from Stewartville, Minnesota.

The national championship match will be on Saturday night and televised by ESPN2.

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