Golden Gophers – Page 282 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Childress Didn’t Deserve Vikings Exit

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

Brad Childress never should have been fired as the Vikings coach in November of 2010. His supporters may be thinking about his fate this week as the Vikings prepare to face the Chiefs on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.

Childress now works for the Chiefs and long time friend Andy Reid, the Kansas City head coach. This will be Childress’ 17th season in the NFL but only the four-plus he spent with the Vikings were as a head coach. It will be five years next month that he was let go, despite his success in rebuilding the franchise.

Childress was fired after 10 games of the 2010 season. His regular season record as Vikings coach was 39-35. During the 2008 and 2009 seasons the Vikings won an NFC-best 22 games. The club won consecutive division titles those seasons, for the first time since 1977-78. The 2009 team reached the NFC championship game for the first time in nearly a decade and was among the elite teams in the NFL.

Brad Childress (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

The Vikings were 3-7 in 2010 when Childress was let go, but he had proven his coaching ability. Some disgruntled players may well have contributed to his dismissal, but political situations in locker rooms have a way of disappearing over time. What also may have impacted Childress’ job security was his unpopularity with fans, but he was a solid coach who was successful when surrounded by talented players such as in 2009.

I knew Childress and enjoyed his company one day when we visited legendary Gophers coach Murray Warmath at Friendship Village of Bloomington. Childress knew of Warmath but the two had never met. He spent a lot of time that day visiting with the old coach who had also worked for the Vikings. While we were visiting Warmath, Childress quipped, “Where do I sign up for 95?” Warmath died in 2011 at age 98.

Childress didn’t have to take time from his busy schedule to meet Warmath, but it wasn’t surprising. While in the role of Vikings head coach he was involved with community activities. He is a good guy, good football coach and someone who didn’t deserve such an abrupt ending to his time as the Vikings boss.

Worth Noting

Between now and a home game on November 22 with the 5-0 Packers, the Vikings play five teams with a combined record of 7-19. The 2-2 Vikings have an opportunity to build their record with home games against the 1-5 Chiefs and 2-3 Rams, and away matchups with the 0-5 Lions, and the 2-3 Bears and Raiders.

Odds indicate the one-win Chiefs are due for another “W” soon. Does that add extra concern for Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer? “No, not really,” he answered. “We’ve only won two games—so no, not at all. Our focus is on us and what we do, and how we need to win…and how we need to get better, how we need to perform in the crucial situations of the game. Really, that’s all I’m concerned about.”

The Vikings are chasing perhaps the NFL’s best team, the Packers, who lead the NFC North with their unbeaten record. The Bears have surprised by winning a couple of games already while the winless Lions are a disappointment. What are Zimmer’s thoughts about the division race so far?

“Well, I think it’s a great division, but I’m so focused on us, to be honest with you. I know what the records are. I know who is leading the division, but we’ve got 12 more games to go, so there’s a lot of things that can happen. …Really, all I care about ever is us and how we play…let’s add them up at the end of the year and see what happens.”

Mike Wallace (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace, who missed a couple of practices recently, said his left knee was sore “but I feel good now.” Wallace said he hasn’t had previous problems with the knee.

Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson feels “rejuvenated” after the team had last weekend off because of its bye in the schedule. Peterson said he feels pressure to perform after missing most of last season.

Unless the Chiefs return a portion of their visiting team tickets allotment, Sunday’s game at TCF Bank Stadium is already sold out.

A Vikings spokesman told Sports Headliners the number of workers on the U.S. Bank Stadium project is now at 1,400—a peak number since construction began and the number will decline soon and not reach that total again. The project is 75 percent complete and the facility will be completely enclosed by the end of November. The stadium opens next summer.

Prayers and best wishes to former Gophers All-Big Ten linebacker Bill Light who has pancreatic and liver cancer. Bill’s many friends were informed via e-mail this week of his health issues. He was named all-conference in both 1970 and 1971.

The University of Minnesota “M” Club Hall of Fame honored 14 inductees last night at a ceremony inside TCF Bank Stadium. Congratulations to: Luke Becker (wrestling); Ronda Curtin (women’s hockey); Chris Darkins (football and track); Roland DePaul (men’s hockey); Olga (Splichalova) Espinosa (women’s swimming); Brent Gates (baseball); Clifton Gustafson (wrestling); Jack Manders (football); Dick Meredith (men’s hockey); Jennie (Moe) Coughlin (women’s tennis); Dave Odegard (track and field); Joey Ray (men’s gymnastics); Bill “Buzz” Schneider (men’s hockey); Byrl Thompson (track and field).

Shannon Brooks, the Gophers freshman running back who has established himself as the team’s most explosive player, reports not having a serious football injury since ninth grade. Brooks, who believes it’s a “blessing” to have the opportunity to make big plays as a true freshman, said the most carries he had in a high school game was 25. How many could he handle here? “As much as they give me,” he said.

Could Brooks rush the ball 40 times or more in a single game? “I could do that,” he said. “If they feed me the ball, I am gonna run it.”

Gophers fans may talk about missing the speed of departed tight end Maxx Williams but quarterback Mitch Leidner believes present tight ends Nick Hart and Brandon Lingen are comparable. Leidner said “they might have been a little bit faster than” Williams who left the Gophers last winter for the NFL Draft.

The Gophers play Nebraska tomorrow, a school that didn’t join the Big Ten until 2011, but Minnesota and the Cornhuskers had a long nonconference rivalry in football that began in 1900. A few years ago there was quiet talk in the Minnesota Athletic Department about creating a rivalry trophy but nothing is planned. Winners of the last two games with the Cornhuskers, Minnesota leads the all-time series 31-22-2.

The Wild finished ahead of other Minnesota pro sports franchises in the recent 2015 ESPN The Magazine Ultimate Sports Standings. The standings rank 122 franchises from major league baseball, the NBA, NFL and NHL. The NBA’s Spurs ranked No. 1 in voting by fans to evaluate the franchises. The Wild ranked No. 37, ninth best among NHL teams, and ahead of the No. 47 Twins, No. 86 Vikings and No. 97 Timberwolves.

There is no word on when Gophers executive associate athletics director Mike Ellis may return to work from his leave of absence.

Fox Sports North will televise both the Lynx parade and championship celebration today starting at 11:30 a.m. The Lynx, who defeated the Fever for the WNBA title Wednesday night, will host a parade beginning at the corner of 12th Street and Hennepin Avenue before turning down 7th Street toward Target Center. Starting at 12:15 p.m. a celebration will be held at Target Center that includes a video commemorating the championship season and Lynx players will speak to the crowd. Both events are free and open to the public. Target Center opens at 11:30 a.m.

Former Timberwolves player and executive Fred Hoiberg, now head coach of the Bulls, turned 43 years old yesterday.

The Capital Club, featuring local sports figures as speakers, hosts Gophers interim athletics director Beth Goetz on November 3 at Town & Country Club in St. Paul. For more information about membership, contact Patrick Klinger, Patrick@thebrandenhancementgroup.com.

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U Basketball Recruit Coffey, Mr. Versatile

Posted on October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by David Shama

Amir Coffey is so versatile his coach may ask him to guard other players this coming season—regardless of their height, weight and playing positions. Hopkins High School coach Ken Novak Jr. is also hopeful the 6-6, 170-pound guard will average a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists.

Coffey was a big get for Gophers coach Richard Pitino last month when the Rivals.com four-star high school senior verbally committed to his home-state school. Coffey is the elite senior prospect in Minnesota, and giving his word to play for the Gophers is a step in the right direction for Pitino’s struggling program—6-12 in the Big Ten last season and in rebuilding mode.

Novak has coached high school basketball for more than 30 years. At Hopkins he has coached championship teams and great players including Siyani Chambers, Joe Coleman, Kris Humphries and Royce White. Novak considers Humphries, who was a rebounding whiz along with other skills, to be his best player ever, but said Coffey is unique. “I am not saying he’s (Coffey) the best player. He’s definitely the most versatile player,” Novak told Sports Headliners recently.

Novak wants defensive improvement out of Coffey this season. His ability to defend at a high level will go a long way toward determining the Royals’ success. “For us, Amir is going to have to be guarding the best player most of the time, and he has the smarts to be able to do that,” Novak said.

Coffey tore his left ACL last season and missed most of the Hopkins schedule. Novak said the injury and resulting surgery lessened his player’s explosiveness. “His strength in his legs aren’t quite what they were but…he will get that back,” Novak said.

The Royals begin practice for next season on November 9 and Novak has high expectations for Coffey. “He’s one of those guys that could average a triple-double,” said Novak who will be starting his 26th season at Hopkins.

Novak admits not being sure if he ever heard of a high school player averaging a triple-double but that’s his objective for Coffey. “I think scoring won’t be a problem,” the coach said. “I think assists and rebounding will be tough to average. …That would be a goal (triple-double).”

Although Coffey is tall, he is a good ball handler and his passing prompts raves from the coach. “He’s a phenomenal passer,” Novak said. “Passing ability is what he does best. Vision wise, as good a point guard as you will find.”

Coffey’s dad, Richard Coffey, was a 6-4 undersized, overachieving forward and center for the Gophers from 1986-1990. Richard was all about the team and probably nobody ever graded him less than A+ for attitude.

Novak said Amir is also about teammates first. “He’s a really unselfish kid,” Novak said. “He’s not a kid that’s looking to try and go out and get 30 points. He likes to set people up and he does it all the time.”

Novak believes Coffey could become a superb shooter and scorer because he has “great hands.” In college he likely will need to shoot long range in Pitino’s offense emphasizing three-pointers. With his scoring, passing, rebounding and defending potential, Coffey could eventually be a special college player but he will have to polish his total game and become physically stronger.

“He’s not coming in and dominating Big Ten basketball with his size,” Novak said. “Can he in a few years? Yeah, I think he can in a few years. …”

For the more immediate future, Novak, Coffey and the rest of the Royals can focus on the season ahead and trying to win a 4A state championship. Hopkins has three starters back including Mr. Versatile. That’s a good start but Novak knows there are challenges ahead including defending 4A state champion Apple Valley led by junior wing Gary Trent Jr. and sophomore point guard Tre Jones.

“Apple Valley, I think, is by far the best team,” Novak said. “They’ve got two guys offered to Duke. I don’t know if this state has seen a team that probably is as talented as they are, and they’re young too. And for anybody to beat them, they’re going to have to play well. You’re going to have to be an awfully, awfully good team.”

Worth Noting

Shannon Brooks, the freshman Gophers running back who rushed for 176 yards last week against Purdue, didn’t command a lot of interest from big time college programs coming out of Pickens High School in Jasper, Georgia. Georgia Tech was interested but he didn’t like the Yellow Jackets’ triple option offense, preferring Minnesota’s multiple set scheme. He said the University of North Carolina at Charlotte would have been his choice if it wasn’t for the Gophers scholarship.

Obviously a lot of recruiters missed on Brooks. Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover recalled one of his best friends is a high school coach in Atlanta (about a one hour drive from Jasper) and he knew Brooks was a special running back. Limegrover said the coach told him, “I thought that was the best kid I had seen in the state the past two years.”

Senior Jon Christenson, one of the Gophers best offensive linemen, returned from injury for part-time duty against Purdue. Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said Christenson will continue to split time with senior Joe Bjorklund at left guard.

“We have two kids that have knee injuries…Joe Bjorklund and Jon, and there’s no way they can play 50, 60 plays a game,” Kill said. “So we played them pretty much evenly in the (Purdue) game, which helps both of them. We substitute them more than we ever have.”

A Gophers spokesman said Saturday’s Minnesota-Nebraska game is “close” to a sellout at TCF Bank Stadium. If there is a capacity crowd, it will mean the Gophers have sold out all four home games so far—the first time a sellout streak has reached that total since 2009.

Twins telecasts on Fox Sports North in 2015 increased 24 percent from last year and had the 10th highest viewership among MLB teams on regional sports networks with a 4.12 average household rating. Twins telecasts were No. 1 on cable and No. 3 in primetime for all Minneapolis-St. Paul TV programming during the past season.

“Twins Season Review 2015,” a 30-minute program, debuts Thursday night on Fox Sports North starting at 8 p.m.

Jim Bruton, the former Gophers football player who has written books with Minnesota sports legends, has a new book called I’m Alive, an inspiring story about Duke Pieper. Almost six years ago Pieper, then a freshman hockey player on the Hill-Murray varsity, “suffered a brain bleed before his first game,” according to an e-mail from Bruton. “On two occasions, the family asked Bill Lechner, HM coach, to be a pallbearer for Duke’s funeral. His doctor told the family ‘it was time to let him go.’ Duke lived after having only a five percent chance to survive surgery.”

The Wild has interesting road games coming up including Sunday evening in Anaheim against a Ducks team that is a popular choice to win the Stanley Cup. The Wild lost all three regular season games to the Ducks in 2014-2015. All three losses were by one goal.

The Wild will see Marian Gaborik playing for the Kings on Friday night in Los Angeles. Gaborik, the former Wild star, is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals with 219. Tomorrow evening the Wild play the Coyotes in Arizona where Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk faces the team he played for part of last season (9-5-2 record, 2.72 GAA).

Skilled marketer and WCHA men’s commissioner Bill Robertson is promoting all-tournament ticket packages for the 2016 Final Five in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 18 and 19. Priced at $69 each, a ticket package provides admission to the two semi-final games on March 18 and the Broadmoor Trophy championship matchup the next day. Tickets are available via multiple sources including Ticketmaster. “As we saw last season with three nationally-ranked teams competing, the Final Five remains the sport’s finest conference tournament,” Robertson said in a news release on Monday.

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U Looks for 3rd Straight Over Nebraska

Posted on October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 by David Shama

Things I think I am clear about after getting out of bed at 3 a.m. Saturday morning for travel to West Lafayette for the Gophers-Purdue football game:

Be skeptical of anyone telling you he is mostly correct about which teams will win college football games each week and how they’re going to do it. Second-year Texas coach Charlie Strong was all but fired before his 1-4 Longhorns went to Dallas last Saturday to play No. 10 ranked Oklahoma. Washington State was more than a two touchdowns underdog at once mighty Oregon. The Gophers managed only 10 first half points against Purdue’s lowly defense and the Minnesota offense, entering the game last in points per game among Big Ten teams, looked stalled out again.

Well, Texas and Washington State pulled off upsets, and the Gophers produced 31 second half points to pull away from the Boilermakers with a 41-13 win. The offensive line lifted the spirits of worried Gophers fans by opening some of the biggest holes of the season after halftime, and freshman running back Shannon Brooks left no doubt he is by far the team’s most explosive player by gaining 176 yards including a 71-yard touchdown run.

It was a must-have win for the Gophers, now 4-2 and within two wins of bowl eligibility. The one thousand or more Gophers fans at the stadium knew, or should have known, the win over Purdue could be followed by a victory this Saturday against 2-4 Nebraska.

Hard to believe but the Gophers can win for a third consecutive time against Nebraska, one of college football’s winningest programs. The Gophers had 16 straight losses to the Cornhuskers from 1963-2012. After the Nebraska game at TCF Bank Stadium this Saturday, Minnesota will look for additional wins during a daunting remaining schedule that features national powers Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State, plus a pair of 4-2 teams, Illinois and Wisconsin.

But let’s not go too far into the future. Let’s return to the wisdom of paragraph No. 2 above. Who knows for sure how the remainder of the schedule will turn out for Minnesota and other teams? What is known about the Gophers is that despite playing without more than one-third of their starters lost to injuries, they managed to win last Saturday. No, it wasn’t a tear down the goalposts victory against 1-5 Purdue, but it kept the word hope alive in the Gophers’ vocabulary for a successful 2015 season.

An early flight to Chicago with friend Tim Murray and drive to West Lafayette had us on the Purdue campus by early afternoon. At Mackey Arena the Purdue band entertained mostly Boilermakers fans before the game. The arena public address announcer acknowledged the Gophers fans in attendance and the band dialed up the “Minnesota Rouser.”

All afternoon we experienced Purdue hospitality. Even walking out of the stadium after a Gophers rout we were wished safe travels. Boilermaker fans certainly had reason to be in a bad mood. Purdue is struggling through yet another discouraging season, and both its offense and defense were inept last Saturday. Purdue’s tackling was at times awful and Boilers’ defensive coordinator Greg Hudson, who once held the same position at Minnesota, had reason to be livid.

Yet despite Purdue’s performance we never saw or heard a boobird all day. I have travelled to Gophers games at Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The most classless experience anywhere was in Ann Arbor awhile back when our group was harassed after the game while walking on campus.

Our crime? Wearing Gophers clothing. It wasn’t enough the Wolverines had won another yet game against Minnesota. These jerks had to mouth off after the win.

A trip to West Lafayette provided a lesson in hospitality and kindness. Go Purdue fans!

Worth Noting

Brooks, who averaged 10.4 yards per carry against Purdue on 17 carries for 176 yards, was named the Big Ten’s Co-Freshmen Player of the Week along with Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers. Chris Streveler, then a quarterback, was the last Gophers player to win the award (September, 2014). Streveler, now a receiver, caught his first college pass in the Purdue game.

It’s interesting to note that three coaches who once had their names in credible rumors about the Gophers head coaching position are now either out of work or under fire. Brady Hoke was at San Diego State and Randy Edsall at Connecticut when Minnesota was looking to replace Tim Brewster who had been let go during the 2010 season. The Gophers hired Jerry Kill while Hoke went to Michigan and Edsall moved on to Maryland. Hoke was fired after last season and Edsall dismissed yesterday. Texas head coach Charlie Strong was the defensive coordinator at Florida when the Gophers were replacing Glen Mason in early 2007. Strong moved on to Louisville and is now at Texas where he is under intense pressure.

Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace didn’t practice today. Head coach Mike Zimmer wouldn’t disclose why at his news conference this afternoon. Wallace reportedly didn’t practice last Tuesday—the last time the team worked out prior to its bye on the schedule this past weekend.

Will Wallace play on Sunday against the Chiefs? “We’ll see. The injury report will come out on Wednesday,” Zimmer answered.

A starting wide receiver acquired from the Dolphins in the offseason, Wallace had his best regular season game as a Viking on October 4 against the Broncos. He caught eight passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Some Vikings players put in extra time to improve during the bye week. Zimmer indicated rookie center Nick Easton, acquired last week in a trade with the 49ers, was one of them. Asked about the learning curve for Easton, Zimmer said, “He spent a lot of extra time last week (learning). He’s a pretty sharp guy. I think he’ll get up to speed quickly.”

This week Zimmer will watch to see if his players are tuned in after returning from extra time off because of the bye. “For awhile, a year ago, we’d give them a long weekend or something like that. They’d come back and they weren’t as crisp or sharp as when they left,” he said.

Twins president Dave St. Peter talking about his franchise that finished 83-79 this season after a record of 70-92 in 2014: “I think advancing to postseason play has to be a goal for us next year. I’d like to think we could put ourselves in a position to contend for the American League Central.

“The Royals are good and I think the path to winning our division certainly goes through Kansas City. …I expect the Royals will be the favorite to win our division next year. I don’t expect we’ll be picked (again) to finish last in our division but none of that matters unless we get it done on the field.”

The Lynx hopes history repeats Wednesday night at Target Center. Minnesota plays the Fever in the deciding fifth game of the WNBA Finals. The franchise is 3-0 in close-out playoff games at Target Center.

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