Gophers’ football fans with long memories might be a little concerned about whether Carter Coughlin will keep his verbal commitment to play for coach Jerry Kill.
The fans most worried will recall that in 2004 James Laurinaitis changed his mind about Minnesota and accepted a scholarship to play for Ohio State. Laurinaitis was a junior linebacker for Wayzata High School and a Rivals three-star recruit who gave a verbal commitment to the Gophers in early 2004 before he flipped that decision in December. Coughlin is a junior linebacker at Eden Prairie High School and Rivals.com ranks him as a three-star prospect.
Laurinaitis became a rare three-time college All-American and is the most decorated linebacker in Buckeyes history. He played on four Big Ten championship teams, with OSU winning two outright and sharing two others. He was the kind of home state defensive force the Gophers needed from 2005-2008 when they slogged their way through a cumulative conference record of 10 wins and 22 losses.
Laurinaitis was recruited by Ohio State assistant coach Luke Fickell. The Buckeyes co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach also recruited Coughlin and made a very favorable impression on him.
But this looks like payback time for Gophers fans because Coughlin insists his college decision is final even though Ohio State was tempting. “I am set in Maroon and Gold,” Coughlin told Sports Headliners. “There’s no question.”
Ohio State is college football’s defending national champ and will be a heavy favorite to repeat next year. What if the Buckeyes keep calling Coughlin and the Gophers have a bad season? “I am going to help build the program brick by brick,” Coughlin said. “I am completely invested in Minnesota and that’s my final decision.”
Coughlin, who could be the state’s top prep football recruit next fall, admitted it was “50-50” between Minnesota and Ohio State before he decided on the Gophers and announced his decision March 12. His mom, Jennie Coughlin, said her son “really had not let on yet” the big news was coming that Thursday.
That same day Carter had long distance phone work to do. “He was real close to coach Fickell,” Jennie said. “That was a tough phone call for him to make. …It was pretty emotional for him. He said it was probably the hardest thing he’s ever had to do…to tell coach Fick what his situation was.”
Coughlin is personable and admits to being a “people pleaser” so the call to the Buckeyes coach was understandably difficult. But when he went to Minnesota’s campus and told the coaches there of his decision he saw smiles on their faces and it removed the “pain” he was feeling about Fickell.
“I can’t even explain how excited I am about this (Gophers) coaching staff,” Coughlin said. “Looking at what coach Kill has done with every single program that he’s had—every single program just keeps getting better and better. Minnesota has gotten so much better in the past couple years and it’s just going to keep continuing to grow.”
Last fall Kill led the Gophers to a 5-3 record in the Big Ten, the first time Minnesota has been over .500 in conference games since 2003. In Kill’s first two seasons his overall record was 9-16 but in the last two it is 16-10. Minnesotans, including the Coughlin family, are impressed.
“He has tremendous respect for the man,” Jennie said. “It’s exciting to see what’s happening with the Minnesota Gophers and how much they’re growing and building, and he wants to be a part of that. I think it’s been his dream as a young boy to play for the Gophers. Dream come true, really.”
Coughlin, who said his decision to choose Minnesota was his and not the family’s, has deep Gopher roots. His grandfather, Tom Moe, was a starting end for Minnesota in the late 1950s. Although he built a law career in Minneapolis, Moe also served as the Gophers athletic director after an academic fraud scandal hit the basketball program in 1998. Jennie played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Gophers women’s tennis team and her husband, Bob Coughlin, was a starting defensive lineman on the U football team.
Carter acknowledged he values family and it was a major factor in thinking about his college choice. “That’s one of the most important things in my life, and I’d say that was a big thing at the end (of the decision making process) for me.”
Schools can’t talk about high school players until they sign National Letters of Intent as seniors but if the Gophers coaches could discuss Coughlin publicly they no doubt would rave about him. The first attribute out of the mouth of Kill or linebackers coach Mike Sherels would likely be speed. (Sherels also made a big impression on Coughlin during recruiting).
Coughlin has been timed at 4.44 in the 40-yard dash, and that’s moving for a high school linebacker, or even a running back. He is almost 6-foot-4 and plans to increase his weight from 205 to 220 for his senior season at Eden Prairie where the Eagles are defending state 6A champions.
Many prep prospects don’t finalize college choices 11 months before they can sign National Letters of Intent like Coughlin, but he wanted to make the decision and focus on high school including another state championship. “It also allows me to be able to recruit other kids in the state—and out of the state—and try to keep building up the 2016 group,” he said.
Sounds like Coughlin—who will be a business major and describes the Carlson School of Management as “incredible”—is sold on Minnesota.
1 comment
