Golden Gophers – Page 3 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Defense Prepared to give Opponents ‘Hell’ in 2025

Posted on March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 by David Shama

The Vikings defense was among the most respected in the NFL last season and in this offseason the front office made headline personnel additions like defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Can the 2025 unit be the equal of any in the NFL?

“Absolutely,” said Viking linebacker Blake Cashman. “You know, I thought that way last year, too. I think you put us up with the best and you know we’re going to give the opponent hell.

“You know, I think by the end of the (2025) year I believe that our numbers, our stats, whatever—all that data—will be up there as a top defense.”

Directed by second-year defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Vikings last season utilized a blitzing and confusion causing scheme that excelled on the field and in NFL statistics. The defense gave up a fifth lowest 19.5 points per game and second lowest 93.4 yards rushing. Minnesota allowed a passer rating by opponents of 82.4, second best in the NFL to the Lions.

Those stats were pointed out by Rob Kleifield at Vikings.com earlier this year. He also wrote the defense was outstanding on fourth downs allowing a league-best conversion percentage of 37.1. The defense was clutch on third down conversions, too, allowing a 35.6 percentage, fourth best in the NFL.

Asked about his anticipation of the 2025 defense, Cashman said, “I am really excited about it. We’ve made really great decisions and we’re going to be a loaded team with a lot of talent. So now the question is: Can we put it all together and have success? Which I think we will do… .We have the right people in the building.”

Cashman, the Eden Prairie and Golden Gopher alum, was outstanding for the Vikings last season after signing as a free agent in the offseason. The 6-1, 235-pound Cashman had career highs in tackles (102), sacks (4.5) and passes defended (7). Two of the team’s three regular season losses came when Cashman couldn’t play because of his turf toe injury.

Cashman’s career was slow to develop with the Jets from 2019-2021, but he earned considerably more playing time in two seasons with the Texans in 2022 and 2023. After the 2023 season Pro Football Focus labeled him as a “secret super star” and because of his speed and explosive play referred to him as “a bat out of hell.” PFF gave him a grade of 83.7, fifth best among NFL linebackers.

Cashman, who should have been chosen as a Pro Bowl player after the 2024 season, turns 29 in May and wants to both improve and maintain his standard of performance in Flores’ intense pressure defense.

“…A focus for me is working on my hands and my pass rush moves. That’s something that is an art, honestly. You ask guys that rush the passer like (linebacker teammate) Jonathan Greenard, (and) they talk about it being an art. So, that’s going to be…a big focus for me.

“Honestly, just continuing to stay very fast and explosive. Obviously, as you continue to get older those things can diminish. But I still feel like I am at a really great spot and that’s just something you need to work (on) really hard and maintain every year because I feel like, for me and how I play, that’s one of my advantages.”

Cashman played on state championship teams at Eden Prairie including a 13-0 club his senior year. He was a walk-on safety at Minnesota under former head coach Jerry Kill. Then one day at practice Kill approached him and said: “Son, I am going to make you a linebacker.”

Later awarded a scholarship by head coach P.J. Fleck, Cashman was named second team All-Big Ten by the media his senior season of 2018. He was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round of the NFL Draft in 2019.

Asked what player over his six-year pro career was most frustrating to play against, Cashman didn’t hesitate in naming quarterback immortal Tom Brady. He said Brady stood over the line of scrimmage and not only knew what kind of blitz was coming but also from where.

Cashman remembers a Jets coach telling him in jest that Brady’s preparation and knowledge of an opponent was so thorough he knew on Tuesday what kind of “underwear” you wore.

Worth Noting

Figure the Minneapolis-St. Paul TV market will have higher ratings than a lot of big city areas tonight when Hopkins native Paige Bueckers leads her Connecticut team against USC in an Elite Eight matchup from Spokane starting about 8 p.m. on ESPN. Bueckers, the 23-year-old Hopkins alum, is closing out a college career that ranks with the best in history for women’s basketball. The do-it-all 6-foot guard scored a career high 40 points in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament win over Oklahoma.

A Big Ten men’s basketball team hasn’t won the NCAA title since 2000. This year’s teams are all from the South: Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston. Even with an expanded league to 18 members, the Big Ten is shut out.

Ron Stolski said the Minnesota Football Coaches Association’s Tackle Cancer initiative has raised about $4.1 million over 13 years in support of the state’s cancer efforts. The executive director of the MFCA also said various communities have success stories in raising funds including Randolph, Minnesota, with a population of about 500, generating $70,000 last year.

Steve Hamilton of Elk River has been named the MFCA’s 2024 Coach of the Year. The Elks had a 12-1 record and won the Class 5A State championship last fall. The 2024 Class 5A State championship was his third as a head coach.

The MFCA held its annual clinic last week with registrations at about 1,500 and 58 vendors participating. Speakers came from not only Minnesota but places like Detroit, Georgia and Texas.

Connor Wilkie is the new head football coach at Holy Family replacing Dan O’Brien, the former Gopher assistant coach who resigned in January for personal reasons. Hall of Fame coaches Jeff Ferguson and Dave Nelson will continue on staff to assist Wilkie who comes from Augsburg where he was an assistant.

Among the biggest names in Wild history until the arrival of Kirill Kaprizov was Marian Gaborik. Wild fans have to hope history doesn’t repeat itself with Kaprizov leaving the team like Gaborik did in 2009.

Gaborik, a star right wing, turned down a long term Wild contract before the 2008-2009 season. Known as injury prone, Gaborik was rolling the dice on his financial security and sure enough he was only able to play in 17 games that season because of lower body injuries. The Wild’s interest cooled and in the 2009 offseason Gaborik, then 27, moved on to the Rangers.

Kaprizov, Minnesota’s star left wing, hasn’t played in a game since January 26 since surgery for a lower body injury. He probably won’t be back on the ice until close to playoff time. This summer Kaprizov will be eligible for a contract extension, although he has a five-year deal that runs through 2025-2026.

Kaprizov, 27, could be smart to sign a lucrative deal rather than risking lower market value if his 2025-2026 season goes haywire. Otherwise, Kaprizov and his representatives might be savvy to investigate a Lloyd’s of London policy protecting him financially if he decides to turn down the Wild this summer.

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Gophers Don’t Need Game Now Against Crosstown Tommies

Posted on March 29, 2025March 29, 2025 by David Shama

New University of Minnesota basketball coach Niko Medved should ignore suggestions he schedule a game with St. Thomas. There is no upside for his program in scheduling the St. Paul school that is only a few miles from Dinkytown.

Asked about the Tommies at his presser earlier this week, Medved was gracious about the suggestion and said it’s a possibility without giving a time commitment. Good response but behind closed doors Niko and his boss Mark Coyle should develop amnesia about St. Thomas.

The Tommies, only four seasons into Division I competition, play in the mid-major Summit League. Members are certainly not marquee names in college hoops with the likes of schools from the Dakotas and those pesky Kangaroos from Kansas City.

The Tommies, though, are already a Summit League power and a terrific mid-level program under coaching guru Johnny Tauer. They would walk through a snowstorm to play the role of “David” at Williams Arena against the Gophers.

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Medved photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

The Gopher basketball brand is so tarnished right now it would be foolish to play “Goliath” by giving the Tommies the opportunity to take down a team from the mighty Big Ten on its home floor. In that match up, Medved and company are in a no-win drama for them.

A blow-out Minnesota win? The public response is, “What do you expect from a Big Ten team playing at home?”

A close Gopher victory? The chorus says, “See the Tommies could have won. They’re just as good as Minnesota.”

A Tommies triumph? Critics crow: “The Gophers can’t even defeat a good mid-major program.”

The Tommies played road games last season at Oklahoma State and Arizona State, two teams from the Big 12 Conference. The scrappy Tommies lost both games by a combined 24 points.

Ask the marketers at those Power Four schools if the games against the Tommies did anything to boost their brand and credibility with fans, donors and potential recruits.

Avoiding the Tommies shouldn’t prompt a “game of chicken” mentality from fans who follow either program. It’s just savvy business for the Gophers to take awhile to build up their product and continue their tradition of cushy non-conference scheduling against the likes of “Hopscotch State” and “Gulf of America University.”

There is speculation that the prestigious Big East, drawn to the TV size of the Twin Cities market, may one day ask the Tommies to join that powerhouse league. That would surely be the time to schedule the Minneapolis versus St. Paul matchup—our version of Marquette against Wisconsin.

In the meantime, the Gophers need to be aware the Tommies are their competition even if the two teams don’t play on the court against one another. As the two Division I programs in the state, there is a budding rivalry for high school recruits, media attention and fans.

BTW both programs have lots of potential to build fan followings and home attendances. The Tommies, 24-10 overall last season, attracted only 20,117 total fans for 14 home games at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies averaged 1,437 fans per game, playing to 65 percent of capacity, per stats.ncaa.org. St. Thomas will play in the new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena next fall with a basketball capacity of about 5,500.

The Gophers, whose public season ticket sales have dipped under 5,000, continued their trend of poor attendance in 2025. Minnesota averaged 8,923 fans, playing to 61 percent capacity in 14,625 seat Williams Arena.

Worth Noting

Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t agree the No. 1 thing that will determine the Twins fate for 2025 is collective health. The Twins announced the following Injured List on Thursday, opening day.

Position players Brooks Lee (10-days, retroactive to March 24; lumbar strain) and Royce Lewis (10-days, retroactive to March 24; left hamstring strain), and right-handed pitchers Brock Stewart (15-days, retroactive to March 24; left hamstring strain) and Michael Tonkin (15-days, retroactive to March 24; right shoulder strain).

How much has the Twins Opening Day roster changed in four years? There are four players on the 2025 roster who were Twins in 2021: pitchers Jorge Alcala and Randy Dobnak, catcher Ryan Jeffers and outfielder Byron Buxton.

The Pohlad family is believed to be seeking at least $1.7 billion to sell the Twins who in Forbes annual evaluation of MLB franchises posted a few days ago values the club at $1.5 billion, a three percent increase over last year. Carl Pohlad purchased the team for a reported $44 million in 1984.

The average MLB club is now worth an average of $2.6 billion, per Forbes who ranked the Twins No. 23 among the 30 franchises in value. The Yankees are No. 1 at $8.1 billion valuation, while the Marlins are last at $1.05 billion.

While the Twins are up for sale, Sports Headliners has no reason to believe longtime Timberwolves-Lynx owner Glen Taylor, or Wild owner Craig Leipold, have interest in buying the local baseball franchise.

Word is the Wolves Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations, is not expected to exercise his contract opt out after this season and will stay with the franchise.

Cheryl Reeve, head coach and president of basketball operations for the Lynx, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers April 8 at Norway House in Minneapolis. Winner of four WNBA titles with the Lynx, Reeve has been a headliner three previous times at Dunkers.

Storyteller extraordinaire Jay Pivec is the latest guest on “Behind the Game” which can be viewed on YouTube and is co-hosted by Patrick Klinger and Dave Boden. A Minneapolis native, Pivec is a basketball lifer whose coaching stops over the decades include in his home state and beyond where he forged relationships and memories that entertain in his new book. The Book of Piv, available through Amazon, is his memoir from 40 years of coaching and is billed: “All stories as true as they need to be.” https://youtu.be/6jzxnB10Src

The Football Film Federation is promoting a two-day coaches technology convention at the Mall of America on April 26 and 27. The event is for those from high schools and colleges interested in film knowledge and excellence. Top vendors and key speakers will be present.

Two schools will receive the Bob Marcus Film Excellence Award which is named after the successful former Gopher and Viking video expert. More including information is available at footballfilmconference@gmail.com.

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Put Medved Resume at Top of U New Millennium Coaches

Posted on March 26, 2025March 26, 2025 by David Shama

Niko Medved is now the fifth head men’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota in the last 25 years. There’s reason to believe he’s the best since the Clem Haskins era of 1986-1999.

Haskins ran afoul of the NCAA, but the man could coach. He was outstanding at developing players and superb at motivating them. Popular with the fans and community, Haskins had winning teams who frequently packed Williams Arena because of their sustained success.

The NCAA investigation that later found the Gophers guilty of violations led to the Haskins firing after the 1999 season. His successor, Dan Monson, was a wunderkind after two seasons as head coach at Gonzaga where the Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in year two.

But Monson, 37 when he was hired, had the worst situation of any Gopher coach this millennium—having to operate under the dark cloud of the Haskins demise and the limitations applied on his program because of NCAA sanctions. After seven seasons he was fired with a 36-60 Big Ten record.

Tubby Smith rode the prior success of Rick Pitino to a national championship as head coach at Kentucky in 1998. Smith had been a Pitino assistant but was sliding in on-court success and popularity in Lexington when he left the Wildcats to succeed Monson.

At Minnesota, despite often flirting with an above .500 Big Ten record, Smith couldn’t break through with a winner on the national scene. He had just two NCAA Tournament teams in six seasons, although his overall record of 124-81 and winning percentage of .605 is the best among Gophers coaches this millennium.

The last two coaches prior to the Medved hire this week could be referred to as trainees. Pitino’s son, Richard, was hired at 30 years old in 2013 with one prior season of head coaching experience (at small school Florida International). His successor in 2021, Ben Johnson, had never been a head coach.

On-the-job training didn’t work out well for either. Pitino won .365 percent of his Big Ten games. Johnson, whose teams twice finished last in the Big Ten, was fired this month with a 22-57 league record in four seasons (.278 winning percentage).

Smith had the best resume of the U hires through Johnson. He had won at Kentucky and other stops before Lexington. At the U he came close to having the right core of players for a breakthrough season.

Now here comes Medved with a resume and experience that is distinctly better than Monson, Pitino and Johnson. The 51-year-old Minneapolis born Medved has earned sustained success since beginning his head coaching career at Furman in 2013. Unlike Tubby, he never had the privilege of landing at a blue-blood program, instead having to make the most out of limited resources and legacies.

At Colorado State, his most recent stop, Medved had the Rams in the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years. He owns an overall career record of 222-172 and was 143-85 at Colorado State where he was the only coach ever to win 20 games or more five times.

Medved’s coaching acumen was evident to observers of his team this month in the tournament. His team played with poise and discipline at both ends of the court. This was a team that was difficult to defeat if holding a lead in the last five minutes of a game. Over 40 minutes, Medved could be counted on to take timely timeouts, set up effective plays, or change defensive schemes.

His coaching chops have been recognized for years by those who know basketball. In March of 2021 after Pitino’s dismissal, state basketball legend Tyus Jones tweeted: “Gophers should hire Niko Medved and Dave Thorson ASAP.”

Thorson, the former DeLaSalle coaching icon, was then working for Medved in Fort Collins but soon joined Johnson’s staff. Thorson will now stay on the U staff, working with Medved again.

Medved grew up attending Gopher games and was a student manager for Haskins in the 1990s. He was a Gopher assistant coach for the 2006-2007 season.

He is back home now at this “dream job.” His experience as a head coach, familiarity with the state and U, combined with his motivation to succeed figures to make him more successful than any Gopher head basketball coach in a long time.

With its lack of support from the community and donors, and its losing reputation, U basketball is no blue-blood spot on the college basketball map. But it doesn’t have to be the mess the U has made of it either.

Minnesota is our only state supported school with Division I basketball and has a population full of alums. The town boasts Fortune 500 companies as landing places for U players who can choose from a diverse curriculum of academic majors at Minnesota. The number of college prospects in state high schools has exploded and improved dramatically in quality in the last 25 years. The practice facilities are modern and impressive. The nearly 100-year-old Williams Arena gets too much criticism because the bottom has dropped out of the program. Filled to capacity the place rocks with an energy that can shut up even the harshest critics.

Medved has no illusions about what it will take to win here. “It’s a talent acquisition business,” he said.

College basketball players will have interest in the Gophers if they’re assured of at least a couple of major things. Is there an opportunity for playing time? How much compensation goes with being a Gopher?

With a roster depleted by graduation and transfers, it’s clear there are going to be playing opportunities for the 2025-2026 season.

It’s expected the Gophers will be at least competitive, if not better, than other Big Ten rivals when it comes to revenue sharing with players. Athletic director Mark Coyle reportedly wants revenue sharing money for men’s basketball to be in the top third among Big Ten programs.

The other factor is Name, image and Likeness money for players. Johnson didn’t have much success in generating NIL money through the Gophers official collective, Dinkytown Athletes. It’s expected Medved’s personality, commitment to relationships and grit will make him more successful generating money for his program. “I am a big people person,” he said.

Medved won his press conference yesterday. His character came through when just about the first thing he said was Johnson is welcome around the program. “Ben is my friend,” Medved said.

When Coyle introduced his new head coach he predicted players will “love” competing for him. That caring about others is part of what attracted Coyle to Medved and could be considered a piece of his “proven track record.”

Medved, a self-described ultra competitor, promises to “pour his heart and soul” into his dream job. He knows success won’t come from just him. “It’s going to take all of us,” he said.

To take the Gophers to a level “never seen before” (his words), Medved is looking for a “team together” approach that includes those inside and outside the U, from players to donors, assistant coaches to season ticket holders, administrators to closet fans, and more.

“We want to be as good as we can be soon. Biggest thing is sustained success,” Medved said.

That would certainly differentiate him from his predecessors.

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