Golden Gophers – Page 322 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Kill Leaves No Doubt about No. 1 QB

Posted on July 28, 2014August 3, 2014 by David Shama

Jerry Kill indicated today the Gophers might have benefitted last season by settling on a quarterback but made it clear now that Mitch Leidner is his No. 1. “I told all of our players he’s the guy in charge,” the Gophers coach said this morning at Big Ten Media Day in Chicago which was televised by the Big Ten Network.

Leidner, a redshirt sophomore, split starting time last season with then sophomore Philip Nelson. Nelson had started seven games the year before but never completely established himself as the No. 1 quarterback in 2013.

Kill has been impressed with Leidner since the end of last season including this summer when the former Lakeville South High School star stepped forward as a team leader. Kill praised how Leidner and senior defensive back Cedric Thompson have emerged as leaders, even helping with discipline among players.

A quarterback, of course, is supposed to be a leader but not necessarily a defensive back like Thompson who approached Kill awhile back about leadership. “He came up after the season and said, ‘Hey, coach I want to be that guy. I want to have that pressure. It’s my time to lead.’

“To be honest with you, I thought he would be a good leader but I had no idea he was going to do the job what he’s done since he stepped up. …Both him and Mitch have been extended coaches.”

The Gophers won eight games last season after winning three and six during Kill’s first two seasons as coach. Minnesota minimized mistakes and played physical football on defense. The Gophers struggled on offense in some Big Ten games including with passing, and Minnesota ranked last in touchdown passes among conference schools with 12. Leidner had three touchdown passes.

“I think when you know you’re going to be the guy it’s a little bit different,” Kill said when talking about potential offense. “Mitch has spent a lot of time with the receivers. We know we gotta do a good job when you start seeing eight, nine people in the box. You gotta be able to throw the ball down the field and make some catches.”

But Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo said after Kill’s remarks that the Gophers need to remember who they are—a physical team that offensively focuses on running the ball—and play within their limitations. “You can really get distracted when people start saying we have to throw the ball better. Of course they want to throw the ball better but if they lose their identity they’ll win less games next year.”

Worth Noting

Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” yesterday that “seven, eight or nine” offensive linemen will compete for playing time including former center Jon Christenson who is being moved to guard. Kill singled out defensive lineman Steven Richardson among incoming freshmen likely to play early in the season.

The Big Ten announced its Players to Watch list this morning as chosen by a media panel. No Gophers were included among the 10 players with the biggest names including Ohio State’s Braxton Miller and Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon.

In a poll of sportswriters by Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Ohio State is predicted to win the East Division and Wisconsin the West. The Gophers will finish fifth in the West Division, ahead of Illinois and Purdue, according to the July 25 story on Cleveland.com.

Congratulations to Minneapolis entrepreneur and Gophers sports loyalist Mark Sheffert who was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame last week. Sheffert and four others who also attended the University of Minnesota were recognized by Twin Cities Business Magazine at a dinner and program in Minneapolis. For Sheffert the honor came during the 25th anniversary year of Manchester Companies, a business he started in 1989 to assist troubled organizations.

Sheffert, who is part of the group working to raise $190 million for Gophers facilities, played football at Robbinsdale and Cooper high schools. He was a walk-on for the Gophers in 1965 but injured a knee that has twice undergone replacement surgery. At the initial practice of his second season he suffered three compressed fractures in the neck which ended his football career.

Sheffert’s goals had been to play in the Big Ten Conference and in the NFL for legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi. The end of his football career was a life lesson. “Your dreams can be wiped out in an instance by something you didn’t plan on,” he told Sports Headliners.

The Gophers head football coach in the 1960s was Murray Warmath. When Sheffert’s father passed away in 1967 the coach made time to attend the funeral. “My dad was my best friend, mentor and hero,” Sheffert said. “It was a tough time emotionally. To have the coach show up meant the world to me.”

Sports Illustrated pro football writer Peter King will visit Mankato to watch the Vikings on August 5. The July 28 issue makes that announcement while King asks: “Can anyone here play quarterback?”

Celebrities were among those attending the Edina funeral of Gophers football legend Bob McNamara on Saturday. Speakers included ex-Vikings coach Bud Grant who broke down while recalling his affection for McNamara who played for Grant with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In new coach Richard Pitino’s first season the Gophers won 20 of 23 home games, with a supportive crowd helping to fuel upset wins in 2014. He wants sometimes raucous Williams Arena to become the most difficult place in the country for opponents to win. “We can generate unbelievable home crowds. Moving into year two, if you want to do what we all want to do (winning more), you can’t lose at home, and we lost three times at home. …It’s got to be the toughest place to play in the country, and hopefully we’ll continue to build that momentum.”

The Gophers return four experienced seniors from last year’s 25-13 team, guards Andre Hollins and DeAndre Mathieu, and centers Elliott Eliason and Maurice Walker. Pitino said that kind of experience is a “huge” asset but he won’t predict the Gophers are Big Ten championship contenders, deferring the assignment to media.

Wisconsin reached the Final Four last spring. Pitino described the Badgers as “phenomenal,” and there is no doubt they will be a consensus choice to win the Big Ten title. “They were playing their best basketball towards the end (of the year),” Pitino said. “They have everybody back except one guy so I would think they’ve got to be the favorite going into the season.”

The field for the 3M Championship that starts at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine this week is expected to include defending champion Tom Pernice, Jr. He won $262,500 last month after finishing first in the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines. He ranks 10th on the Champions Tour with earnings of $764,959 so far this year.

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Players and Agents Endorsed Zimmer

Posted on July 25, 2014July 25, 2014 by David Shama

Rick Spielman is excited to see new head coach Mike Zimmer open his first training camp this week in Mankato. Spielman went through an extensive information gathering process before hiring Zimmer last winter and when finished was convinced he found the right coach.

“I told our owners we were fortunate he was available,” the Vikings’ general manager told Sports Headliners.

Zimmer is 58 and had been a career assistant in the NFL before Spielman gave him his first head coaching opportunity. Spielman was in the Vikings’ front office as head of player personnel, not general manager, when Leslie Frazier was promoted from interim to head coach after the 2010 season. Nor did Spielman have the hiring responsibility when Brad Childress was made head coach about eight years ago, and so Zimmer is his first hire. What was Spielman looking for in a head coach?

A teacher and demanding leader, Spielman answered. Those are characteristics Spielman heard repeated when he talked to players and their agents as they described how Zimmer’s coaching made a difference in performance.

Ex-Viking Bob Lurtsema said Vikings players know they will be held accountable for mistakes and efforts by Zimmer and his staff. “Everything going in right now (in camp) is total competition,” Lurtsema said.

Lurtsema believes fans could be surprised about who makes the team and that players are excited about the competitive environment expected in Mankato. “They’re saying (the players) these coaches love to coach. That’s a contagious attitude. The players that deserve to be a member of the Minnesota Vikings will embrace it rather than fight it.”

Spielman has not only made a commitment to Zimmer by hiring him but the Vikings have also paid for a new weight room and meeting room. There are other changes too including an emphasis on healthier food with less fat and sugar.

Worth Noting

Zimmer at 58 is as old as Bud Grant when he retired as Vikings head coach after the 1985 season. Grant decided to give up football to focus on the outdoor life of hunting and fishing including internationally. Grant was the second head coach in franchise history. Zimmer is the ninth.

Although this will be Zimmer’s first year as an NFL head coach, it certainly won’t be the most painful emotionally. Zimmer’s wife Vikki died unexpectedly during the 2009 season.

The Vikings agreement with KARE-11 to televise preseason games runs through next year, positioning the NFL club to negotiate a new deal as the team moves into the opening season of its downtown Minneapolis stadium in 2016.

Based on past interest, about 400,000 viewers are expected to watch each preseason game this summer. If so, the KARE 11 telecasts will exceed any competing programming in local viewership including Twins games.

The Vikings’ final preseason game of 2014 will be on August 28 against the Titans in Nashville. That game begins at 7 p.m. while the Gophers have their nonconference season opener the same night at home starting at 6 p.m. against Eastern Illinois. The Minnesota game will be on the Big Ten Network and may also attract approximately 400,000 viewers with many Minnesotans switching back and forth between the Gophers and Vikings.

The Gophers start football practice a week from today. Prior to their opening game, the public will be allowed to watch practices on August 3, 4 and 5. All three practices will be at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex with a start time of 10:25 a.m. on August 3, and 5:15 p.m. for the other two practices.

According to numbers as of last week, the Gophers had sold 3,331 student season football tickets, compared with 1,921 last year. The nonstudent season ticket total was 28,106 compared with 27,951 a year ago.

Look for an announcement later this summer about how the public can donate to the Gophers $190 million campaign to improve athletic facilities. Athletic Department officials have focused on larger contributors since the campaign was announced last year but names of those making pledges haven’t been made public.

Tony Dungy is sometimes written about because of the opportunity the Gophers gave him as an African-American to play quarterback for the team. What’s not so well-known is that starting with Sandy Stephens in 1959 the Gophers had at least six African-American quarterbacks on their rosters prior to Dungy’s arrival in Minneapolis in 1973. Minnesota gave opportunities to African-Americans to play quarterback when other schools didn’t and Stephens was the first ever All-American black QB.

Giovan Jenkins begins his sixth season as Washburn High School’s head football coach when the Millers officially start practice on August 11 and he’s not used to losing City Conference games. Jenkins was an assistant coach at Washburn before he became head coach, and the Millers have won or shared the last 13 city titles. His 2014 team will be without almost all of last year’s starters but Jenkins expects to contend for a championship again and is likely to have about 65 players, including freshmen, out for the team—probably the biggest turnout for football among Minneapolis high schools.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino said Elliott Eliason’s conditioning has resulted in the senior center having less than 10 percent body fat. Returning senior point guard DeAndre Mathieu has added about “13 pounds of muscle,” and junior guard Carlos “Squirrel” Morris, a transfer, has put on 17 pounds, the coach said.

Dave and Linda Mona’s Camden’s Concert next Wednesday night at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will feature The Wright Brothers, a popular singing group that has prompted record ticket sales for the fifth annual event. The concert is named for the Mona’s grandson and benefits Cystic Fibrosis. An on-line auction with more than 125 items is also drawing attention. More at Camdensconcert.com.

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Run Made Bob McNamara U Legend

Posted on July 23, 2014July 23, 2014 by David Shama

The Gophers lost a legendary former player and extraordinary benefactor when Bob McNamara passed away on Sunday at age 82.

McNamara grew up in a poor family with a difficult father in Hastings, Minnesota. By the time McNamara started playing football for the Gophers in the early 1950s he was a tough guy. Never were his toughness, determination and love for the Gophers more on display than on November 13, 1954 against hated rival Iowa.

With more than 65,464 fans packed into Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium, McNamara led the Gophers to a 22-20 win and a 7-1 record in coach Murray Warmath’s first season in Minneapolis. The game’s highlight came in the first half with the score tied at 7-7. McNamara received an Iowa kickoff at Minnesota’s 11-yard line and made an 89-yard touchdown run that deserves a place among the most determined efforts in program history.

McNamara shook off Iowa tacklers, refusing to go down to the ground. Warmath said in his biography, The Autumn Warrior, that McNamara’s run was indeed the stuff of legends. “It was the finest example of brilliance and desire I have ever seen,” the coach praised.

Years later McNamara was in the bar business and patrons could watch film of the classic run at his Minneapolis establishment located near campus. McNamara was proud of that day and his All-American senior season in 1954 but his efforts for the Gophers hardly ended there.

His fundraising and promotion helped the Gophers with various facilities projects and he was a leader in the Save Gophers Sports drive that helped keep men’s and women’s golf, and men’s gymnastics as varsity sports at Minnesota. He was recognized for his efforts in helping to make TCF Bank Stadium a reality and was an Honorary Captain for the facility’s opening game in 2009 against Air Force.

Richard “Pinky” McNamara, Bob’s younger brother, threw a key block on that legendary touchdown run that happened 60 years ago this fall. “Pinky,” who passed away in 2011, was even more successful in business than Bob and the McNamara Alumni Center is named after him.

The McNamara Academic Center in the Bierman Building is used daily by more than 750 student-athletes. It is named after both brothers who spent their lives living in the Minneapolis area and devoted themselves to helping their alma mater.

Worth Noting

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King likes to write about “Things I Think I Think.” If it’s good enough for Peter, it works for me. Here we go…

Two major storylines are already written in any word document about the Gophers’ football season outlook. Coach Jerry Kill will give himself and the program’s image a “facelift” by staying healthy all season. With a difficult schedule and unproven quarterback, if the Gophers win eight games again this season then be prepared to start dancing down University Avenue in 2015.

Richard Pitino keeps the lowest public profile of any Gophers basketball coach I remember.

At 29 and with a history of injuries, this will be a telling year for running back Adrian Peterson who looks like the focal point of the new offense under first-year coordinator Norv Turner. If Peterson is healthy, expect him to have one of his best years as a pro. If he isn’t, the Vikings may want to make other offensive plans for 2015 and beyond.

Anyone else surprised the Vikings still have season tickets for sale despite moving this season into TCF Bank Stadium with over 10,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome?

Hate to tell you, but you’re goofy if you think the Twins can catch the Tigers and win the AL Central.

If the Twins head into September on pace for another 90-plus loss season, speculation will begin about manager Ron Gardenhire’s job security. In his favor is the admiration of general manager Terry Ryan but how many managers have ever lost 90-plus games over four seasons and kept their jobs?

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki has a one year contract with the club but don’t expect Joe Mauer to catch again after his concussion experience last season and the 2014 move to first base. It won’t be a surprise if Suzuki is traded before month’s end.

Local Josh Willingham fans should enjoy this summer because with an expiring $7 million contract and dismal offensive production the 35-year-old Twins left fielder looks like a goner after this season—perhaps sooner.

Hope Flip Saunders is thinking about making Gorgui Dieng the starting center because of his defense and rebounding while using Nikola Pekovic in an instant offense role off the bench.

Fans might think Saunders’ selection of assistant coaches looks like a collection of “Yes, boss” types. But this could be a good staff that helps the Wolves overachieve, something they didn’t do last season under coach Rick Adelman.

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