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Category: Golden Gophers

USC Seems Right for Fleck, But

Posted on September 21, 2021 by David Shama

 

There is so much interest in whether P.J. Fleck will ultimately be offered and accept the USC head coaching job that he is a betting favorite of odds-makers.

I get it.

Before the season my analysis of Power Five coaching jobs that could open up in 2021 and be of interest to the Minnesota head coach placed USC at the top. No other school was even close. The Trojan job became available last week with the surprising dismissal of Clay Helton after just two games.

College football media guru Paul Finebaum lists USC, along with Alabama, Ohio State and Texas, as the best jobs in college football. At age 40 Fleck might want to make a long stay at USC where the school is strategically placed to recruit in the talent-rich state of California. A private school, USC is expected to make all kinds of resources available to its next coach with the intent of restoring the football program to its customary elite national status.

Do the Trojans want him? I’d wager a new keyboard USC athletic director Mike Bohn has Fleck on “radar” but hasn’t made him a target yet. It doesn’t require hiring an expensive search firm to place Fleck on a list of a dozen potential candidates. His impressive 11-2 season in 2019, Minnesota’s best showing since 1967, put Fleck’s name on the national coaching map and in the database of athletic directors from Power Five conferences.

However, Fleck needs a shiny record this fall to captivate the USC fan base and almost certainly to tantalize Bohn. Fleck, now in his fifth season at Minnesota, has an overall record of 28-20 and in Big Ten games is 15-20 (only one winning season). But his overall career winning percentage of .583 is the best at Minnesota in the last 50 years. And since the beginning of the 2019 season his overall record is 16-7.

Fleck earned his best Gopher career nonconference victory last Saturday against Colorado, winning 30-0. The Gophers this season are 2-1 including a conference loss to top-10 ranked Ohio State.

Would Fleck leave Minnesota for USC where he might one day draw national mention among the most successful coaches? It would not only be much easier to win football games at USC than Minnesota, but the Trojans are likely to offer superior compensation to Fleck and also his assistant coaches and support staff. If caught in a financial bidding war, don’t bet on the U.

Fleck will take his “Row the Boat” culture anywhere he goes. It resonates deep in his being and he would promote it in La La Land both internally and in the community. Some Minnesotans still haven’t warmed to the hyper-charged coach but maybe you have noticed the more he wins, the quieter his critics are. Same thing will happen in Hollywood. If the Trojans become elite, “Row the Boat” won’t sound very corny to the cynics.

After several seasons in Minneapolis, Fleck knows what he has for assets and what he is up against. He and athletic director Mark Coyle, the man who hired him at Minnesota, remain close. The relationship between a head football coach and his boss can mean everything in determining the success of both. Fleck is a power player in the athletic department and the U is committed to his future.

The Gopher job is a challenge, starting with the limited number of quality high school prospects in the state and region. For 20 years or so, many of the best preps in Minnesota have chosen programs other than the Gophers.

Recruiting could get a boost at Minnesota if businesses become responsive in rewarding Gopher players via Name, Image and Likeness deals. Fleck knows this could be a game changer in recruiting but so far I can’t detail much support at all, including any outside organizing group trying to make this work for the Gophers. Under NCAA rules, head coaches can’t orchestrate NIL and it will be a sad story if the business community Minnesotans like to brag about doesn’t get on board with NIL.

Fleck preaches “never let your circumstances dictate your behavior.” It’s interesting to think about that when considering things that might discourage him in Minnesota. As strong as his makeup is, Fleck has feelings and wants to be liked. He notices what is going on with NIL. He has heard the media and public naysayers who criticize his personality and coaching. In his fifth season he sees empty seats in Huntington Bank Stadium and knows fan support changes on a dime.

Things can add up over the years, and not just challenges, but also positives like quality of life experiences. Fleck is a Midwestern native and seems to have embraced life in Minnesota including summers on Lake Minnetonka. He and his wife Heather have devoted a lot of volunteer time to community causes. Their relationships with organizations and friends are meaningful.

Fleck has bonded with his players here and encouraged a culture of doing for others, including in the community. Sportscaster Mark Rosen wrote on Facebook that he received handwritten notes of condolences about the recent passing of his wife from every Gopher football player.

P.J. Fleck

And then there is this: if Fleck wants his coaching legacy to be that he turned Minnesota into a Big Ten power and national force then he will stay here. The USC Trojans won their last national championship in 2004. In Los Angeles, Fleck would be the guy who reignited the flame. At Minnesota, without even a Big Ten title since 1967, Fleck could be the man who made the Gophers a 21st century legacy program.

Worth Noting

During the last 50 years only Lou Holtz among nine Gopher head coaches (Fleck included) has ever departed Minnesota for another school.

The estimated attendance of Gophers fans at the Colorado game includes over 10,000. It was possibly the largest regular season road total for the Gophers in a long time. “I’ve been to about 20 road games, not including bowl games…and this was by far the loudest and energized contingent I have seen,” said Minnesotan Steve Hunegs via email.

Greg Joseph’s missed field goal Sunday has produced a media frenzy and Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer responded yesterday to a reporter’s question by saying “…let’s give this kid a break, okay?”

Vikings radio network analyst Pete Bercich reacting to a fourth quarter holding penalty on maligned left tackle Rashod Hill during a running play to the other side of the offensive line: “Oh, my God!”

Trending: media predictions are that the Gopher men’s basketball team will finish at or near the bottom of the Big Ten standings next winter.

Former Minnesota Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario, now with the Atlanta Braves, hit for the cycle on just five total pitches Sunday.

Nick Anderson, the Crosby-born Minnesota native with the Tampa Bay Rays, had an elbow injury earlier this year that sidelined him but in three short relief appearances earlier this month he has given up only one run.

The Twin Cities Dunkers will have their largest live and silent auctions ever this week. All of the auction funds go to the athletic programs at Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools.

The Gopher women’s hockey program, with seven national championships, is celebrating 25 seasons in 2021-2022. First game this fall is October 1 at home against Ohio State.

Comments Welcome

Wild Owner Wants 5-Year Kirill Deal

Posted on September 17, 2021September 17, 2021 by David Shama

 

Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold spoke openly with Sports Headliners today about the ongoing contract negotiations with forward Kirill Kaprizov, last season’s NHL Rookie of the Year and a potential superstar for years to come. Leipold said months ago the franchise made an offer to the restricted free agent for eight years in the “neighborhood of $9 million,” but a deal still isn’t in place even though the Wild opens training camp next week.

“That was really an ambitious offer that we made to a player that has played 55 games in the league,” Leipold said. “We know he is a special player. We do believe that. We thought the offer indicated how we believe in him. He wants less years. It doesn’t appear to be so much about the money.”

Leipold and GM Bill Guerin have asked Kaprizov and his agent to show them contracts of comparable NHL players to help discussions. “That’s how we typically do any kind of negotiation is that we talk about comparables, and we’re not getting any comparables from them,” Leipold said.

The Wild are not insisting on an eight-year commitment. “…I think really the issue right now on the table is how long will the contract be and our position is it needs to be at least five years,” Leipold said.

Would the Wild negotiate the deal down to three years? “I can assure you we will never do a three-year deal,” Leipold said. “That will not happen.”

The negotiations have been drawn out and frustrating. Will the club consider trading Kaprizov? “There’s never been discussion on that,” Leipold said. “I don’t think so. We’re not going to trade him. He’s our guy. We’ve been committed to Kirill now for years (drafted in 2015). We want him to be in a Wild sweater as long as we can have him.”

Kirill Kaprizov

Leipold is hopeful that a five-year deal at $9 millon annually could get done soon. “I have no reason to believe that he wouldn’t be in training camp, right? I can’t understand what is holding this up. The offer we have is on the table, it is incredibly fair. I don’t think anyone is going to question that—whether $9 million for five years is fair or not fair. You can look at what the best players in the league are making, we’re right there. I don’t understand what is holding the signing of this negotiation up.”

Leipold believes it’s time for flexibility from Kaprizov and his agent. “We’ve already given on the number of years…and we’re asking him to make movement as well. The hope is that he will and he’ll recognize he wants to be with his team, and wants to be with it long term, and wants to win a (Stanley) Cup here. We love the way this team is developing now with our younger players. This is a good time to be a Wild player and a Wild fan.”

The 24-year-old Kaprizov captivated the State of Hockey with his offensive skill set and electric play last season. He led the Wild and NHL rookies with 51 points in 55 games last season. The 5-foot-11, 201-pound forward also led the team and league rookies in goals, even-strength goals (19), power-play goals (8) and shots on goal (157).

Worth Noting

Think Iowa isn’t a college football developmental program? The Hawkeyes had 34 alums (same as Clemson) on NFL opening day rosters, per a news release from the league. The Iowa total is bested by only five other schools including No. 1 Alabama (54) and No. 2 Ohio State (50).

Ex-Gophers in the league heading into the opening NFL weekend totaled 12, according to the Daily Gopher. That number included former Minnesota QB Chris Streveler, now a backup with the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cardinals team that plays the Minnesota Vikings team Sunday is the most experienced in the NFL averaging 5.47 years and 16 players age 30 and over.

The Vikings average 4.07, with eight players age 30 and over.

The Front Offices Sport newsletter reported NFL viewership numbers were up seven percent for the league’s opening weekend. “The NFL averaged 17.4 million viewers per game over traditional and online platforms, bouncing back from its dip last year — the first decline it had experienced in three seasons,” the newsletter wrote Wednesday.

Sportsmediawatch.com reported the September 2 Minnesota-Ohio State game on FOX had the largest TV audience on record for a game on the opening Thursday of the college football season. The telecast averaged 6.3 million viewers, with the previous high 5.13 million for Ohio State-Indiana on ESPN four years ago.

Word is NFL scouts are showing interest in former Chaska and North Dakota State wide receiver Sean Engel, now a senior at Augustana. The 6-foot-5 Engel was all-NSIC as a junior. He has a business administration degree and now is majoring in business marketing.

The first-year Division I football St. Thomas Tommies are 1-0 but tomorrow play at Northern Iowa (FCS-ranked No. 16.) The Panthers, who lost by only six points earlier this month to FBS-power Iowa State, will play a return game at St. Thomas in 2024.

Forward Nick Bjugstad on his promise to Minnesota Wild fans: “I ‘ll do my best every day to bring the Stanley Cup to St. Paul.”

Playing its home schedule at the Wild’s TRIA Rink practice facility this fall and winter will be the Minnesota Whitecaps of the rebranded Premier Hockey Federation (formerly the National Women’s Hockey League).

“The move is designed to brand the league based on the skill and talent of its athletes as opposed to their gender,” a Whitecaps spokesperson said via email. “It is the first professional women’s sports league in North America to lift the word ‘women’s’ out of its title—a potential game-changer for other women’s professional leagues.”

The Whitecaps open their season November 6 in Boston against the Pride, then have the home opener November 20 versus the same team in the six-franchise league.

I have known Minnesota Twins legend Tony Oliva since the 1970s but until recently I don’t think I ever told him how much I enjoyed watching him play ball. I ran into him at a local driving range when he was tuning up his game for a tourney.

Comments Welcome

WR Dylan Wright Steps Up for Gophers

Posted on September 7, 2021September 7, 2021 by David Shama

 

In Dylan Wright’s Minnesota debut last week he was the team’s leading receiver with five receptions, 57 yards and one touchdown catch. The Texas A&M transfer was a difference maker, showing his speed and skill in going up to catch the football against top-five ranked Ohio State.

Wright, 6-3 and 215, is a redshirt sophomore wide receiver who played in a total of eight games in 2019 and 2020 at A&M. “This is only his first year of really playing (college) football. First game (last Thursday) playing multiple, meaningful snaps. He’s just scratching the surface of where he can go,” Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said yesterday.

Wright helped against the Buckeyes in the absence of the team’s most established wide receiver, the injured Chris Autman-Bell. A senior, Autman-Bell has played in 33 games during his Minnesota career, with 78 receptions for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns. He should be back soon and Fleck is anticipating the trio of Wright, Autman-Bell and sophomore Daniel Jackson.

“You start to look at that core and you start to see a lot of similarities from what we’ve had,” Fleck said in reference to 2019 when the 11-2 Gophers’ boasted superlative wide receivers in Rashod Bateman, Tyler Johnson and Autman-Bell.

Dylan Wright

Fleck also praises Wright’s character, referring to him as a “wonderful person” and says the Mesquite, Texas native is devoted to football. “Dylan Wright loves football and he loves to work at it. I think that’s what makes him special is how hard he works at becoming a really good player.”

The contribution of the wide receivers to the offense will be more important than ever after yesterday’s announcement that All-American running back Mohamed Ibrahim will have surgery today for what Fleck describes as a lower leg injury. He will miss the rest of the season and the redshirt senior’s future is uncertain at Minnesota.

Fleck said there is no pressure to do so now but in the months ahead Ibrahim will decide whether to pursue an NFL career or return for another season with the Gophers in 2022. “He should be able to make a full recovery,” Fleck said about what is believed to be a left Achilles injury. (Fleck doesn’t detail injuries, believing it’s best to leave that information up to the player to disclose if he chooses to do so.)

Ibrahim had a typical high production game against Ohio State, running 30 times for 164 yards. Who replaces him as the lead running back starting with Saturday’s home nonconference game against Miami (Ohio)? “Every back is going to be able to get a look,” Fleck said.

Fans may correctly expect redshirt sophomore Trey Potts, who had 37 yards in 10 carries last week, to win the designation as lead back. Others under consideration are redshirt junior Bryce Williams, redshirt sophomore Cam Wiley, redshirt freshman Ky Thomas and true freshman Mar’Keise Irving. Williams rushed for a career high 141 yards in a 2018 win over Miami (Ohio) in Minneapolis.

Worth Noting

Matthew Trickett, the Kent State transfer who kicked an impressive 46-yard field goal in the Ohio State loss, is a first team All-Big Ten preseason pick by Pro Football Focus.

The Gopher athletic department is promoting tickets for all available remaining home games, with “starting at” prices of $20 for Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green, $75 for Nebraska, $35 Maryland, $45 Illinois and $85 Wisconsin.

Saturday’s game with Miami will be televised by ESPNU and the September 18 game in Boulder against Colorado will be carried by the Pac-12 Network.

Arkansas’ Eric Musselman, who the University of Minnesota could almost certainly have hired as head basketball coach a few years ago, has the No. 6 ranked recruiting class for 2022, per the 247 Sports composite listings.

Iowa State, whose basketball verbal commits include Eli King from Caledonia, is ranked No. 10, and Purdue, with a potential class headed by Camden Heide of Wayzata, is No. 16. Both Minnesotans are four-star recruits, per 247.

Heide’s brother Keaton is a reserve quarterback on the FCS South Dakota State football team that upset FBS Colorado State in Fort Collins last week.

“David versus Goliath:” The St. Thomas football team, in its first season of Division I competition, plays Northern Iowa on September 18. The Panthers put a scare into top-10 ranked Iowa State last week before losing 16-10.

It’s fitting the Toronto Blue Jays will be the opponent when Canada native Justin Morneau is inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame on September 25. Prior to the game at Target Field with the Blue Jays, the former Twins first baseman and AL MVP will have former teammate Joe Mauer as his presenter.

Retiring: Bill Evers, 67 and filling in as Twins manager while Rocco Baldelli is on paternity leave, will retire at season’s end. The veteran Twins coach has managerial experience in pro baseball dating back to 1987.

“Book Reports:” Pioneer Press sportswriter Chris Tomasson Tweeted that his book, The Minnesota Vikings All-Time All-Stars, is coming out September 15 and will be available on Amazon.

There will be a private publication party September 24 at the University of Minnesota for Terry McConnell’s new book, Breaking through the Line. The book tells the story of former Gophers All-American Bobby Marshall who was the NFL’s first African American player.

The Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins wrote on Facebook he is collaborating with fellow columnist Patrick Reusse on a book they hope to have out in the spring. The book will recount the many entertaining stories of Reusse’s career in newspapers and radio.

Real Estate: Various online reports this summer say former Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Kevin Garnett sold his unfinished Malibu, California mansion for $16 million. No word on whether he’s looking for property in Glen Taylor’s home town of Mankato.

The state’s top thoroughbreds and quarter horses race Wednesday at Canterbury Park in the 28th Minnesota Festival of Champions.  The 12-race card will pay a total of $852,450 in purses.

Comments Welcome

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