MIAC – Page 5 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Could Draft St. John’s Tackle

Posted on March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column referencing the Minnesota Vikings upcoming draft, regular season and playoff predictions for the Minnesota Twins, and more.

The Vikings’ offseason campaign to upgrade the offensive line could include a draft eligible player from inside the state’s borders. St. John’s left tackle Ben Bartch has earned praise in the months leading up to the April NFL Draft despite playing Division III football.

Pete Najarian, the former Gopher linebacker who has been an ESPN college football analyst, has a son who attends St. John’s. Najarian has watched Bartch’s career as the Oregon native has transitioned from a tight end to tackle while dramatically increasing his weight to about 310 pounds. Despite an impressive NFL Scouting Combine performance this winter, Najarian told Sports Headliners a lot of observers “don’t really understand how good he is.”

Najarian believes the 6-foot-6 Bartch, who could play tackle or guard in the NFL, might be drafted in the fourth round. “He’s athletic as heck,” Najarian said.

Najarian is also a fan of Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts who he thinks the Vikings should pursue, perhaps in the second round. The Vikings don’t have an athletic quarterback with the skill-set of Hurts who also was a star at Alabama. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Hurts ran a 4:59 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“…I think he could be a quarterback not too dissimilar to a Dak Prescott, or some of the other quarterbacks that are considered dual-threats including Lamar Jackson,” Najarian said. “I think he is somewhere in that category, and his combine numbers say a lot about how fast and big he really is.”

Najarian, best known as a financial whiz on television, played for the NFL’s Tampa Bucs, who have acquired 42-year-old quarterback Tom Brady. The team is known for its offensive talent, but not at quarterback. Last season the Bucs had a 7-9 record. Najarian believes the arrival of Brady, considered by many to be the NFL’s greatest quarterback of all time, transforms the Bucs into Super Bowl contenders.

“I think he’s that good,” Najarian said. “I think he still has the ability to play at a high enough level—probably not the highest level he ever played at—but a higher level than most quarterbacks in the NFL still. So it gives Tampa what they have been missing, which is somebody secure at the quarterback position.”

Sports Illustrated’s spring baseball issue predicts the Twins, who won 101 games last season and became American League Central Division champs, will again finish ahead of the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. The Twins will have a 93-69 regular season record but will lose their AL Division series to the Houston Astros (will they cheat?), according to S.I.

S.I. points out the Twins hit an MLB record 307 home runs but at least as impressive was that the pitching staff struck out a franchise record 1,463 batters. “The dingers got the attention last year, but the biggest change was the embrace of modern approaches under new pitching coach (Wes) Johnson,” the magazine said.

The publication forecasts the New York Yankees will defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Yesterday the website BetOnline.com gave Minnesota the third best odds to win the American League playoffs, and sixth best chance of any MLB club to win the World Series.

Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, now the Tigers’ skipper, saw his team lose 114 games last season and could be on track for a similar total in 2020. While the Twins had nine players slug more than 20 home runs, no Tiger hit more than 15 last season.

Former Twins infielders C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop, now with the Tigers, hit 25 and 23 respectively last season.

It will be interesting to see if former Timberwolves player and coach Sam Mitchell, who resigned from his assistant’s position with the Memphis Tigers about a year ago, gets back into coaching. Mitchell, 56, now has both NBA and college coaching experience.

Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, May 14 at the Bloomington Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

The retirement celebration for prep football coaching legend Ron Stolski has been moved from April 4 to June 13 at Cragun’s Legacy Clubhouse in Brainerd. He coached football in Minnesota for 58 years, including the last 45 at Brainerd.

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Tommies’ Hoops Future Looks Bright

Posted on March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 by David Shama

Ten years from now on Selection Sunday there might be Minnesotans other than Gophers fans sitting in front of televisions to learn where their men’s basketball team is headed in the famous NCAA Division I Tournament. St. Thomas, as a member of the Big East Conference, might be in line for an invitation to the Big Dance, too.

As of today, the Tommies are a long way from membership in the prestigious Big East, but this scenario could have more credibility than you think. The Division III Tommies are optimistic about an NCAA vote this spring allowing them to jump to Division I status starting in the 2021-2022 school year. Most of the St. Thomas sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, are likely to compete in the mid-major level Summit League whose nine members are Denver, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Omaha, Oral Roberts, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota, South Dakota State and Western Illinois.

The switch to Division I status will be expensive but St. Thomas is a school with deep pockets and generous donors. The Tommies will also count on the men’s basketball program becoming a profit center. As a mid-major, the Tommies will be looked at in their early Division I years as “cannon fodder” for major conference teams, and many of them in leagues like the ACC and Big Ten pay large guarantees to easy opponents. Six-figure paydays from programs like Duke, Michigan State and Kansas will ease the financial burden (including scholarships) of going Division I for St. Thomas.

Home crowds in St. Paul for the Tommies are likely to be small in the initial years of men’s Division I basketball, but eventually school leaders could build an on-campus arena seating about 8,000 to 10,000 fans. Such a facility, combined with an improving and competitive basketball roster, and a home in the Big East Conference, would help fulfill the St. Thomas vision to establish the school in the same image as nationally known Catholic schools like Marquette and Villanova.

St. Thomas president Julie Sullivan wrote about the Division I process in an October, 2019 article on the school’s website last fall. “This decision is about more than athletics – it’s about advancing our vision to be a leading Catholic university recognized at the national level. An important outcome of increasing St. Thomas’ visibility, for example, is an ability to attract a more geographically diverse cross section of students who are accomplished in and out of the classroom.

“This additional representation would add value to classroom discussions, campus life, co-curricular activities and virtually every aspect of St. Thomas while providing St. Thomas with the opportunity to extend the reach of our mission and impact. The presence of Division I sports teams will also build on the strong Tommie fan loyalty and provide the campus and alumni with more engaging fan experiences.”

The caliber of high school basketball in the state of Minnesota has been impressive for years, and still seems to be trending upward. The Gophers have frequently blundered acquiring their share of the talent, consistently seeing top players attend schools far and wide, including the Wisconsin Badgers who tied for the Big Ten championship this year with Minnesotans playing key roles.

With the arrival of St. Thomas in Division I, the Gophers will no longer be the only program in the state with that status. Word is St. Thomas is already showing interest in younger high school players whose college years will match the launch of the Tommies D I debut in the Summit League.

The St. Thomas athletic director is Phil Esten who once was a top administrator in the Minnesota Athletic Department. Esten’s responsibilities with the Gophers included overseeing the building of TCF Bank Stadium. He has also worked in athletic departments at California, Ohio State and Penn State. He is respected in college athletics, and his relationships and experiences are an asset to St. Thomas in gaining Division I status and growing its programs.

One day the Tommies may have progressed to a position of authority in the Summit League and could receive an invitation to join the Big East Conference whose membership is dominated by Catholic schools including Creighton, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova—all programs with rich basketball legacies.

St. Thomas men’s and women’s teams have been Division III powers for years, including in NCAA tournaments. Most recently, the St. Thomas men won the 2016 Division III national title.

Worth Noting

Because of Coronavirus concerns the Twin Cities Dunkers has postponed its March 18 meeting where Texas A&M head football coach Jimbo Fisher was scheduled to speak at the Minneapolis Club. Gophers coach P.J. Fleck was to introduce Fisher who has a family tie to the University of Minnesota.

Congratulations to former Gophers All-American defensive end Bob Stein after the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame named him a member of the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame Class. A key contributor to Minnesota’s 1967 co-Big Ten championship team, he is the 19th Golden Gopher player to join the College Football Hall of Fame, and first since quarterback Sandy Stephens in 2011.

Sean Engel, a 2016 Chaska High School graduate, will be a senior at Augustana (Sioux Falls) next season and the 6-foot-5 wide receiver has pro football ambitions. He made the NSIC South Division all-conference first team in 2019 after catching 39 passes for 546 yards and helping his team to a 9-3 season and the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2015. Older brother Derrick was a wide receiver for the Gophers.

Harvey Mackay, the University of Minnesota alum, former Gophers golfer and New York Times best selling author, has a new book out, You Haven’t Hit Your Peak Yet, and in late January it was Barnes & Noble’s best selling business book.

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Ex-Coach High on 2019 Vikings

Posted on August 18, 2019August 18, 2019 by David Shama

The Vikings host an exhibition game tonight against the Seattle Seahawks. The outcome is meaningless but the opportunity to evaluate players as part of the preseason is valuable for general manager Rick Spielman, head coach Mike Zimmer and others with the organization. The pressure on Spielman, Zimmer and the players is considerable after last season’s 8-7-1 season when Minnesota didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

The prevailing thought is the Vikings have the talent and coaching to rebound from last year and play closer to the level of 2017 when Minnesota was 13-3 during the regular season schedule, and then nearly earned its way to the Minneapolis Super Bowl. While there are skeptics about whether the 2019 edition can do better than eight wins again, you can count Dean Dalton among those with a rosy view about the coming season.

“I think they’re very, very poised to be a strong team,” said Dalton, who was an assistant coach with the Vikings from 1999-2005. “I think offensively we’re going to be excited. They’re going to be fun to watch because they’ll be explosive, yet consistent. Defensively, I think they’ll be able to rise up and keep people off the scoreboard. The variable is special teams, and if they get that group in the upper echelon of the NFL, this is a playoff team with no limitations.”

The Vikings were frequently disappointing on offense last season, with new quarterback Kirk Cousins sometimes unable to make big fourth quarter plays and the running game often absent. Dalton, though, is enthusiastic about the changes in offensive coaches since a year ago, including the addition of Gary Kubiak, the new assistant head coach with a Super Bowl pedigree. Dalton, who lives in Eden Prairie and follows the team closely, told Sports Headliners the 2019 Vikings will have a newfound balance between the run and pass, and success will follow.

The Vikings lost some defensive mystique last year. Opponents scored 24 or more points seven times and there were fourth quarter struggles to make big plays. Yet Minnesota ranked fourth best in the NFL in total yards given up per game at 309.7. Dalton believes the unit this season will be “excellent,” and worthy of top five status when compared with the NFL’s 32 other teams.

Dalton said it was “not a good decision” cutting 12-year veteran defensive end Brian Robison last year. It was an emotional move for many with the organization. The defense missed Robison’s leadership and wisdom, Dalton said. This year, Dalton believes, other members of the defense are ready to fill the leadership void.

What Dalton hopes for and believes is realistic for the Vikings is to become a top 10 or 15 offense, top five defense and rank among the best 15 special teams. The latter is the team’s biggest unknown of the three units, with Zimmer working with new special teams coaches and players. It’s not known who will return punts and kickoffs, who will be the place kicker and who will punt. Even the holder status is TBD, and the preseason will be used, too, to sort out the impact guys covering punts and kickoffs.

Zimmer is shaking things up on special teams. The club has a revolving door history with placekickers but Spielman keeps trying with the latest move making a trade with the Baltimore Ravens to acquire kicker-punter Kaare Vedvik. With new faces instructing and likely newcomers playing key roles, maybe the Vikings can achieve at least middling status among NFL special teams and help the club live up to Dalton’s optimism.

Worth Noting

Dean Lombardi, the former executive with NHL teams including the North Stars, is living in Sonoma, California, and I am told he isn’t interested in the Wild’s GM vacancy.

Bill Guerin, the Penguins assistant general manager, could be the choice for the job and a source said he has the experience and people skills that might attract Wild owner Craig Leipold.

New St. Thomas athletic director Phil Esten told Sports Headliners it’s likely his school will have a decision by the first part of next year regarding where the Tommies will compete after leaving the MIAC following the 2020-2021 school year. Esten is spending “about 75 percent” of his time sorting through options for a new conference home and determining whether the Tommies remain a Division III sports program, or target another level.

It’s an unusual partnership for a Division III program, but St. Thomas football games will be heard for a ninth consecutive year on WCCO—also the radio home of the Twins and Timberwolves. Dave Lee, the station’s early morning show host, again will provide play-by-play on Tommies broadcasts. Eric Nelson also returns as the analyst working in the booth with Lee.

Pete Fiutak, writing on the Internet last Tuesday for College Football News, included the Gophers in a story about five promising teams from the Power Five conferences drawing minimal attention. Fiutak wrote “that while Nebraska is considered the Big Ten West’s hot thing, it might just be the Gophers who steal the show.”

Fiutak’s other choices in a story headlined “Five Dangerous Teams No One is Talking about” were Washington State (Tracy Claeys defensive coordinator), Missouri, TCU and Virginia Tech.

Badgerofhonor.com offered predictions about Wisconsin’s 12-game football schedule last Tuesday, with writer Christian Borman forecasting the Badgers will reclaim Paul Bunyan’s Axe from Minnesota. “This is the game I think the Badgers are looking most forward to,” he wrote.

Former Golden Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher talking about the quality of high school basketball in the state: “Proportionally (by population in the U.S.), Minnesota turns out more Division I players than any place in the country.”

Gary “Cookie” Holmes, a contributor to Dutcher’s 1982 Big Ten championship team, oversees charters for Delta Airlines in Minneapolis including Twins flights.

Although Twins prime talents Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff are not hitting up to expectations this season, Bleacher Report placed the shortstop and outfielder at No. 11 and 13 respectively on its top 50 MLB prospects list posted last Thursday. The other Twins prospect on the list is right-hand pitcher Brusdar Graterol, ranked No. 32.

Retired manager Tom Kelly, who led the Minnesota Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, turned 69 last week. He was 36 when he became the club’s manager in 1986.

Condolences to former Gophers basketball captain Al Nuness on the passing of his 98-year-old mom, Fannie Nuness, who lived in Hopkins after being a longtime resident of Maywood, Illinois.

The Capital Club will hear from Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle August 28 and Minnesota Timberwolves CEO Ethan Casson October 4 at Town & Country Club in St. Paul. More information about the club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrickklinger@klingercompany.com.

Sun Country Airlines is partnering with Minnesota United for a fan charter to the U.S. Open Cup Final in Atlanta August 27, offering $325 round-trip tickets. The price includes bus transportation to and from the stadium, but not a game ticket to watch the Loons.

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