NCAA – Page 75 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Deserves More ‘Love’ from Media

Posted on August 8, 2021August 9, 2021 by David Shama

Most media authorities are respectful but not excited about the season ahead for the Golden Gophers. Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern are consistently predicted to finish ahead of Minnesota in the Big Ten West. Top 25 national rankings? Not for the Gophers.

Minnesota, though, is positioned to surprise. The Gophers can match or exceed most Big Ten rivals in the number of returning starters. If quarterback is the most important position in college football, the Gophers boast Tanner Morgan now in his fifth year with the program. Offensive and defensive lines also determine outcomes of games and Minnesota’s lines have experience and depth. The Gophers also have one of the nation’s best running backs in Mohamed Ibrahim.

The Gophers have prove-it positions like wide receiver and linebacker to answer but coach P.J. Fleck’s team has the look of a surprise West Division champion. After an 11-2 season in 2019, Minnesota fell back to 3-4 in the year (2020) of COVID. That record and Minnesota’s defensive woes in the early part of the schedule have impacted predictions of media reps from newspapers, magazines and online.

But that was last year, a season in which the Gophers lost two games by a total of four points and saw the defense improve in November and December. Minnesota, with minimal spring and fall practice time and trying to replace defensive stars from the 2019 team, struggled for awhile last year but got better under the direction of its talented defensive coordinator, Joe Rossi.

Rossi has a line that has added transfer Nyles Pinckney from Clemson and Val Martin from North Carolina State. Boye Mafe, a gifted pass rusher, is a potential All-Big Ten defensive end. The other defensive end, Esezi Otomeow, is a sleeper talent who could do big things. There are several other d-linemen who can play and collectively give the Gophers a steady rotation to keep fresh players on the field.

Based on spring practice Morgan acknowledged the defensive line improvement. “There’s a lot of guys that can make a lot of plays,” he said.

Fleck and his players believe they can beat anyone on their schedule, including Big Ten bully Ohio State with its many gifted players. Because of Minnesota’s talent and experience, Fleck said the program has a “players-led team.” Veteran receiver Chris-Autman Bell describes the Gophers as “super connected.” Mafe said that because of COVID last year it was difficult to bond, but the “chemistry” is much better now.

The coaches and players have stuck together during difficult times. Minnesota’s number of players transferring out of the program ranks among the lowest in the Big Ten during 2020 and 2021, despite the social unrest in the city and other parts of the country. The coaching staff has also remained stable.

“I think one of the big words for this team on the field (in 2021) is consistency and how we play,” Fleck said. “Last year I didn’t think we played consistent enough for a lot of reasons, starting with me.”

In 2020 Minnesota’s inexperience on defense and special teams was problematic. COVID limited practice time and preparation, and sometimes there was unexpected confusion on the field. For the Nebraska game, the Gophers had more than 30 players missing because of COVID but still won the game. This fall the pandemic could be less impactful and Minnesota will take the field with more experience including on special teams where two transfers with prior college success plan to make the field goal and extra point production considerably better. “We know we’re going to have to win really close games,” Fleck said.

The Gophers intend to do just that, with Morgan noting internal expectations for the season are far more optimistic than those of media authorities.

Worth Noting

Last week Fleck acknowledged past recruiting misjudgments. Although he didn’t name units, presumably the transfers from other programs last offseason were corrective moves in the defensive line, linebacker and kicker units. He remains committed to building his program with players just out of high school.

Gopher transfers include Martin, Pinckney, linebacker Jack Gibbens (Abilene Christian) and kickers Will Mobley (Temple) and Matthew Trickett (Kent State).

Newcomer of the year in Dinkytown? Defensive tackle Pinckney was a captain at Clemson and is likely determined to have a breakout final college season to position himself for the NFL Draft. Another candidate is true freshman cornerback Justin Walley, who impressed in the spring after early enrollment at the U and following a prep career where he was named Mississippi Mr. Football.

In a state long known for its successful businesses, name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes has the potential to be a positive for the Gophers. Coaches, though, can’t orchestrate paying of players because of NCAA policy and it will require leaders in the business community to show interest in compensating Gophers for their NIL.

For now it sounds like whatever NIL money comes to the Gophers, will be spread around. Ibrahim, who could be a Heisman Trophy candidate this fall, is committed to sharing. “…Any money that’s coming in is definitely going to get split with my five, six, seven, eight offensive linemen,” he said.

Speculation, including from a Sports Headliners source, is North Dakota State wants to join a soon to be revamped Big 12 Conference after the defections of Oklahoma and Texas. Jumping from FCS to a Power Five Conference will be a reality check for the football Bison who have built much of their success with rosters filled with Minnesotans.

Happy 85th birthday today to former Gopher quarterback and assistant coach Dick Larson. The charismatic Minneapolis native remains active in the work place running Integrity Wealth Management in St. Paul.

Herb Brooks, who tragically died in an auto accident August 11, 2003, would have been 84 last Thursday. The legendary former Gophers and Olympic hockey coach is still missed by countless friends and admirers. A master coach and a person of the highest character.

Former Gophers wide receiver Adam Mayer is working for Palo Alto-based Archer, and is recruiting and hiring engineers for flight, aeronautics and computer systems. Dad Barry Mayer was a starting running back on Gopher teams in the late 1960s.

The reservation deadline is Monday for the Football Hall of Fame Banquet coming up this Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. The event is sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and tickets can be ordered via www.mnfootballcoaches.com

Hall of Fame Inductees from the high school division are: Bill D. Bailey, Starbuck; Richard Robinson, Minneapolis North and Karl Deis, Mora. College Division inductees are: Mike Plinske, Bethel University and Terry Horan, Concordia College.

Butch Nash Assistant Coach Award winners for 2020 are: Jeff Boonstra, NLS; Joe Coenen, Chanhassen; Todd Hamer, Lakeville North; Mark Harris, Stillwater; Kevin Hulke, Minnesota Valley Lutheran; Gregory Johnson, Verndale; John Kyvig, Andover; Matthew Nelson, Kasson-Mantorville; Daniel Svoboda, GSL; Andrew Stephenson, Spring Lake Park; Michael Wenninger, Luverne.

Several other award winners will be announced Friday including the State Coach of the Year.

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Berrios Trade May Help Keep Buxton

Posted on August 1, 2021 by David Shama

The Twins made a significant payroll dump Friday, trading away starting pitchers Jose Berrios and JA Happ. Their 2021 salaries are $4,142,980 and $5,204,285, per MLB payroll authority Spotrac.com.

Happ, 38, had a questionable future with the club but the 27-year-old Berrios was a foundational talent if he was willing to stay in Minnesota beyond the 2022 season. Front office executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine decided the uncertainty of signing Berrios to a long-term deal starting with the 2023 season wasn’t worth losing the opportunity to acquire two of the Toronto Blue Jays’ best prospects.

After the 2022 season Berrios, who was Minnesota’s best starter, is on track to command a contract over $100 million. Before the trade, Falvey and Levine faced the prospect of Berrios and center fielder Byron Buxton both having new deals in 2023 for more than $100 million each, plus incentives to earn more.

Buxton, also 27, reportedly is more amenable to staying with the Twins after team control ends following the 2022 season. Although the oft-injured Buxton goes through stretches where he is sidelined more than being in the lineup, he has flashed superstar potential with his hitting, fielding and running the bases. The Twins are in a historically difficult place with the Buxton negotiations, trapped between his career history of physical woes but tantalized by performances that draw comparisons to baseball’s best player, Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.

Two years ago New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks, a former Twin, signed a reported seven-year $70 million deal. Hicks is a poor man’s Buxton. The Twins will try to lock up Buxton with a deal that includes incentives for playing in a certain number of games, or plate appearances. That could be a hang-up with Buxton and his advisors who are positioned to ask for sizeable guaranteed money—perhaps five-years, $110 million.

Negotiations will happen during the offseason with Buxton. He earns $5,125,000 this season, per Spotrac.com. That payroll authority also lists the $7,897,884 salary of DH Nelson Cruz, who was recently traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. If the Twins brought back Berrios, Cruz and Happ in 2022, on similar deals as this season, that totals about $17 million.

In the next offseason the team is likely to part with 31-year-old shortstop Andrelton Simmons who has a one-year deal at $10,500,000. Starting pitcher Michael Pineda, 32, makes $10 million this season but with unrestricted free agent status in the offseason he might be another payroll savings. Reliever Alex Colome, a first-year bust with Minnesota, is making $5 million in 2021 and unlikely to return. Other Twins like Max Kepler (due $6,750,000 in 2022, per Spotrac) could be expendable. The grand prize of payroll reduction is if the Twins find another franchise willing to take on third baseman Josh Donaldson’s deal paying him $21 million next year.

The point is the Twins, historically careful with high salaries, are potentially looking at a much reduced payroll the next couple years and they now may feel more comfortable about offering Buxton a new contract he will sign. Whether Buxton is worth a mega-deal to a franchise that fans are worried is headed for reset mode in 2022 and beyond is another question. Certainly securing Buxton for years to come will help the organization’s image and ticket sales. But Buxton and a ho-hum supporting cast won’t produce championships. Trout’s Angels have been mediocre for a long time and can only dream of playing in the World Series.

It takes a roster of high performers to win championships and no team goes deep into October without pitching. Falvey and Levine substantiated that need in their flurry of trades late last week when six of the seven new players acquired were pitchers.

Worth Noting

Austin Martin, 22, the infielder-outfielder acquired from Toronto in the Berrios deal, could be Buxton’s successor in center field if the veteran leaves Minnesota either by trade or free agency. Martin has been ranked the Jays’ second best prospect and 16th overall in baseball, per Mlb.com.

Joe Ryan, acquired this summer from the Rays for Cruz, is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA as a starting pitcher for Team USA in the Olympics. The Americans have now advanced into the medal round.

Best player from the Twins organization ever to play for the U.S. in the Olympics? Jacque Jones, 1996.

Condolences to family and friends of Tom Duffy of Minneapolis, who passed away in late July. Retired from IBM, Tom was the second person Hollis Cavner hired to help run the 3M Championship Tournament in 1992. Tom told Cavner he would work for one year in sales and marketing, but stayed for 19.

Cavner said he learned a lot from Tom including how to deal with people. “He is one of the finest gentlemen I ever met in my life,” Cavner said.

Expectations are Cavner’s 2021 3M Open Tournament will gift a minimum of $1.5 million to charity. The figure is in line with previous years.

Next year’s 3M Open will be July 18-24 and again following the British Open. Cavner likes that positioning and hopes for it indefinitely because he sees top players wanting to play here, and then taking a break for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Big Ten men’s basketball coaches like to brag on their league but the players aren’t doing much to captivate NBA scouts. In the last two NBA drafts only two conference players have been selected in the first round, Maryland’s Jalen Smith in 2020 and Michigan’s Franz Wagner in 2021.

No Big Ten team has won an NCAA title since Michigan State in 2000.

Congratulations to Edina resident and prominent Minnesota businessman Ron Leafblad on his upcoming induction September 10 into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame. Leafblad was a tight end on the 1963 UW Rose Bowl team and captained the 1964 squad. The Chicago-area native has been an exemplary supporter of UW through the years including with the school’s alumni association and letter winners club. He was a student representative of the Athletic Board while in school. He and his wife Diane have generously donated funds to assist academics, football and alumni efforts at UW.

Leafblad is the owner of a diverse group of companies whose products range from retail apparel to corporate uniforms, and from website development and fulfillment to precision parts for the computer and medical equipment industries. His Gold Country business has for several years been part of the Sports Headliners group of advertisers.

Scheels in Eden Prairie has been promoting an appearance today by University of Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck. A $50 ticket at the meet and greet includes an autographed copy of his new book, Row the Boat, with proceeds benefiting the U Masonic Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.

Former Minnesota North Stars Neal Broten and Mike Modano have scheduled signings at Scheels Eden Prairie August 14 and 21.

It looks like WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle, the much listened to Sunday show that started in 1981 and aired through early 2020, won’t be returning to the air.

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Ranking the Big Ten Football Coaches

Posted on July 20, 2021 by David Shama

The 14 Big Ten head football coaches gather in Indianapolis this week to preview their teams to the media. As usual, they will talk with excitement and optimism about the coming season. They may boast how well winter conditioning went, what a success spring practice was and how solid the culture is inside their programs. Somebody might make a bad joke like this: “The alumni are with me, win or tie.”

Of more interest to this writer is who the best coaches in the conference are. And who belongs in the middle and at the bottom of the rankings. I am rating the coaches 1-14 in what is both an objective and subjective exercise.

Wins and losses are part of the criteria, but to be fair any evaluator has to consider how difficult the assignment is at every program. Each program is at least somewhat different, with pluses and minuses, with certain places certainly easier to win at than others. Much has to be considered including a coach’s access to nearby high school talent and his financial budget for the program. How does a coach compare with predecessors at his school? What is the quality of the coach’s assistants? Does the program impress in its development of players? On gamedays does the head coach have strategic meltdowns, or rise to the occasion?

Head coaches who rank high have their programs trending upward. A bad run of luck for a couple of years could result in more criticism than deserved. Maybe the best of all criteria is answering this question: Who is the coach you would want leading your favorite Big Ten team?

In ranking the 14 head coaches it’s easier assigning places at both the top and bottom positions. Probably a coin flip ranking several coaches assigned to the middle spots of the list. So rather than keep you breathlessly waiting, here goes the first annual(?) Sports Headliners rankings of Big Ten head football coaches (first to last).

1. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern. Oh, how everyone wishes the Evanston miracle worker coached their team. During much of Big Ten history Northwestern football has been the pits. High academic standards, recruiting problems, atrocious fan support and private school status have been road blocks to success. But Fitz, who could leave in a heartbeat for other college or NFL jobs, overcomes with teams who play smart and hard. The Wildcats won the Big Ten West Division last season and are one of four conference programs to make multiple appearances in the Big Ten Championship game. The Cats are 22-13 in league games in the last four years.

2. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa. No current major college head football coach has been at his school longer than Ferentz who took over at Iowa for the 1999 season. The state of Iowa is not a football hotbed for prep players and the Hawkeyes have to fight off rival Iowa State for talent but they keep winning because Ferentz and his staff excel at developing personnel. The Hawks haven’t had a losing season since 2012 and that streak helps define the consistency of Ferentz and his program. The Hawkeyes were 10-3 two years ago and despite the pandemic 6-2 last season. His 168 wins rank fourth all-time in Big Ten history.

3. Greg Schiano, Rutgers. When Minnesota AD Mark Coyle fired Tracy Claeys in late 2016 there were two replacements I thought would both excel in coaching the Gophers and be willing to take the job—Schiano and P.J. Fleck. Schiano was working as an assistant at Ohio State but it was his success years prior at Rutgers that had caught the attention of the college football world. Before Schiano got to Rutgers for the 2001 season, the place was a graveyard for coaching careers. But Schiano coached the Scarlet Knights to three nine-win seasons before he mistakenly left for an NFL head job after the 2011 season. He was the 2006 National Coach of the Year. This fall he starts his second season of rebuilding the Rutgers program again.

4. Tom Allen, Indiana. This is another story of a coach who has done a lot where others have failed. Historically, Indiana, Northwestern and Rutgers are three of college football’s bottom feeders. Allen gets his teams to overachieve and they don’t play scared even in big games. The last two seasons the Hoosiers have been 8-5 and 6-2 (6-1 in the Big Ten). In January the team had a No. 12 final ranking from the Associated Press, the school’s best since No. 4 in 1967. Indiana has played in consecutive January bowl games for the first time in school history. Allen, a state of Indiana native, is seen as genuine to the core by his players.

5. Ryan Day, Ohio State. The Buckeyes have been a Big Ten powerhouse forever, and the program has so many resources your grandmother could win a league title or two over a 10-year stretch. However, in two seasons in Columbus, Day has shown he is more than a caretaker. He is undefeated in Big Ten games and 23-2 overall while recruiting five-star high school players at a pace helping the Buckeyes maintain their lofty position with the Alabamas, Clemsons and Georgias of the college football world. Day is bright and so is his staff. The result? Ohio State scares the hell out of opponents.

6. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota. Pro Football Focus ranks him the 20th best coach in the country. Fitzgerald at No. 6 is the only Big Ten West Division coach ahead of him. At Western Michigan Fleck led one of the more memorable turnarounds in college football history. In 2013, his first season, the Broncos were 1-11, but ended the 2016 season with a No. 12 national ranking, a 13-1 record, a conference championship and a close loss to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl. Fleck’s 2019 Gophers won 11 games for the first time at Minnesota since 1904 and he impressed with his coaching including a January 1 Outback Bowl win over the SEC’s Auburn Tigers. Minnesota had a school record seven league wins in 2019, but in three of Fleck’s other four seasons in Minneapolis he has had losing Big Ten records. Cut Fleck and his staff slack for trying to rebuild the defense during the restrictions of the pandemic last year (3-4 season record). Clearly 2021 will be a pivotal season for Fleck’s reputation as a program savior.

7. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan. I thought Harbaugh would be lights out at Michigan but failure to find a top quarterback during six seasons is at the top of his frustrations along with no wins against the Buckeyes. Yet Wolverine fans should put away their crying towels over Harbaugh who is 49-22 in Ann Arbor. He is one of four Big Ten coaches ever to win 10-plus games in their first two years. Harbaugh has won big at San Diego and Stanford in college football, and with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. At Michigan the talent is present to compete with the better programs in the country but the Wolverines, 21-12 in conference games the last four years, have to attain consistency on both sides of the ball.

8. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin. In the early 1990s coaching wizard Barry Alvarez came up with a blueprint for success at Wisconsin. His successors have followed the formula including development of behemoth offensive linemen and hard to handle running backs. There is a culture in Madison that is similar to the superb work ethic at Iowa and Northwestern. Chyrst, once an assistant to the legendary Alvarez, is smart enough to follow the master and in six years is 56-19. Contrast that with his performance at Pitt before coming to Madison: 19-20 record in three seasons. A gifted offensive mind, Chryst is a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year but there is some apprehension in Madison after last season’s sluggish 4-3 record.

9. James Franklin, Penn State. At .667, Franklin has the third best winning percentage in the Big Ten during the last four seasons. Despite the usual high-end talent, last year was a disaster, beginning the season with five straight defeats before finishing 4-5. This was a poorly coached team in 2020. An anonymous college scout, quoted in Lindy’s Big Ten football magazine said “there are questions about Franklin as a gameday coach.” Franklin’s Nittany Lions did win the 2016 Big Ten title and his overall record in Happy Valley is 60-28. In early 2020 he hired highly thought of Gophers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarroca and despite statistical success fired him after last season.

10. Bret Bielema, Illinois. He was the first of Alvarez’s successors at Wisconsin and went 68-24 from 2006-2012. In that stretch he won three Big Ten titles, went to six consecutive bowl games and proclaimed the Minneapolis area a major Wisconsin recruiting zone. The confident Bielema left Madison for a much richer contract at Arkansas where the Razorbacks mostly struggled and ultimately he was fired. With his Big Ten coaching background (including an assistant stop at Iowa), Bielema could be a great hire for underachieving Illinois which fired Lovie Smith after last season. This has become a difficult job but Bielema will have the Illini trending upward after the awful era under Smith.

11. Scott Frost, Nebraska. Before the 2018 season Cornhusker fans thought their native son would quickly restore glory to Nebraska football. Think again. He is 12-20 after three seasons and sitting on the hot seat in Lincoln where he now works for a new athletic director. Something is clearly amiss at Nebraska, although expectations shouldn’t be as lofty as the days of national titles in the last century. Frost was the consensus National Coach of the Year in 2017 when he led UCF to an unexpected 13-0 season. That team was explosive but Frost, a former quarterback known for his offensive acumen, hasn’t been able to create an identity and consistency on that side of the ball in Lincoln. It doesn’t help either that top offensive talent has transferred since last season.

12. Jeff Brohm, Purdue. In 2017 Brohm inherited a program that had a combined nine wins in the four previous seasons. He proceeded to win seven games including victories over state rival Indiana and a bowl win. The next season the Boilers had three wins over top 25 teams including a shocking victory at home over No. 2 Ohio State. The high-fiving among Boiler fans, though, is in decline because Brohm’s four-year record is 19-25. Questions have been raised about the Boilers being more about a flashy offense than a tough overall team. The initial buzz is gone in West Lafayette and this is a pivotal season for a program that was 2-4 last year.

13. Mel Tucker, Michigan State. He is no Mark Dantonio, and that’s not all damning since Tucker’s predecessor was among the national coaching elites and perhaps the Spartans’ best ever. Tucker was 2-5 in his first season in East Lansing and 5-7 during a 2019 season at Colorado. That is the extent of Tucker’s head coaching career that followed a decorated path as an assistant. He’s known as a top recruiter and defensive specialist. He worked as an assistant for Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Jim Tressel and Dantonio. Tucker wasn’t hired until February of 2020, giving him a late start on the season ahead. Then his staff had to deal with the pandemic so it will be interesting to see what the Spartans can do in 2021.

14. Mike Locksley, Maryland. The good news for Terps fans is Locksley is an elite recruiter. The cautionary news is that in two-plus years with the Terps he is 6-17, and combined with his time at New Mexico as head coach he has a career record of 8-43. As Alabama’s co-offensive coordinator in 2018 he won the Broyles Award recognizing the nation’s top assistant coach. Multiple times in his coaching career he has been selected a top 25 national recruiter. The recruiting charm is evident in Locksley’s brief time at Maryland and he’s created expectations of top 20 recruiting classes. The Terps are more talented than they have been in awhile. Let’s see how the coaching goes.

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