Recruiting – Page 28 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Even in Winter Iowa a Gopher Target

Posted on February 22, 2022 by David Shama

The game won’t be played until late November, about nine months from now. Yet even in the dead of winter the importance of it casts a shadow over the 2022 University of Minnesota football schedule.

P.J. Fleck will be in his sixth season as Golden Gophers head coach next fall. Fleck’s overall record at Minnesota is 35-23 and he is 23-10 the last three seasons (16-9 in Big Ten games). His overall winning percentage of .603 is third best among Gopher coaches who coached in 45 games or more. The Gophers are 3-0 in bowl games under Fleck and have won two of the last three against that rival school to the east.

But no Big Ten West Division championships yet.

What will it take for Minnesota to win the West and advance to the Big Ten championship game against the East Division champ?

“Get over the Kirk Ferentz hump.”

Those words come from Gopher Illustrated and 247Sports authority Ryan Burns who tracks U football year round. He told Sports Headliners that in talent Minnesota has pulled even with coach Ferentz’s Iowa Hawkeyes and the Wisconsin Badgers. But Iowa is 5-0 against Fleck and the 2021 West Division champion Hawkeyes stand in the way of a Minnesota breakthrough.

The Hawkeyes will be in town Saturday, November 19. Right now the offseason expectations are high for both Iowa and Minnesota. Count the two programs among early favorites to win the West. If that holds, the late season game in Minneapolis will have national focus and plenty of hype. And even if it doesn’t, Minnesota players and coaches will be hot to face the Hawks.

“To get Iowa at home on Senior Day, I can assure you there is no other game—outside of maybe Wisconsin—that these guys want to win (so much) because they’re sick and tired of losing to Kirk Ferentz,” Burns said.

The last time Minnesota defeated Iowa was in 2014. Ferentz is 17-6 all-time against the Gophers. His tenure as Iowa head coach dates back to 1999. His teams are almost always competitive and frequently among the elite in the Big Ten. The Ferentz way is to run a developmental program built around a firewall defense that some years is among the best in the country. The offense, though, often looks like an after thought, tasked as much with not losing games as scoring points.

Burns expects another lights-out defense in Iowa City in 2022. “…”But that offense is still dreadful,” he said. “If Minnesota can find a way to put up 20 points at home against Iowa this year I think they should be in pretty good shape. To me if you want to win the West, you have to finally get over that Iowa hurdle, especially when you get them at home and especially when it’s going to be on Senior Day.”

Gophers Newcomer Notes

The Gophers are rebuilding the offensive and defensive lines, with most starters not returning in 2022. Candidates to fill in are veteran reserves from 2021 along with transfers Quinn Carroll and Chuck Filiaga on offense, and Darnell Jefferies, Chris Smith and Lorenza Surgers on defense.

Fleck and his staff worked the transfer portal aggressively in past months, also adding cornerbacks Shannon Bishop and Ryan Stapp. Minnesota’s transfer class ranks No. 4 in the Big Ten, according to a February 247Sports story by Brandon Marcello.

Carroll, the former Notre Dame and Edina lineman, could play at tackle if his footwork is reliable. If not? “You just slide him into guard,” Burns said.

Filiaga projects as a guard at Minnesota and started four games last year for Big Ten champion Michigan. He was a 247Sports four-star prospect coming out of high school in Texas.

Jefferies, who turns 23 in July, saw his total snaps go down each of the last three seasons at Clemson. He is expected to at least provide depth at defensive tackle.

Smith, who made All-Ivy League at Harvard while studying human evolutionary biology, might make a big impression at that position for Minnesota. Burns predicts the impact could be similar to what the Gophers received from 2021 Clemson transfer Nyles Pinckney.

Burns said Surgers, a defensive end transfer from Vanderbilt, has impressed in winter conditioning. Getting noticed, too, are Bishop and Sapp, who both were all-conference corners at Western Kentucky and Abilene Christian.

Although potential All-Big Ten cornerback Justin Walley returns, the Gophers lose two corners in Coney Durr and Justus Harris who played significant snaps in the past. Veteran safeties Jordan Howden and Tyler Nubin are back after impressing with their improvement in 2021. Burns believes they could be the best safety duo in the West Division. He also thinks the mix of returnees, including corner Terel Smith and promising transfers, makes the secondary the strength of the defense.

After spring practice ends in April the coaches might look for more transfers. That could be prompted by two developments. First, some players on the current roster, after they see their ranking on the depth charts, may choose to enter the transfer portal.

The other “wild card” is Minnesota’s running back roster. Veterans Mo Ibrahim, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams are coming off significant injuries last season. The team’s leading rusher, Ky Thomas, transferred to Kansas.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take a transfer running back after the spring because I think we’re going to learn a lot more about how the injuries are going in that room,“ Burns said.

A development to watch, too, is whether true freshman Zach Evans is part of the running back rotation next fall. Burns expects Evans and Alexandria’s Kristen Hoskins to be at the front among freshmen who could see significant playing time in 2022.

Hoskins, a potential electrifying 5-9, 160-pound wide receiver, might not be targeted for passes next September but he may emerge as a regular punt or kickoff returner. Burns said Hoskins could well be the fastest of the wide receivers.

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Rams’ Way a Potential Path for Vikings

Posted on February 8, 2022 by David Shama

The Rams play in the Super Bowl Sunday and are 55-26 during the last five seasons. Their front office uses an approach that could help the Vikings build their roster and elevate out of the mediocrity of recent seasons.

The Rams haven’t drafted in the first round since 2016. Their next first rounder, as of now, is scheduled for 2024. Put the word scheduled in bold face if you like because with the Rams things happen with personnel acquisition—before the season, during training camp and even close to Super Bowl time.

This is an aggressive front office with a philosophy that believes it’s better to acquire proven impact players (like quarterback Matthew Stafford, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and linebacker Von Miller) than gamble on first round prospects. The roster has been constructed with key personnel who came via trades, free agency and draft picks beyond round one.

By not drafting in the first round, the Rams avoid the big salaries such players command. The savings is used to pay a bevy of stars on the roster that includes those mentioned above and others like defensive tackle Aaron Donald, cornerback Jalen Ramsey and offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.

Superior scouting can pay off big with draft choices beyond the first and second rounds. The Rams’ poster boy for that is wide receiver Cooper Kupp, an NFL MVP candidate selected on the third round out of Eastern Washington.

Don’t get the idea the Rams trade away most of their draft choices in their wheeling and dealing. They often receive draft picks in return, and they also are awarded compensatory picks from the NFL for letting their free agents walk away. Part of the Rams’ successful roster construction approach is stockpiling draft choices.

Rams GM Les Snead isn’t afraid to make mistakes in the draft, or with free agents or via trades. Sometimes he and his front office colleagues are working on deadlines in crisis situations—drawing some similarity to the pressures of Wall Street where new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah worked before building a career in the NFL.

It will be interesting to see if he uses a versatile and comprehensive approach like the Rams in the days ahead. Rick Spielman, his predecessor, was aggressive in stockpiling draft choices, too. He was spot on with some draft selections after the first round, taking Dalvin Cook and Brain O’Neill in the second round, Danielle Hunter in the third and Stefon Diggs and Ezra Cleveland in the fifth. But the Vikings haven’t done much over the years with mega free agent signings or trades. It’s been a long time since a Brett Favre or Jared Allen walked through the front door of the practice facility.

Worth Noting

Coach Jim Dutcher expects most of his players from the 1982 Golden Gophers’ Big Ten title team to participate in their 40-year celebration February 22, 23 and 24. It looks like 10 of the 12 will get together, including all the starters except for guard Tommy Davis who likely will be in France.

That starting group had just one native Minnesotan, center Randy Breuer. When Dutcher coached in the 1970s and 1980s at Minnesota, there were years when the state high school programs didn’t have a single Division I prospect. That’s in sharp contrast to the new millennium with the state now having a national reputation for producing quality D-I talent—sometimes the best in the country in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Suggs and Tyus Jones. “It’s worlds different,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

The 1982 group has been invited by Gopher head coach Ben Johnson to watch practice February 22 and then have dinner with the team. At halftime of the February 23 game against Wisconsin, Dutcher and his players will be honored. The next day the coach will host brunch at an Edina restaurant.

Johnson has faced the most difficult rebuild in memory at Minnesota. The first-year coach started the schedule with one returning player from last season and a roster of newcomers put together in hurry up fashion last spring. The Gophers, 11-9 overall and 2-9 in the Big Ten, have impressed with their competitiveness after going into the fall with the lowest of media and fan expectations. “He’s done an amazingly good job for his first year,” said Dutcher whose 1982 team was the last at Minnesota to win the league title.

Dutcher, 88, will attend granddaughter Liza’s wedding in San Diego next October. Father Brian Dutcher is head men’s basketball coach at San Diego State where assistant coach Mark Fisher coaches from a wheel chair after being diagnosed with ALS in 2013.

Bill Fitch only coached two seasons at the University of Minnesota, 1968-69 and 1969-70. He bolted for an NBA career that began with the expansion Cavaliers. If he had remained at Minnesota, he could have made the Golden Gophers Big Ten champs and a force on the national scene.

The Hall of Fame coach died earlier this month and I mourn his loss. I covered him during his Gophers days and we talked a few times by phone in recent years. Bill had a sharp tongue for his players and a quick wit for the media.

The Gophers had a shoot-first guard named Ollie Shannon who Fitch inherited after taking over the program. Ollie thought his shooting range was pretty much anywhere on the court. After a game in which Shannon almost cast a shot from mid-court the sarcastic coach told the media, “There goes Ollie running one of our options (from the playbook).”

Lou Nanne will provide TV analysis for the 58th year at the state hockey tournament next month. He is also doing four TV games this season for the Wild.

Nanne was captain of the 1968 US Olympic hockey team. Do the Americans have a chance of winning a medal this winter? “I definitely think they have,” he said.

Gopher athletic director Mark Coyle’s expected contract extension through 2028 is welcome news for fans “rowing the boat” because it helps assure a tight relationship with head football coach P.J. Fleck.

Surging Tom Hoge from Fargo, who finished second last month at the American Express in La Quinta and won Sunday’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, will be a headliner at this summer’s 3M Open in Blaine. “We fully expect him to play the 3M,” said Hollis Cavner who runs the Minnesota PGA Tour event.

Celebrity players at the AT&T included Bill Murray, the comedian, star of Caddyshack and St. Paul Saints investor. The showman wowed the crowd with a no-look putt.

Senior PGA rules official Mark Dusbabek, the former Gopher football player from Faribault, worked the tournament.

The Tapemark Minnesota PGA Pro-Am is set for June 10-12 at Southview Country Club. The event was successfully run for decades by the Klas family and this year will be the 51st annual.

With the ongoing pandemic, CORES program organizers are uncertain about a March gathering in Bloomington. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

The dual meet between top-ranked Penn State and No. 2 Iowa last month averaged 363,000 viewers, making it the most-watched wrestling broadcast in Big Ten Network history. The previous record was 343,000 viewers, also set by the two wrestling powerhouses in January of 2020.

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Spielman Stresses Coach-QB Relationship

Posted on January 26, 2022January 26, 2022 by David Shama

It was easy to think about Mike Zimmer yesterday when Rick Spielman answered questions on TV’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” Spielman, the former Vikings GM who was fired along with Zimmer earlier this month, talked about the trend toward offensive-minded head coaches in today’s NFL and also the selection process that should go into hiring such leaders.

“I think the No. 1 thing you’re looking for is that a head coach really has to have a relationship with that quarterback,” Spielman said. “And can a defensive head coach connect with that quarterback? Now, you know an offensive head coach is probably going to be able to because that’s his job (background). But can a defensive coach do the same thing?”

Spielman, the Vikings’ GM for 10 years, hired a defensive guru in Zimmer back in 2014. During the Zimmer era he had six offensive coordinators and last season was reportedly the first where he met weekly with quarterback Kirk Cousins. That was four seasons into their relationship and chemistry has appeared strained between the two.

It’s believed it was Spielman, not Zimmer, who wanted Cousins signed to an expensive free agent contract in 2018. The best of Zimmer’s teams had lights out defenses and his top regular season records came prior to Cousins joining the team from Washington. The last two seasons Minnesota didn’t qualify for the playoffs, prompting ownership to part with Spielman and Zimmer.

Spielman said that not since 2017 have two defensive oriented head coaches had their teams in the Super Bowl. That year matched up the Patriots’ Bill Belichick and the Falcons’ Dan Quinn, two defensive specialists.

The four remaining teams in the 2022 NFL playoffs are led by head coaches with accomplished offensive backgrounds. The veteran of the group is the Chiefs’ Andy Reid, who won the 2020 Super Bowl. Sean McVay of the Rams and Kyle Shanahan from the 49ers had their franchises in the 2019 and 2020 Super Bowls respectively. Zac Taylor, in just his third season as a head coach, has the Bengals within one win of representing the AFC in the 2022 Super Bowl. Reid is 63 but the other three head coaches are all 42 or younger.

It will be surprising if the Vikings don’t hire an offensive specialist as head coach. Not only is that a trend, but historically college and pro teams often switch back and forth between offensive and defensive backgrounds when hiring head coaches.

Worth Noting

Spielman is making media appearances since the announcement of his dismissal January 10. Maybe at 59 he is interested in a football TV job rather than going back to the NFL. However, brother Chris Spielman is a newly hired executive with the Lions.

Don’t be surprised if Zimmer, 65, lands an assignment with the Cowboys. He worked for Jerry Jones’ team as defensive coordinator from 2000-2006 and before that coached defensive backs for the 1995 Super Bowl champion Cowboys.

Among Spielman’s better draft choices is right tackle Brian O’Neill who this year will be participating in his first NFL Pro Bowl. O’Neill, a second round pick in 2018, is replacing Tristan Wirfs of the Buccaneers, who is injured and unable to play.

The Vikings could be developing a pair of top tackles in O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw, the team’s first round pick in the 2021 draft. During the last season he took over as the starting left tackle and was part of an improving offensive line that allowed Cousins to be sacked only 28 times, sixth fewest in the NFL.

The Vikings might take another step in developing an elite offensive line if they use their expected No. 12 first round draft choice this year on Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum. His physical and leadership skills are impressive, while playing at the key center position where 2019 draft choice Garrett Bradbury has struggled.

Cornerbacks Ahmad Gardner from Cincinnati and Derek Stingley Jr. of LSU could tempt the Vikings, too. If Minnesota wants to risk the choice on a project quarterback with raw skills in need of polish, Liberty’s electrifying Malik Willis could be the guy.

Vikings participating in the February 6 Pro Bowl in Las Vegas are O’Neill, running back Dalvin Cook, wide receiver Justin Jefferson and safety Harrison Smith.

The New Mexico State football team announced its 2022 schedule Monday, including the September 1 date in Minneapolis against the Golden Gophers. The Aggies, under first-year coach Jerry Kill, will also play two other Power Five opponents, with games at Wisconsin and Missouri. They will have six home games, the most since 2014.

“We need Aggie fans everywhere to come out and support our program this fall,” Kill said in a school news release. “Our team will have a hard hat and lunch pail mentality every time we take the field.”

The Timberwolves, at 24-23 and with 35 remaining games, have bested last season’s final win total of 23 (record of 23-49).

The most recent win came last night, 109-107 over the Trail Blazers. Wolves’ guard Anthony Edwards became the first player in NBA history to total 40 points, nine rebounds, five three-pointers, three blocks and three steals in a single game.

To some fans David Ortiz’s 2022 selection to baseball’s Hall of Fame is perplexing. Although the former Twin insists he never knowingly used performance enhancers, his name is associated with the steroid era. That stigma has denied Hall of Fame membership to the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Among players to watch in the state prep basketball class of 2023 is 6-9 power forward-center Patrick Bath from Totino-Grace. 247Sports gives him a composite three-star ranking. Cal-Poly and Sienna have made offers, per 247.

Fargo’s Tom Hoge, 32, has one career win but is playing some of the best golf of his PGA career and he finished second in last weekend’s American Express in La Quinta. The TCU alum turned pro in 2011 and has over $9 million in career earnings. As of Monday morning he was No. 34 in PGA Tour earnings for 2022, with $680,690, according to the Desert Sun. Spring Lake Park’s Troy Merritt was No. 61 at $349,190.

The Friday wrestling match between the No. 13 ranked Golden Gophers at No. 3 Michigan airs at 6 p.m. central time on BTN. The telecast will be followed by No. 1 Penn State at No. 2 Iowa.

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