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Winfield May Return Punts for Gophers

Posted on August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column.

Safety and post-season Big Ten awards candidate Antoine Winfield Jr. was fielding punts at a recent Gophers football scrimmage open to the public and media. Winfield, who missed eight games last season because of injury, is part of an “experiment” by head coach P.J. Fleck to determine who will have the punt return job when the season opens August 30 at home against New Mexico State.

Fleck is also considering redshirt senior cornerback Antonio Shenault and true freshman wide receiver Rashod Bateman. Winfield is a redshirt sophomore who probably is Minnesota’s best player regardless of position.

No doubt Fleck wants an athlete with sure hands to become his No. 1 punt returner. He will welcome a playmaker at the position who can advance the ball up field when few could. The Gophers, who struggled to score points last season and could again in 2018, didn’t return a punt for a touchdown last season, or the year before.

Shenault shared punt returning last season with the departed Drew Hmielewski. Shenault had four returns for 11 yards. Winfield hasn’t returned punts in college, while Bateman has yet to step on the field for a college game.

Bateman made some difficult catches at last week’s scrimmage open to the public and media. “He’s like that everyday,” Fleck said.

A four-star recruit in high school, per 247/Sports and Rivals, the Tifton, Georgia native has a reputation for speed, explosiveness and big plays. National power Georgia tried to persuade Bateman to change his mind about becoming a Gopher.

The Gophers’ football schedule avoids three of the five Big Ten teams Sports Illustrated has in its top 15 teams in the nation. The S.I. college football issue out last week ranks Wisconsin No. 3 (predicting a national playoff spot), Penn State No. 7, Ohio State No. 9, Michigan State No. 11 and Michigan No. 15. Minnesota plays at Ohio State October 13 and closes the regular season at Wisconsin November 24.

Eden Prairie, defending 6A football state champs, started two-a-day practices this week along with other high school teams in the state. Head coach Mike Grant minimizes tackling in preparation for the season. His best players might only participate in contact for a series or two in a scrimmage before the Eagles open the season against Eastview on August 30. Excluded from any contact will be starting quarterback Cole Kramer.

Grant has won 11 titles at Eden Prairie since starting there in 1992. He told Sports Headliners the Eagles might have won five more if not for injuries.

A pro football source said the Vikings reached out to 59-year-old Mike Tice about becoming offensive line coach after the unexpected death this summer of Tony Sparano. Tice, a former Vikings head coach with a 33-34 record from 2001-2005, is retired from coaching after most recently working as offensive line coach for the Raiders.

Viking veteran Kai Forbath has a history of inconsistency on extra points. New rookie kicker Daniel Carlson will give Forbath a lot of competition for the job of converting extra points and field goals, and kicking off. This could be the most intense player competition in training camp.

Carlson was 4-for-4 on extra points and 2-for-2 on field goals last Saturday night in the Viking opening preseason win in Denver against the Broncos.

Another battle is to see who emerges as the No. 3 wide receiver. Laquon Treadwell, a No. 1 draft selection in 2016, hasn’t caught a touchdown pass in two seasons. In Saturday’s preseason opener he had one reception for three yards. Rookie Brandon Zylstra, injured and not able to play last Saturday, could not only make the roster but perhaps emerge as the No. 3 WR this season.

Legacy statistic for Lindsay Whalen who is retiring from the Lynx after this season: Since 2011 the club’s record is 60-3 when she has seven assists or more.

Former Gopher basketball player Larry Overskei, a three-year starter from 1967-1970, is retired after 47 years of coaching including most recently the boys golf team at Coon Rapids High School. During Overskei’s career he also coached basketball and one of his players was now Baseball Hall of Famer Jack Morris. At Highland Park High Morris helped the team win two St. Paul conference titles.

“Quick as a cat, tenacious, and a wonderful shooter,” Overskei wrote about Morris via email.

It will be interesting to see how center fielder Jake Cave of the Twins hits the rest of the season. Since being recalled on June 25, he is batting .377 (20-for-53) at Target Field. He has a hit in 18 of 22 games at home this season, batting .358 (24-for-67) with 18 RBI.

The 25-year-old Cave enters today’s home game against the Pirates hitting .273 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 139 at bats.

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Zimmer a Vikings Steal at $4 million

Posted on August 8, 2018August 9, 2018 by David Shama

The Vikings are spending aggressively to lock up their players for coming seasons, while pushing for their first Super Bowl since 1977. An August 1 story by the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported that starting in 2019 nine Vikings will have “a contract that carries a yearly average over $10 million in each of its first three seasons.”

For this season Spotrac.com lists six Vikings earning $10 million or more. They are quarterback Kirk Cousins, $24 million; cornerback Xavier Rhodes, $13,400,000; linebacker Anthony Barr, $12,306,000; defensive end Everson Griffen, $11,600,000; offensive tackle Riley Reiff, $11,400,000; safety Harrison Smith, $10,000,000.

Even a grade school NFL fan knows a team can’t deliver on lofty ambitions without talented players. Or as former Golden Gophers national championship coach Murray Warmath once said, “No mule ever won the Kentucky Derby.”

Yet it’s interesting to contrast the compensation of highly paid Vikings players with that of head coach Mike Zimmer. His annual salary is guarded by club officials but media reports have the 62-year-old Zimmer earning $4 or $5 million annually. But for all the talent surrounding Zimmer, he might be the most important individual with the team.

In the competitive and strategic world of pro football, the head coach is far from a figurehead or caretaker. “Coaching is 60 to 65 percent of (team) success,” former Viking defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema has reminded Sports Headliners.

Zimmer will soon start his fifth regular season as Viking head coach and the team is among the favorites to win the NFC. He has won 39 regular season games, more than any other Viking head coach accomplished in his first four years. Zimmer’s teams have won two NFC North titles and were within one win of advancing to the Super Bowl last winter. The only losing season Zimmer has experienced was his first year 7-9 record. The prior season the Vikings’ record was 5-10-1.

Zimmer looked like a career NFL assistant coach until the Vikings gave him his first head coaching job. From day one he let his players know he was on a mission to build a tough, smart football team that gives maximum effort. The process has benefitted immensely from Zimmer’s direction including his widely acknowledged expertise as a defensive guru.

There have been bumps in the road for both the team and Zimmer personally. When the club hasn’t met expectations he can be a difficult character to be around, but his competitiveness sends a message. So does his toughness which Viking fans followed for months when he coached through a series of eye miseries that began with surgery for a detached retina.

It’s the way of the NFL to pay the best players more than the coaches—sometimes much more. A June 12 Street.com story by Scott Van Voorhis reported the NFL’s top paid head coach is New England’s Bill Belichick at between $10 million and $12.5 million. Oakland’s Jon Gruden is No. 2 at $10 million, with Seattle’s Pete Carroll and New Orleans’ Sean Payton making $9 million, according to the article.

Street.com listed the top 10 paid NFL head coaches and Zimmer didn’t make the cut. Coming in at the bottom of the 10 were Green Bay’s Mike McCarthy and Dallas’ Jason Garrett, both reportedly at $6 million.

You might have to search all over Vikingland to find anyone who would prefer McCarthy or Garrett before our guy Zim. Like the headline says, Zimmer is a steal.

Worth Noting

Steve Erban, known to travelling Gophers and Vikings fans as the operator of Stillwater-based Creative Charters, was a thoroughbred horse racing trainer for many years and is still involved with ownership. He’s organizing the “Royal Day Party” on Saturday at Canterbury Park that is part of the “Dress to the Nines” promotion celebrating racing including the Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Oaks. It’s all inspired by the annual Royal Ascot races in England where fans dress up in style. More at Canterburypark.com/racing-promotions.

Ruttger’s Bay Lake Lodge is celebrating 120 years and its history includes golf, having established the first Minnesota resort golf course in 1921. That course had sand tee boxes. Now the resort has two courses, Alec’s 9 on the site of the first course and Jack’s 18, a scenic course that winds around two lakes.

Pitcher Kyle Gibson appeared among the likeliest of Twins to be traded a couple of months ago but now could be with the club through the season and be a prominent part of the rotation in 2019. The 30-year-old right hander has the second most quality starts on the club behind Jose Berrios. He’s turned his career around since the last half of the 2017 season.

Quoting Twins baseball boss Derek Falvey in a letter sent Monday to ticket buyers reassuring them about the franchise’s future: “…We should all look forward to a strong finish to this season and the continued growth of our players as we build toward sustained, championship-caliber baseball together. Most importantly, thank you for your continued support!”

Condolences to family and friends of Dick Erdall, who passed away this summer after a life that included 1950s youth football coaching in Minneapolis. His coaching contributed to the state powerhouse teams at Washburn High School. He was also a 13th ward alderman in Minneapolis and interim mayor.

Gopher football practice at TCF Bank Stadium is open to the public Friday and begins at 4 p.m.

Next June will be the 30th Bruce Smith Golf Classic at Faribault Golf Club. Organizer Bruce Krinke said the event (named after Faribault native and Gopher Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith) hopes to reach a 30-year total of $250,000. Proceeds are annually given to Faribault schools.

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U Holds in with 5-Star Recruit Hurt

Posted on August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 by David Shama

Matthew Hurt, the five-star basketball recruit from Rochester John Marshall, might be only a few months away from finalizing his college choice. The state’s most elite and sought after prep prospects in the recent past—like brothers Tyus and Tre Jones—have chosen the blueblood programs of college basketball rather than the Gophers, but Hurt’s story might have a different ending, although don’t bet your Christmas budget on it.

USAtoday.com reported last Friday Hurt plans to soon narrow his list of eight possible schools—Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Minnesota, North Carolina and UCLA. Then he intends to line up campus visits and could sign with a school as early as November 14, 2018.

Kansas might be among the schools falling off Hurt’s list if he is concerned about FBI reports connected with the Jayhawk program. The FBI has been investigating corruption in college basketball, and Kansas reportedly has released two subpoenas showing the bureau requested information about the program.

Former Gopher Richard Coffey saw his son Amir go through the recruiting process a few years ago before choosing Minnesota. Sports Headliners asked him about programs that might be under scrutiny as Kansas apparently is. “I think you would have to avoid those schools,” Richard said. “You never know how things are going to go and a school could get penalized (including no postseason play).”

Sources have told Sports Headliners for awhile KU is a Hurt favorite but with a potential cloud over the Jayhawks, Duke could be the eventual winner in the recruiting race. The school, the program’s history of success, and the reputation of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski could be too much for Hurt to turn down.

Indiana perhaps could fall off the list because it might be too much for Hurt and family members to have Matthew competing in the Big Ten for the Hoosiers against the home state Gophers. UCLA, far away in Los Angles and a program long removed from its glory days, also looks suspect.

In a (Rochester) Postbulletin.com article Saturday, Hurt talked about the things important to him in choosing a school. “…The biggest factors for me are my relationships with the players and coaches, the campus and how the program is doing,” he said.

Hurt’s brother Michael will be a junior on the Gopher team this fall. The two brothers have a close relationship and a source said the Hurts would strongly value the experience of playing together, even if it is only for one season before Matthew moved on to the lure of the NBA .

Matthew told USAtoday.com that Michael is “loving it up there (Minneapolis).” Matthew has heard “good things about their campus,” and mentioned he is “pretty close” to incoming 2018 Gopher freshmen Gabe Kalscheur (DeLaSalle), Jarvis Omersa (Orono), and Daniel Oturu (Cretin-Derham Hall).

Although Michael won’t be in the starting lineup for Minnesota next season, he is likely to earn regular playing time off the bench. The Gophers, led by Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy, have two potential All-Big Ten front court players. They lead a Gopher team that could be back in the NCAA Tournament next spring for the second time in two years. Minnesota’s new Athletes Village, including its basketball facilities, has been described as a “game changer” for the recruiting and servicing players.

Committing to a university in advance of Hurt’s senior season at John Marshall will relieve the distraction and time commitment of the recruiting process. Presumably every program in the country would like to have the 6-9 forward who is so skilled he could play in the front court or backcourt in college. He has followed up a sensational junior season at John Marshall with impressive recent performances for USA and AAU basketball teams.

Hurt is a consensus top 10 player by recruiting evaluators for the class of 2019. He is, for example, ranked No. 6 among all players in the 2019 class by 247Sports.com and No. 3 among power forwards.

Hurt told the Post-Bulletin he takes pride in showing on a national stage the quality of high school basketball in Minnesota. He said Minnesota is “the most underrated state in the country.”

Apparently Hurt likes proving how good Minnesota talent is and he would certainly have that opportunity with the Gophers where he could play with his brother and Kalscheur, Omersa and Oturu —all natives of the state.

Worth Noting

Richard Coffey said there is no doubt Amir will be recovered from last season’s shoulder injury that caused him to miss most of the Big Ten season. “He’s healed up really well,” said Richard who predicted his son will probably be full go before school starts (first week in September).

Coffey photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

Richard said Amir is a “legit 6-8” and has increased his weight since last season to about 215 pounds. “We talk a lot about strength and flexibility,” the older Coffey said.

Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck spoke to a record turnout at Twin Cities Dunkers yesterday as part of a busy day that included an interview with the Golf Channel and a team commitment at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. The Golf Channel segment was filmed yesterday with Morning Drive co-host Charlie Rymer and scheduled to air today. The Golf Channel is in town to cover the 3M Championship and wanted to highlight the start of Gophers football this week.

A new Row the Boat graphic was unveiled at the hospital yesterday, symbolizing a never give up attitude. Gopher players and staff held a barbeque with patients and families while enjoying lawn games and other activities.

Former Star Tribune Gopher men’s basketball writer Amelia Rayno has a passion for travel and adventure. She describes herself as a “full time nomad and freelancer” on her new blog Ameiliarayno.com.

Bloomington native Steve Rushin has a byline story in the July 31 issue of Sports Illustrated about Lindsay Whalen that refers to her as “Minnesota’s ever-agreeable favorite daughter.” Whalen, 36, said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” show Sunday she hasn’t decided whether she will play for the Lynx next season, or solely concentrate on her new job as Gopher women’s coach.

Whalen’s husband, former Gopher golfer Ben Greve, has qualified for the August 13-19 U.S. Amateur in northern California.

St. Paul native Jack Morris, enshrined in Cooperstown last weekend, will be honored before a St. Paul Saints game September 1 at CHS Field. Morris pitched for the Saints in 1996 after his big league career.

Nita Killebrew, wife of Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, is preserving the legacy of her late husband for helping others. The inaugural Harmon’s Heart of Baseball fundraiser event and award presentation will be August 25 in conjunction with the Twins-Oakland game in Minneapolis.

Funds raised will help provide opportunities for people with disabilities through two nonprofits: Productive Alternatives and Shriners Hospitals for Children® – Twin Cities. The award recognizes a Minnesotan with disabilities who exemplifies the values and heart of Killebrew. More at Twinsbaseball.com/harmon, or call 612-210-5525.

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