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Gopher Road Woes Mark Pitino Era

Posted on January 11, 2021 by David Shama

Coach Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers basketball team lost 86-71 at Iowa yesterday and has dropped six consecutive Big Ten regular season road games dating back to last season. Pitino, now in his eighth season as Minnesota’s coach, has been unable to find success on the road in conference games except for the 2016-2017 season when the Gophers were 5-4.

Pitino’s career record in Big Ten regular season road games is 14-55, a 20 percent winning percentage. Most years the Gophers have won only a couple games away from Minneapolis and that goes a long way toward explaining the season-ending conference finishes of Pitino teams. In seven full seasons he has a fourth place finish in the conference standings (2017), with the next best results two years (2014 and 2019) when the Gophers placed seventh.

Big Ten title contenders win on the road, as history shows. When the Gophers won conference championships in 1982 and 1997, they lost two away games each season. Despite highly competitive road competition in the Big Ten last year, Wisconsin managed a 5-4 record on the way to a share of the conference title.

The Gophers are 10-4 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten games. Their four losses (all on the road) against Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin have been double-digit defeats. Minnesota has been way behind in road games and often because of poor defense and undisciplined offense. The Gophers have also been unable to match the energy of opponents on the road.

Pitino gave his team higher marks for its effort yesterday against Iowa than the other three road losses. “I thought this game was totally different than the other three losses. I thought we did a great job fighting back. We just took some bad shots down the stretch and weren’t able to get stops.”

Iowa quickly increased a 39-37 halftime lead to double digits for most of the second half but the Gophers were down by five points with about five minutes to play. Then Minnesota didn’t show enough patience on offense, rushed shots and got three-point happy. After the game Minnesota forward Brandon Johnson acknowledged the Gophers can “fall in love” with three-point shots at the expense of running an efficient offense. “It’s something we gotta fix as a group for sure,” he said.

In less than a month the Gophers have played seven consecutive conference games against nationally ranked opponents, including home wins against Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa. Pitino said on his KFAN postgame radio show yesterday the stretch has been a grind. “We wore these guys down. That schedule was as hard a schedule as you’re going to see. …”

The Gophers will take three days off to rest before preparing for Michigan at home Saturday. This is one of Pitino’s more talented teams and has been ranked among the top programs in the country but the road failures have been glaring. Even the team’s most talented players have struggled away from home including preseason All-Big Ten guard Marcus Carr, and center Liam Robbins who was out played in the last two games by national player of the year candidates Hunter Dickinson of Michigan and Luka Garza from Iowa.

“Obviously you got an undefeated (10-0) Michigan coming up, but these guys (the Gophers) got better,” Pitino said on the postgame show. “We need a little break and get back to work.”

Worth Noting

Minnesota native Brian Dutcher, the San Diego State coach who has a special opt out in his contract that would allow him to coach the Gophers if the job opened, has won 13 consecutive regular season road games dating back to 2019.

Scott Ellison, the personable Gophers senior associate athletics director in charge of facilities and capital projects, retires at the end of this week after more than 32 years at the U. Ellison has worked on about $600 million in capital projects including the construction of TCF Bank Stadium and the Athletes Village. Long time assistant Jeff Seifriz will succeed Ellison.

Gophers’ offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. might have been a candidate for the head coaching job at Boise State filled last week with the hiring of Andy Avalos. If Sanford, who has Boise State ties as a former Bronco OC, had been hired that may have opened the door for the return of long time P.J. Fleck OC coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. He left Minnesota after the 2019 season for Penn State but was dismissed last week.

Sanford’s offense had its struggles last season, showing inconsistency and veteran quarterback Tanner Morgan regressing. Sanford came to Minnesota after career moves that included only two years as head coach at Western Kentucky before he was fired, and serving as offensive coordinator at Utah State in 2019 where quarterback Jordan Love went from 32 touchdown passes and six interceptions in 2018 to 20 TD throws and 17 interceptions.

Morgan, a redshirt junior, was being mentioned a year ago as a future late first round or second round NFL Draft choice but for now that looks unlikely and he is expected to return as the Gopher starter in 2021.

If the Vikings were going to part ways with head coach Mike Zimmer it almost certainly would have happened by now. Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters wrote this on Sunday: “But next year is clearly make or break for the 64-year-old grump.”

Local connection: 1983 Waseca High School grad Mike Larson was the advance scout for Tommy Lasorda’s 2000 U.S. Olympic baseball team. Lasorda, who died last week, managed that team to a surprise gold medal and was the long time colorful manager of the Dodgers.

Doug Mientkiewicz, the former Twin, played on the 2000 Olympic team and credited the experience with giving him confidence. John Manuel, now a Twins scout and once editor-in-chief of Baseball America, wrote about that American team who many observers thought would lose out to Cuba.

Versatile calendar: the men’s Gopher hockey team, now 11-1-0 after splitting a weekend series with the Badgers, has played games every day of the week because of TV programming.

John Drum, the newly named general manager of U.S. Bank Stadium, is the latest “Behind the Game” guest with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. Drum, who talks on the show about the post-pandemic future for the stadium, worked with Robertson in the mid-1990s as part of the Angels organization in Anaheim. The program is available for viewing on the “Behind the Game” YouTube Channel and via cable access throughout the state.

Hoping for the best of transitions for Susan Wilkinson who has moved into a Bloomington long-term care facility. Susan is the terrific wife of Mike Wilkinson, author of the Murray Warmath biography, The Autumn Warrior.

Rob Hunegs, the popular owner of Twin Cites Sports Cards in Golden Valley, is home after a 12-day battle with COVID-19 in the hospital.

Thoughts of friends are with former Gophers football player Joe Pung who was diagnosed in 2019 with stage 3 melanoma and is undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

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Look for Vikings GM, Coach News Soon

Posted on January 4, 2021January 4, 2021 by David Shama

What’s the future for Vikings general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer?

A source outside the organization told Sports Headliners that the franchise ownership will meet with both Spielman and Zimmer tomorrow (Tuesday). The source does not know what direction that meeting will take, including the possibility things remain status quo.

Another source close to the organization said the Wilf ownership is frustrated with the on-field results versus financial investment. The Vikings haven’t qualified for the NFL playoffs in two of the last three years—yet Minnesota has one of the league’s higher payrolls. Ownership has also invested extensively in stadium and practice facilities.

The second source said the only thing owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf are “concerned about is winning.” Although Spielman and Zimmer have worked for them since 2005 and 2014 respectively, the source said emotion including loyalty to the GM and head coach won’t drive a decision.

Both Spielman and Zimmer received contract extensions last year that are believed to give them each three more years of security. Owners expressed confidence in the two men by extending their contracts and indicated they will trust their leadership into the future. If the Wilfs wanted to make a change, though, buying out Zimmer and Spielman won’t be a deterrent, with the source saying the owners will “pay anything to win.”

The Wilfs are passionate football fans and Zygi has talked openly about winning a Super Bowl. Before buying the Vikings, he was a devoted follower of the New York Giants decades ago. Now at almost 71 years old, he has to decide if he is satisfied with the direction and leadership of his team.

The Wilfs and others in their ownership group are high level business people who make thoughtful but efficient decisions. It seems all but certain that by the end of the week Vikings fans will know whether it’s status quo or there is major change coming in the organization.

Worth Noting

John Schneider, the University of St. Thomas alum and GM of the Seahawks, might be headed elsewhere, according to an online story yesterday by the Seattle Times. Schneider has long been praised for his work in helping make the Seahawks a consistent NFL contender but he doesn’t have final say on personnel, with that authority going to head coach Pete Carroll. Reports are Schneider could fill the Lions’ GM vacancy.

Gophers fans are hoping P.J. Fleck rumors about going elsewhere don’t become an annual annoyance. Talk emerged recently that an NFL team has interest.

Richard Pitino’s Gopher basketball team probably played its best game of the season last night in defeating Ohio State at Williams Arena, 77-60. Minnesota, 10-2, plays its next two games on the road, at Michigan Wednesday and at Iowa Sunday. In road losses to Illinois and Wisconsin the Gophers have been out scored by 39 points.

The Golden Dunkers, the men’s basketball support club for the Gophers, has a campaign to secure more followers on social media like Twitter so that the organization can have a custom URL on YouTube.

Who is the best player on the Twins? MLB.com says it’s third baseman Josh Donaldson in a story today ranking the best on each AL and NL team. Donaldson, the story says, “tends to alternate healthy seasons with injury-plagued ones. It’s the healthy-season turn.”

The Twins rank No. 5 among all teams, per a listing by MLB.com on Saturday. Clubs ahead of Minnesota in the power rankings are the Dodgers, Padres, Yankees and Braves.

It could be that Twins DH extraordinaire Nelson Cruz is waiting to see if the NL will use the designated hitter in 2021. A source said a decision on the DH may come by mid-January, and that will impact the number of suitors to sign Cruz to a new contract. The Twins seem likely to be a finalist.

It’s interesting that Wild general manager Bill Guerin didn’t appoint either Zach Parise or Ryan Suter as the team’s new captain. Jared Spurgeon will have that title while Parise and Suter remain alternate captains.

College hockey prominence is back in Minnesota with four of the state’s five Division I teams ranked in any top-10 polls. The undefeated 9-0 Gophers are the nation’s best team, according to many voters.

Local sports journalists Eric Nelson and Wally Langfellow debut their daily sports talk radio show today on AM 1440-KYCR in the Twin Cities. “Ten Thousand Takes” will air Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m.

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Start Watching Gophers QB Roster

Posted on December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by David Shama

An offseason storyline to follow with the University of Minnesota football program is whether the quarterback roster remains unchanged between now and kickoff next summer against Ohio State in the Gophers’ first game of the 2021 season.

Minnesota will have five scholarship quarterbacks on next season’s roster unless one or more transfer, or (unlikely) give up football. That’s a high total for a major college football program, and the most in memory for the Gophers.

The quarterback scholarship parade is led by Tanner Morgan who started and played every minute at the position this fall. He will be a redshirt junior in 2021 with more than two seasons of starting experience. The other scholarship quarterbacks for next year are: Zack Annexstad, redshirt sophomore; Jacob Clark, redshirt freshman; Cole Kramer, redshirt freshman, and Athan Kaliakmanis, freshman. The QB depth even includes non-scholarship players at the position.

No one is questioning the loyalty of the five scholarship quarterbacks to the Gophers but they all want to compete in games as collegians. With plenty of eligibility remaining, Annexstad, Clark and Kramer might be contemplating their futures now. Morgan is the established starter and Kaliakmanis hasn’t even suited up for his first practice, so those two are all but certain to be Gophers in 2021.

As a walk-on, Annexstad was the Minnesota starter at the beginning of the 2018 season and stayed at No. 1 for seven games. Injuries set him back in late 2018 and all of 2019. A scholarship player for awhile now, he hasn’t seen game action for two seasons. He wanted so much to be a Gopher, the former Mankato West QB reportedly turned down other major college offers, but could a place like North Dakota State interest him now? The powerhouse Bison will have opportunities at QB next year and beyond.

Clark came to Minnesota as a four-star recruit from Texas and Rivals ranked him the No. 13 pro style passer in the class of 2019. The Dallas Morning News, in a June 2018 story, reported Clark had 16 college offers including California, Iowa, TCU and Purdue. It is surprising that Clark, Annexstad and Kramer didn’t receive even a minute of playing time this fall despite opportunities for a reserve quarterback in one-sided games. If Clark enters the NCAA football transfer portal, he will draw immediate interest from major programs.

If anyone is taking bets on Annexstad, Clark or Kramer moving on, the latter seems least likely to change schools. The former Eden Prairie quarterback has the moxie of a winner and the quality hasn’t gone unnoticed at the U. His affection for the school is genuine, having grown up influenced by relatives who are prominent former Gophers including Carter Coughlin and Tom Moe. Kramer played briefly in three games as a true freshman in 2019.

None of the quarterbacks, by the way, need to move on to other schools because of academic challenges at Minnesota. Annexstad, Clark and Kramer were all honored as Academic All-Big Ten players in 2020. Morgan earned the designation in 2018 and 2019.

With the Gophers coming off a challenging and disappointing 3-4 season in 2020, head coach P.J. Fleck could voice a public challenge to all players that every position is open for competition during spring football practices. That could be done at quarterback without sending the message the coaching staff doesn’t want Morgan to be the starter. An effective message is that offseason competition is an asset for all concerned, pushing individuals and the team to improve. That kind of communication influences players including reserve quarterbacks.

Morgan’s passing regressed in 2020 after making second team All-Big Ten in 2019. He had too many throws off target including a killer interception in the end zone against Wisconsin that cost Minnesota the game and the return of Paul Bunyan’s Axe. To be fair, though, he didn’t quite have the same quality of receivers this fall as he did in 2019, and the Gophers played with a reshuffled offensive line that could be ineffective in pass protection. He was also working with a new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in Mike Sanford Jr.

The coaches know they have a special asset in Morgan who is an exceptional and experienced game manager who can consistently throw with accuracy (school record 18 consecutive games with a touchdown pass between 2018 and 2020). He is a eye-catching 17-7 as Minnesota’s starting quarterback. He turns 22 years old in April and as a “geezer” could finish his career at the U as a five-year starter!

Worth Noting

Gophers running back Mohamed Ibrahim was named Third Team All-America by the Associated Press today. He led the Big Ten in rushing attempts (201), rushing yards (1,076), rushing yards per game (153.7), rushing touchdowns (15), scoring (90), points per game (12.9) and all-purpose yards per game (168.4). He was third in the nation in rushing yards per game, fourth in points per game, fifth in rushing touchdowns, sixth in all-purpose yards per game and eighth in rushing yards.

George Paton, the Vikings assistant GM, is a regular on the annual SI.com list of potential NFL general managers. He made the latest rankings published last Friday and his name is rumored for a position with the Chicago Bears front office, while finishing up his 14th year with the Vikings.

Words of praise last week from Andrew Simon writing on Mlb.com about the Twins’ Byron Buxton: “Buxton finished with a stellar 124 OPS+ over 135 plate appearances but how he got there was…unorthodox. This was pretty much the definition of ‘all or nothing.’ Buxton struck out 36 times against his two walks, and 13 of his 33 hits were homers.

“Never before had a player posted an OBP below .280 and a slugging percentage above .550 in a season with at least 100 PA. Buxton also set a record by having 35% of his total times reaching base safely come via the home run ball.”

The Gophers’ men’s basketball team is ranked No. 21 in today’s Associated Press poll. It’s the first time the Gophers have been nationally ranked since Dec. 10, 2017. Nine Big Ten teams are ranked in the AP’s top 25 including No. 17 Michigan State who the Gophers play tonight at home.

Former Gophers basketball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski has cancer, with more specifics to be known this week after meeting with his oncologist. Several years ago he beat stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

St. Thomas men’s basketball coach John Tauer posted these appreciative words on Facebook last week about wife Chancey Anderson Tauer and her battle with breast cancer: “…conclusion of 8 grueling months of chemo, surgery, and radiation, all while supporting and inspiring her family, and pouring her heart into her passion, Prodeo Academy.”

Award winning singer John Legend, uncle of Gophers wide receiver Mike Brown-Stephens, turns 42 today.

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