David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Name Game Starts on Next U Coach

Posted on January 4, 2017January 4, 2017 by David Shama

Who is the next Gophers football coach going to be?

Fans of the program will spit out the words P.J. Fleck in a heartbeat but other names are worth mentioning including a favorite here—Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano.

Gophers’ athletic director Mark Coyle comes from a marketing and fund-raising background and might be attracted to someone like 36-year-old Phillip John Fleck who is (to some admirers) a charismatic leader. He gave a fiery speech before Monday’s Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin, telling his underdog Broncos they were “trailblazers” coming from the Mid-American Conference and taking on a Power Five Conference team.

Fleck upgraded Broncos football from mediocrity to this season’s 13-0 record and top 20 national ranking before losing to the Badgers, 24-16. The Gophers, operating in a pro town and confronted by a giant “purple shadow,” are going to have issues selling tickets and raising revenues in the months ahead regardless of the new coach’s name but Fleck could stir some excitement before next fall and also prompt a willingness in the marketplace to engage in product sampling early in the season.

Schiano, 50, resurrected Rutgers football, which historically has been an absolute graveyard for coaches. Schiano won more than half of his games at Rutgers and had one 11 win season, two nine win seasons, two eight win seasons and was recognized as one of America’s better coaches during a career there that started in 2001 and ended in 2012. He made a mistake in leaving the Scarlet Knights for the NFL Bucs where his disciplinary ways stirred controversy. He lasted two years and had a losing record.

Schiano recruited with success while at Rutgers, attracting players from not only the East but the talent-rich state of Florida. He offers a lot to the Gophers, including head coaching experience. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer endorsed Schiano in the most meaningful way by hiring him last year. Schiano likely wants to be a head coach again and knows that at his age not too many big time opportunities are coming along. His age could be a plus for the Gophers because if the wins and is successful here, he might be inclined to finish out his career at Minnesota.

The same certainly can’t be said about a hotshot like Fleck. He could see the Gophers as a stepping-stone job, following a career path like Meyer who once made a splashy debut while leading Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference before quickly moving on to Utah and after two seasons to powerhouse Florida.

There is something to be said too about considering candidates who know the state of Minnesota and this region’s people and culture. Wyoming coach Craig Bohl fits that reference. Bohl was an assistant coach at Nebraska before he built North Dakota State into a powerhouse FCS program. Bohl already has established relationships with Minnesota high school coaches. His name might interest Coyle. or current NDSU head coach Chris Klieman who is a Waterloo, Iowa native like the Gophers AD.

Coyle’s favorites list could include Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin. When Coyle was the AD at Boise he hired Harsin to replace Chris Petersen who quit to take the Washington job. Harsin has a 31-9 record in three seasons but hasn’t impressed like Petersen.

Another name that perhaps will surface is Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin. The Aggies have found the transition from the Big 12 to the SEC challenging and perhaps Sumlin, whose wife is a Minnesota native, might find the thought appealing coming back to the U where he once was a Gophers assistant coach. Sumlin is one of the few African-Americans who have been given an opportunity to be a head coach at a Power Five Conference job.

When University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler hired Coyle last year he told a prominent Gophers football booster he had brought a “superstar” to Dinkytown. Well, after about seven months on the job no one else is ready to label Coyle that way but he sure has a golden opportunity while hiring the next Golden Gophers football coach.

Who to bet on in the coaching sweepstakes? Toss a few bucks on Fleck, but perhaps there could be a Sumlin homecoming.

Mark Coyle’s Statement on Tracy Claeys

The following statement from Coyle was released yesterday regarding the termination of Tracy Claeys as Minnesota’s head football coach: “I made a difficult decision today on behalf of the University of Minnesota. With the support of Board of Regents’ leadership and president Eric Kaler, I have decided to take the Gophers football team in a different direction with new coaching leadership.

“I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges.

“This decision is about the future of Minnesota football.

“Moving forward, we need a leader who sets high expectations athletically, academically, and socially.

“I also want to address the unfortunate blurring of the football suspension decision.

“On December 13, 2016, coach Claeys, deputy athletics director John Cunningham and I met to discuss 10 student-athletes.

“I informed coach Claeys of my judgment that athletic suspensions were appropriate.

“Without any objection, coach Claeys said he understood that decision to bench student-athletes.

“Coach Claeys, deputy athletics director John Cunningham, and I met with the student-athletes to advise them of our decision. Coach Claeys subsequently informed me that he agreed with the suspension decision.

“And let me be clear: this was the right thing to do.

“Coach Claeys’ tweet later that week was not helpful. I accept that coach Claeys intended it to support the boycotting players. Understandably others did not see it that way. I hope you will appreciate I cannot say more about the athletic suspensions in this case.

“I will say, as a general matter, athletic suspension decisions – essentially a decision to bench a player – are different from a prosecutor’s decision to charge someone with a crime.

“Different standards, different policies.

“An athletic suspension decision is also different from a panel decision whether there has been a student conduct code violation.

“Different standards, different policies.

“For example, we suspend student-athletes for attitude problems. We suspend student-athletes while criminal investigations are ongoing. We suspend student-athletes when University investigators present credible evidence of inappropriate conduct. What happens in a student conduct process is not for me to say. Like the U and all involved, I simply want a just and fair process. That is not determined by who prevails; if justice is done, then the University of Minnesota and the public win, no matter the outcome.

“Again, this has been a difficult decision. I thank Coach Claeys and his staff for their years of service. Coaches Dan O’Brien and Mike Sherels have agreed to remain during the coaching transition to ensure that our student-athletes have strong and active leadership in the interim.”

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Tommy Kramer Sees Vikings QB Battle

Posted on January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 by David Shama

Tommy Kramer sees a potential battle for the No. 1 quarterback spot when the Vikings are in training camp next summer. Kramer, the Vikings All-NFC quarterback in 1986, qualified his prediction based on the health of Teddy Bridgewater who missed this season because of a serious knee injury. It’s unknown whether Bridgewater will be fully recovered by next summer.

Sam Bradford had a career season in 2016 but Kramer thinks a healthy Bridgewater will create a lot of competition in the future. “Oh, yeah, it will definitely be an open competition,” Kramer told Sports Headliners.

Bradford, 29, had a career high passer rating of 99.3 this season, among the best for NFL starters. He threw 20 touchdown passes in 15 games, and was intercepted only five times despite playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive line. He set an NFL completion percentage record for a single season with a mark of 71.6 percent.

Sam Bradford (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said last week that Bradford has done “an unbelievable job.” Part of the coach’s perspective is how his quarterback adjusted to being traded to the Vikings eight days before the start of the season, having to learn a new system and teammates (including replacements during the fall), and even dealing with a change in offensive coordinators in November. “Maybe this is the best year he’s ever had,” Zimmer said. “If you put all those together and look at the things he’s had to deal with, I think he’s been amazing.”

Bridgewater, 24, was starting his third NFL season when he was injured in August. At the time he was considered the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, although he had mediocre career totals of 28 touchdown passes, 21 interceptions and a passer rating of 90.1.

“It doesn’t hurt to have two players (Bradford and Bridgewater) like that, anyway,” said Kramer who was the Vikings’ No. 1 draft choice in 1977. “(If) something happens again, at least both of them will be more prepared.”

One of the knocks on Bridgewater was his inability to throw down field. Bradford, when the offensive allowed him the time, showed accuracy on all kinds of throws—deep, intermediate and short.

Bridgewater was expected to show improvement in his overall passing this season before his injury. Better production in passing, to go with his running, would make Bridgewater special. “He can pick up yards with his legs, but he’s gotta learn to slide all the time,” Kramer said. “No reason to take a hit trying to get an extra yard.”

Kramer, who now lives in his native Texas, likes both quarterbacks. “They each have things they do better than the other one,” he said.

Regardless of who is the quarterback in 2017, Kramer wants the Vikings to draft “as many offensive linemen” as they can. The Vikings have selected only two offensive linemen in the first three rounds since 2007. With a run of injuries and below par performances by some linemen, the offensive line had a lot to do with the team’s final record of 8-8 after a 5-0 start.

“Their defense is good enough to win, but you get worn out when you can’t convert on third down situations to keep the ball and let the defense rest,” Kramer said.

Worth Noting

Yesterday’s game against the Bears was the fourth time in 12 years the outcome had no playoff implications for the two franchises.

Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn on whether the Vikings talented nucleus of players bodes well for better than .500 results next season: “You can look good on paper and not be good on the field, so we gotta still put in the work and still go out there and compete.”

That was the Wild’s Erik Haula who sounded the gjallarhorn before yesterday’s game that included an incident with Dakota Access Pipeline Protestors. A Vikings source told Sports Headliners 185 fans had to be relocated from their seats because of safety concerns.

Kyle Rudolph set two tight end records for the Vikings yesterday, with his 29th career touchdown and total of 83 receptions for the season. He broke Steve Jordan’s record for career touchdowns and Joe Senser’s most receptions in a season total. Senser, progressing but still recovering from a stroke, was at the game.

Construction at the Vikings 40-acre headquarters in Eagan continues since last summer’s groundbreaking. The erection of steel, for example, on the indoor practice facility is scheduled to be completed by April 1. The campus will have five outdoor practice fields including a stadium with anticipated capacity of 6,000, plus training and rehab facilities, and also a locker room, team auditorium, and administrative offices. The new Vikings campus is known as the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and the target date for opening is March of 2018.

Eventually an overall 200-acre development is expected to include offices, retail, residential, hospitality and a conference center with the Vikings headquarters as a development anchor.

Gophers point guard Nate Mason was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week this afternoon with Nebraska’s Tai Webster. Mason has averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in Minnesota’s first two Big Ten games, a loss last week to Michigan State and victory yesterday over Purdue.

The Big Ten basketball season is less than a week old and already only three of 14 teams are undefeated, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The Gophers’ surprise win over nationally ranked Purdue yesterday evened Minnesota’s record at 1-1.

Minnesota is No. 1 in the league in blocked shots and in three-point defense field goal percentage. Coach Richard Pitino’s team is No. 2 in overall defensive field goal percentage and also in defensive rebounding.

Former Gophers football captain Jim Carter, who has been pursuing membership on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, is less optimistic about his chances than he was several weeks ago. Carter has been criticized by some state legislators for support he voiced for Gophers football players. Critics have mistakenly assumed he isn’t supportive of advocates for prevention of sexual assault. His name has been in the media after news developed about the suspension of 10 Gophers football players and an alleged sexual assault in early September.

“I was supporting the team out of loyalty as a Gopher to get due process (for the suspended players), and…trying to get the fairness and transparency that they deserve,” Carter told Sports Headliners.

The State Legislature will approve four individuals next year to fill vacancies on the Board of Regents.

Tickets remain for all Timberwolves home games including against NBA champion Cleveland on February 14 and March 10 with Golden State, the team that lost to the Cavs in the NBA Finals last June. The Wolves are averaging 14,055 fans, the second lowest total in the 30-franchise NBA, according to ESPN.com. The Nuggets have the lowest average at 13,610, with the Bulls first at 21,606.

Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, who is out for the entire 2016-2017 season because of recurring pain in his right ankle, turns 31 tomorrow. Since being drafted by the Wolves in 2008, he has played in 271 games. Pekovic didn’t join the Wolves until the 2010-2011 season and injuries have characterized his career. After this season he will have averaged 38.7 games per season for the Wolves, or less than half of the annual 82 game schedule.

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Izzo, Dutcher Positive on U in Big Ten

Posted on December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 by David Shama

Michigan State coaching legend Tom Izzo and former Minnesota Big Ten championship coach Jim Dutcher are impressed with the Gophers.

Izzo, an eight-time national coach of the year, talked to Sports Headliners about the Gophers after his Spartans defeated Minnesota 75-74 in overtime on Tuesday night in Williams Arena. “They’re a good team,” Izzo said. “They’ve got (big) bodies and they’ve got good guard play. (They) don’t always shoot it great, (but teams have) gotta have some weakness—we got about five.

“We just happened to find a way to win. They were the better team most of tonight. I think Rich (Pitino) has done a hell of a job with them now. I think he’s got them headed in the right direction. They’ve won a lot of games. They didn’t play all (nonconference) cupcakes either. This was a tough physical game and I am sure they will learn from it, just like we will.”

The Gophers are 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten under fourth-year coach Richard Pitino who was 2-16 in league games last season. The Gophers added new players during the offseason and key returnees have also helped improve a team that lost its first 13 conference games during 2015-2016. “I just think they’ve got a good blend of talent,” said Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title.

Dutcher likes the quality of Minnesota’s eight-man rotation and sees not only a more talented team than last season but one with better size. There’s something else of importance he mentioned, too. “I think they’re a better defensive team than they were,” he said.

Dutcher predicts the Gophers will have a 9-9 conference record and could make the NCAA Tournament. In Minnesota’s favor in being able to earn a tournament invite for the first time since 2013 is that the Big Ten doesn’t look all that imposing. “Top to bottom it’s not a great league,” Dutcher said about the Big Ten, a conference without a top 10 ranked team.

The Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten after Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, Dutcher predicted. Behind the Gophers will be Michigan, Maryland, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State.

Minnesota missed a big opportunity by not winning Tuesday after the Gophers couldn’t hold a 39-26 halftime lead. The Spartans came into the game without their best player in freshman guard-forward Miles Bridges. Michigan State, which has won one national title and made seven Final Four appearances in 21 previous seasons under Izzo, arrived in Minneapolis with an uncharacteristic 8-5 record, although the schedule included nonconference games with national toughies Duke, Kentucky, Arizona.

Now the Gophers must play four of their next five league games on the road, starting with Sunday at nationally-ranked Purdue, 12-2 and 1-0. The Gophers certainly can’t start the conference schedule 0-6 and still have solid NCAA Tournament ambitions. Dutcher doesn’t think they will, with early opportunities for wins probably coming at Northwestern January 5 and at Penn State January 14. Minnesota’s next home game, January 8 with Ohio State, is already a circle it date too. “My view is there are a lot of wins to be had in this league,” Dutcher said.

The Gophers were out worked and gave up too many scores near the basket in the second half of the MSU game but Dutcher said it wasn’t like Pitino’s team “laid an egg” in the game. Dutcher isn’t discouraged by the loss. “It’s not so much about what Minnesota did wrong, as what Michigan State did right,” he said.

Last season the Gophers had issues on and off the court. Pitino said after the nonconference schedule ended that his team had made progress but acknowledged more progress awaits. “Our guys have worked really, really hard to climb out of the gutter off the court, on the court, all those things to get everybody’s respect back. …We trusted that we’d be better. We’re better but we still got a long way to go.”

Izzo Storytelling on Flip Saunders

Flip Saunders (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

Izzo confirmed what other friends of the late Flip Saunders have said about Saunders coming close to accepting the Gophers job in the spring of 2013. The former Gophers guard in the 1970s was between coaching opportunities in the NBA back then and Saunders ultimately decided he didn’t want to work for athletics director Norwood Teague, according to a top source.

“Flip loved the Gophers,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “His passion for Minnesota in general was off the charts, and the University was just even more off the charts.”

Izzo and Saunders forged a friendship over the years including when Saunders coached the NBA Pistons in Detroit. At Saunders’ funeral in 2015 Izzo read from the Bible during the service for his friend who died at age 60 from cancer.

“I miss him,” Izzo said about the former Timberwolves executive and coach. “I miss the late night calls. He always had some good plays for me.

“I can honestly say I loved the guy. I still feel for Debbie (Saunders’ wife) and I stay in touch with Ryan (his son and Timberwolves assistant). I am proud of what he is doing.

“But to have had Flip in the league (the Big Ten) would have been an honor. It really would have been.”

Izzo recalled working to recruit Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones for a couple of years. Izzo laughed about how Saunders evolved from helping the Spartans, to becoming more interested in the prep All-American choosing Minnesota as Saunders started to seriously consider the Gophers job. “Are you helping me, or are you helping yourself?” he asked his buddy.

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