David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Potential QB Battle in Oakland Intrigues

Posted on November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 by David Shama

If Teddy Bridgewater is recovered from a concussion and can play next Sunday in Oakland there will be an interesting matchup between two of the NFL’s promising young quarterbacks. Derek Carr, 24, was taken in the second round by the Raiders in 2014 while the Vikings selected Bridgewater, 22, in the first round of the same NFL Draft.

Teddy Bridgewater (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said this afternoon at his press conference that Bridgewater has passed his first concussion clearance test but as the week progresses it will be determined whether his quarterback is recovered from the blow he took in yesterday’s win over the Rams. “I think he’ll be good to go (Sunday),” Zimmer said.

Six NFL.com writers gave their opinions last month about top quarterback prospects 25 and younger. In addition to Carr and Bridgewater (he turns 23 tomorrow), the list included Blake Bortles, 23, Marcus Mariota, 21, and Jameis Winston, 21. In the October 20 article Bucky Brooks, Nate Burleson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steve Mariucci, Deion Sanders and Ike Taylor were asked to identify the quarterback they would choose to build a franchise around.

Four of the six chose Carr, with two others picking Bridgewater. “Derek Carr reminds me a little of Brett Favre,” Mariucci wrote. “He’s got a little grit to him and a certain toughness. He’s a natural-born leader and has all the intangibles. …”

“Teddy Bridgewater is my choice for a franchise quarterback,” Brooks wrote. “He’s the one with the most complete skill set, and he has the intelligence, confidence and leadership you look for in a young QB. From a physical standpoint, he can make all the throws at the short and intermediate range, but he can be a little spotty on deep throws. …”

Carr and Bridgewater had comparable seasons as rookies. Carr had more passing yards, 3,270, and touchdowns, 21, than any other first-year quarterback in 2014.

Bridgewater’s numbers were 2,919 yards and 14 TDs. Carr had a passer rating of 76.6 while Bridgewater’s number was 85.2.

Bridgewater was voted by fans as the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. He started 12 games to Carr’s eight and had a slightly better passing completion percentage, 64.4 versus 58.1. The Vikings also had a 7-9 record while the Raiders were 3-12.

After week nine of this season Bridgewater is way behind Carr in stats including passer rating, 83.4 versus 104.3. Carr has 19 touchdown passes and only four interceptions while Bridgewater’s numbers are six and six. Carr has led an improving Raiders team that is playing .500 football at 4-4. The Vikings are a surprise team too with a 6-2 record.

No doubt Bridgewater’s priority for next Sunday is just to get on the filed. Then it’s helping the Vikings win another game but if he plays you can be sure fans and media will be comparing him with Carr.

Worth Noting

Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 125 yards yesterday in the Vikings win against the Rams, now leads the NFL in rushing with 758 yards.

It’s a sad legacy that former Vikings defensive players Wally Hilgenberg (2008 death), Orlando Thomas (2014) and Fred McNeill (several days ago) all died from ALS. Hilgenberg died at 66 years old, Thomas at 42 and McNeill was 63.

Although Gophers head coach Jerry Kill said he had seizures prior to the days before announcing his resignation last month, a Sports Headliners source wasn’t aware that any of the seizures were witnessed by his players. Another source said Kill and his wife Rebecca were in Florida last week.

Do a Google entry typing the name Tracy Claeys and among the first search words that come up is “wife.” Claeys, the Gophers interim head football coach who turns 47 on Christmas Day, is single.

A lot has been written about next year’s Gophers schedule with East Division powers Michigan and Ohio State going off the schedule, but what’s not noted much is the Big Ten will have each team playing nine conference games instead of eight and Minnesota will be on the road for five of them. East Division bottom feeders Maryland and Rutgers replace Michigan and Ohio State on Minnesota’s schedule.

The Gophers will play Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin on the road. Coming to Minneapolis will be Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers, plus home nonleague games with Colorado State, Indiana State and Oregon State.

St. Thomas (9-0, 7-0 MIAC) secured an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs and share of the conference championship by crushing Carleton (1-8, 0-7 MIAC) 80-3 last Saturday. Coach Glenn Caruso told Sports Headliners he doesn’t talk about wins and losses with his players, but instead emphasizes best effort and execution. That’s chapter-and-verse coaching philosophy from the approach of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

Caruso is a Wooden admirer and refers to him as the “greatest coach of the last century”—a master teacher who understood human nature and motivation. Among Caruso’s favorite resources is Wooden’s classic book They Call Me Coach. “I’ve read it seven or eight times,” he said.

Caruso dialogues almost daily with St. Thomas men’s basketball coach John Tauer who has a doctorate degree in social psychology. He refers to Tauer as “one of the smartest men I know.” The two coaches live within 10 houses of each other in St. Paul. “I draw a lot of vision from our conversations,” Caruso said.

Despite fan speculation, there appears no possibility the Twins will ask first baseman Joe Mauer to become a catcher again. The club needs catching help and there is a logjam of players who can play first base, third base and the outfield. Manager Paul Molitor, talking on KFAN Radio with “The Common Man” and Mark Rosen last Wednesday, said he is interested in having slugger Miguel Sano do less designated hitting next season and instead play a position in the field, perhaps in the outfield.

While some preseason listings have placed several Big Ten teams in their top 25 rankings, the November 9 Sports Illustrated college basketball issue included only three league teams—No. 5 Maryland, No. 14 Indiana and No. 15 Michigan State. The ACC had four schools in the top six with No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Duke and No. 6 Virginia.

Ironically, coach Richard Pitino’s Gophers (2-0 in exhibition games) open their regular season at home on Friday night against UMKC, the program whose coaching staff included Andre McGee until he resigned late last month. McGee has been a focal point in allegations about a sex scandal involving the Louisville men’s basketball program where Pitino’s father Rick Pitino is head coach. The Kansas City, Missouri based school and team opens its schedule with a home exhibition game tonight against Hawaii Pacific.

The 3-2 Timberwolves, who play the Hawks in Atlanta tonight, are 3-0 in road games—the first time in 13 years the franchise has done that. The 2001-2002 team won its first four games of the season away from home. The Wolves didn’t win their third road game last season until January 13.

Wolves point guard Ricky Rubio is averaging 9.2 assists per game—second best in the NBA behind the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook at 10.9.

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Claeys Needs Wins & Style Points

Posted on November 6, 2015 by David Shama

Some call it moral victories. Let’s refer to it here as style points. Either way, hello, Tracy Claeys.

The Gophers interim head football boss is coaching for scoreboard wins in the team’s last four games of the season, but there’s more to it than that as he auditions for the permanent job. Minnesota is all but certain to lose some of those games but what matters along with the number of W’s will be how the team looks.

Will the Gophers play with emotion the rest of the season? Do they sustain effort if the score is one-sided? Will sloppy play characterize the performances of players? Is this going to be a team making excessive mistakes including turnovers and penalties? How about the effectiveness of the play calling? What about the in-game adjustments by the coaches?

It’s anyone’s guess whether Claeys can be a successful head coach. His debut game last Saturday against Michigan didn’t dazzle. While the Gophers played with effort and execution, and the game plan looked solid, clock management and play selection at game’s end were troubling and directly contributed to the 29-26 loss.

Claeys’ predecessor, Jerry Kill, was a zealous, leave no stone unturned leader who inspired players. Gophers defensive back Antonio Johnson said Claeys can get after his players with emotional outbursts but his personality isn’t as intense as Kill’s. Asked if Claeys will be fiery on occasion, Johnson said: “Yeah, he’ll lose it if something just goes completely wrong. But overall, though, he’s pretty laid back and calm.”

Different coaching personalities can produce desired results, but Claeys will have to prove himself in the emotions department and everything else if he gets the interim tag removed—from recruiting to game plans, from fundraising to disciplining players, from media relations to halftime adjustments. The highly regarded staff of assistant coaches Kill assembled and kept in place is still around to work for Claeys who was promoted from defensive coordinator when Kill resigned last week. That’s a huge plus for Claeys and the program.

The four games ahead won’t deliver the final judgment on Claeys but will provide a lot of insights. Minnesota plays at No. 1 ranked and undefeated Ohio State tomorrow. A week from Saturday the Gophers face another nationally ranked and unbeaten team in Iowa on the road. Then it’s home to finish the season against mediocre Illinois, and play a Wisconsin team that has only lost two games and seems to be gaining momentum. That’s no day at the beach for Claeys and the Gophers who have a 4-4 overall record and are 1-3 in Big Ten games.

This has been a disappointing season to date—characterized by a lot of injuries and also an inconsistent offense that sometimes looks unimaginative and often lacks playmakers. If the Gophers surprise most everyone by winning three of their final four games the results will put a huge smiley face on Gopher Nation. If the Gophers win two of the last four, and thereby qualify for a bowl game, the program’s more starry-eyed supporters might say, “Pretty good season considering all the setbacks this fall.”

What about if the team wins only one—or zero games—the rest of the way? That’s pretty much an “ugh”—although make one of those wins against Ohio State, Iowa or Bucky Badger, and Gophers loyalists won’t be quite so down in the dumps.

Long ago Gophers football had a high standard of excellence. There were expectations about Big Ten titles, even national championships.

Moral victories? Bull.

Style points? Really?

But reality is today’s Gophers program is still trying to prove winning half of its conference games year after year is doable. What Claeys and the staff might show us in the next few weeks and months (recruiting season) is this program could go beyond what Kill delivered including 5-3 and 4-4 conference records the last two seasons. It requires Forrest Gump-like optimism to see the Gophers winning three more times this fall and finishing at .500 in Big Ten games. But let’s be willing to drink enough feel good Kool-Aid to think the Gophers are going to find a way to win two more regular season games and then get Minnesota’s first bowl victory since 2004.

Yeah, win a couple more games and in the losses don’t embarrass Gopher Nation—the tag Tim Brewster put on the fan base. During the Brewster era he had games where he lost 55-0 to Iowa and 48-12 to Wisconsin. Seven games into the 2010 season he was fired. Two weeks later his successor, interim head coach Jeff Horton, lost 52-10 to Ohio State.

Get the idea about style points?

Worth Noting

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott is a Heisman Trophy candidate and he does more than make explosive runs. He is a willing blocker. “No question, and I don’t think he gets credit for the way he blocks,” Claeys said. “I think he’s the best blocking tailback that there is. …”

The Vikings have won six consecutive home games and play the Rams on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium. Minnesota has also won two consecutive road games for the first time since 2012.

Vikings place kicker Blair Walsh knows Todd Gurley, the Rams rookie running back who is averaging 6.1 yards per carry and has gained 575 yards. Both Walsh and Gurley are from the University of Georgia, although the two didn’t play together in Athens. Gurley left the Bulldogs after his junior season while drawing comparisons to legendary Georgia and NFL running back Herschel Walker. Walsh is among Gurley’s admirers and quipped with this: “He was only there three years. We would have loved for him to stay four. …”

Since week four of the NFL season, Vikings rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs has 10 catches of 20-plus yards.

St. Thomas (8-0, 6-0 MIAC) can cinch an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs and share of the conference championship with a win tomorrow afternoon at home again Carleton (1-7, 0-6 MIAC). Coach Glenn Caruso’s Tommies are having one of their more impressive seasons in memory, winning each game by at least 21 points. A victory means a fourth MIAC title in six years.

Caruso told Sports Headliners this is the healthiest team late in the season that he’s had at St. Thomas. “It’s not even close to any other year,” said Caruso who has led the Tommies since the 2008 season.

Caruso gives much of the credit for his players’ health to strength coach Tommy Becker who even teaches the Tommies yoga for flexibility. Becker, a former linebacker at Wayzata High School, started his college career with the Gophers before playing for Caruso.

The 10 finalists for the 2015 Mr. Football Award are Isaac Collins, Maple Grove; Carter Coughlin, Eden Prairie; Logan Hatfield, Bemidji; Amani Hooker, Park Center; Tyler Johnson, Minneapolis North; Kamal Martin, Burnsville; David McCuskey, Orono; Bishop McDonald, North St. Paul; Dillon Radunz, Becker; J.D. Spielman, Eden Prairie. The award is sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Vikings. The 2015 winner will be announced at the Mr. Football Banquet on Sunday, November 22 at the Doubletree by Hilton Minneapolis Park Place Hotel.

Lightning right wing J.T. Brown, the Burnsville native and son of former Vikings running back Ted Brown, has two goals and one assist in 13 games this season. He and his Tampa Bay teammates play the Wild at Xcel Energy Center tomorrow night.

Former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher, a close friend of the late Flip Saunders, will speak at the next CORES luncheon on Thursday, November 12 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Reservations should be made by next Monday. More information about CORES is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino after being asked to name three coaches he admires: “My father (Rick Pitino), he’s somebody that has been so good, for so long. Billy Donovan is another mentor of mine who built Florida into a powerhouse. I kind of look at the model he did there as something we’re trying to do here. I was always amazed by Joe Torre’s ability to handle so many distractions in New York as a manager of the Yankees, and handle it with such great class. That’s something that I think every coach aspires to. …”

The Gophers play Southwest Minnesota State at Williams Arena tonight. That will be Minnesota’s second and final exhibition game of the year.

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Vikings QB Wins Praise for Work Ethic

Posted on November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 by David Shama

Adam Thielen knows about hard work. Major college football programs didn’t want him coming out of Detroit Lakes High School. All 32 NFL teams passed over him in the college draft. But Thielen signed as a free agent with the Vikings in 2013 and worked his way from the practice squad to a place where he’s a valuable sub at wide receiver.

While Thielen earns praise for his determination, he admires Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. “That’s one thing about Teddy, that he’s not afraid to work,” Thielen told Sports Headliners.

How impressive is Bridgewater’s work ethic? “I’ve never been around anybody else that works harder in the film room and on the field after practice,” Thielen said.

When asked what Bridgewater is like both on and off the field, Thielen said, “He’s the same guy everywhere. He’s pretty quiet, low key. He just gets the job done. He’s gonna outwork everybody he’s around and go about his business.”

Bridgewater did his job last Sunday against the Bears, helping the Vikings rally for 13 points in the fourth quarter. His big plays included a 40-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs and 37-yard pass to Charles Johnson that set up the winning field goal in the 23-20 victory.

“It’s something you want out of your quarterback, somebody that is going to lead you in the fourth quarter,” Thielen said. “That’s the NFL nowadays. You’re going to have to win games in the fourth quarter and it’s good to see a guy like that come in and just be poised and bring us down the field.”

Worth Noting

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer’s first year record was 7-9. So far this season he is 5-2, pushing his career head coaching record to one game over .500 at 12-11, but he’s not paying attention. “I don’t really think about that stuff yet,” he said. “We’ve got a long way to go. I would say we’re moving in the right direction. …”

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton is helping lead a startup called Major League Football. The new spring football league will target franchises in towns that don’t have NFL teams.

The College Football Playoff (CFP) Group is expected to announce host cities for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 CFP National Championship Games today at a 1 p.m. press conference in Rosemont, Illinois. Minnesota is bidding to host the 2020 game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the University of Minnesota announces this week that Tracy Claeys will have the interim tag removed from his title as Gophers football coach.

University president Eric Kaler didn’t know about Jerry Kill’s intent to resign and make an announcement until the night before. The Gophers coach announced his resignation at a news conference a week ago today.

Kaler wore maroon and gold striped pants in support of the Gophers at last Saturday night’s home game against Michigan. He was on the field at TCF Bank Stadium prior to game time.

The Gophers are likely to hold most of their verbal commits from high school recruits for awhile, although local defensive tackle JoJo Garcia has decommitted. It’s believed Garcia, a three-star player, regarded Kill as a father figure. Florida four-star wide receiver Dredrick Snelson could be a tenuous hold.

The Gophers missed a sellout for the first time this season with attendance of 50,709 last Saturday. The next home game, November 21 against Illinois, is likely to draw even a smaller crowd at the 52,525 seat capacity TCF Bank Stadium.

It looks like Mike Ellis, the Gophers executive associate athletics director on voluntary leave, won’t return to his position in the athletic department.

Rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, who is off to a fast start in three regular season games averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, is an unusually accurate free throw shooter for a 7-footer. In high school he made 82.2 percent of his free throws and in one season at Kentucky averaged 81.3 percent. Towns, who could be NBA rookie of the month for November, is making 88.0 percent of his free throws with the Wolves.

Tyus Jones, the Wolves rookie point guard from Apple Valley, hasn’t been in uniform for the team’s first three games, and might experience much of his NBA introduction this season in practices only. Jones, like other Wolves players, is living downtown.

Willard Ikola, the legendary former Edina High School hockey coach, will sign copies of his new autobiography on Saturday from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at General Sports in Minneapolis. The book, co-authored with Jim Hoey, is titled Ike: Minnesota Hockey Legend.

Patrick Mader, a Northfield author, has a new book called Minnesota Gold that details the accomplishments of 57 Minnesotans who competed in international sports including the Olympics. More at Patrickmader.com.

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