The Gophers open their regular season tonight at Williams Arena against Wofford College, a program that made the NCAA tournament last winter.  Gophers coach Tubby Smith told Sports Headliners last week before his team had won two exhibition games that “we could be pretty good” this season.

What does that mean? “For me it means reaching our maximum potential,” he answered.  “What that is no one knows. …”

Smith said “our goal” is to win the Big Ten championship.  He believes his team is a title contender in a league that many consider the best in the country.

Vital to success will be each player accepting his role, according to the coach who has had 20-win seasons in his first three years at Minnesota.  Players must play for the team, not themselves.  “Forget yourself for others and you’ll never be forgotten,” he said.

Among the Gophers leaders will be point guard Al Nolen, a senior who missed much of the last conference season because he was academically ineligible.  Nolen has struggled his entire career with outside shooting.  But Smith isn’t “concerned” about the outside shot, insisting that Nolen’s exceptional defense, plus ball distribution, penetrating and free throws is what he’s looking for.

“If he knocks down open shots that’s a real plus,” Smith said.  “That’s a big time bonus.  I am looking for him to do the things he does best.”

The Gophers freshmen class of Maverick Ahanmisi, Chip Armelin, Elliott Eliason, Austin Hollins, Oto Osenieks and Maurice Walker has impressed Smith.  He respects their work ethic and other character traits more than any freshmen group he’s coached during his long career.  “They’re a special group,” he said.  “…Just the right kind of people.”

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Vikings placekicker Ryan Longwell, along with Steve Hutchinson and Jared Allen, flew down to Mississippi in August to encourage Brett Favre to play another season.  Longwell talked about the 41-year-old quarterback who rallied the Vikings to an overtime win on Sunday after trailing by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. “It’s exactly why you get on a plane and go try to talk him back into coming (here), because with him at quarterback you always have a chance to win a game no matter what the scoreboard says,” Longwell said.

Vikings rookie running back Toby Gerhart said he couldn’t explain why he fell to the turf last Sunday when no tackler was between him and a short run to the end zone.  Gerhart talked about playing against the Bears and Chester Taylor this Sunday, the man he replaced as the backup to Adrian Peterson, and admitted there might be a “little added pressure.”

The Vikings haven’t won in Chicago since 2007.  The Bears, 5-3, already have NFC North wins over Detroit and Green Bay.  The Vikings, 3-5, have lost to Green Bay and defeated Detroit.

Former Vikings head coach Mike Tice, now coaching Chicago’s offensive line, would enjoy a Bears win on Sunday. Tice, who was fired shortly after Red McCombs sold the team to Zygi Wilf and partners, is considered one of the NFL’s best offensive line coaches.

Gophers interim coach Jeff Horton was asked about the talent gap between the Gophers, winless in the Big Ten, versus teams just ahead of them that have won about half their conference games.  “I don’t think it’s as big as some people think,” he said.  “I think there’s some key areas that need to be filled in here that you can do.  I don’t know if it will happen overnight. …

Horton said the Gophers have some “good young players” but not much depth.  The 2011 freshman class will be important for filling needs.

Horton, who has yet to win a game at Minnesota, talking about a 19-game losing streak for him that dates back to when he was head coach at UNLV: “I think we need to win for them (the 1-9 Gophers).  Who cares about me?… Coaches come and go.  They (Gophers players) need something good to happen to them.”

Horton expects MarQueis Gray to receive increased playing time at quarterback in the team’s final two games starting tomorrow at Illinois.

GOP governor candidate Tom Emmer played hockey at Alaska Fairbanks when Gophers coach Don Lucia was coaching there.

The latest issue of the The Fischler Report says former Gopher Paul Martin is still adjusting offensively with his new team, Pittsburgh.  The publication also says Edina native and Toronto general manager Brian Burke challenges the media covering his Maple Leafs to be more critical of the players and less so of coach Ron Wilson.

New Wild assistant coach Rick Wilson is earning compliments for his impact so far this season.  He’s a leader and his calm approach has won praise for upgrading the team’s defensive performance.

Wild draft picks Erik Haula (seventh round, 182^nd overall, 2009 draft) and Jason Zucker (second round, 59^th overall, 2010 draft) are being noticed in their freshmen WCHA seasons.  At Minnesota Haula is second among WCHA freshmen and fifth overall in assists (nine), while Denver’s Zucker is second among league frosh and fifth overall in goals (seven).

Augsburg sophomore Chad Gilmer is the MIAC Men’s Soccer Player-of-the-Year and his head coach, Greg Holker, is Coach-of-the-Year.  Carleton junior forward Niki Tomita is the Women’s Soccer Player-of-the-Year and her head coach, Keren Gudeman, is Coach-of-the-Year.  All winners were determined by a vote of league coaches.

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Including candidates of color in the football coaching search for Tim Brewster’s replacement will be a priority for University of Minnesota officials. Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi emailed the following to Sports Headliners this week:

“The University of Minnesota is committed to diversity and we in athletics have demonstrated that commitment.  We are in contact with the Black Coaches Association, have asked the search firm (Parker Executive Search) to look into minority candidates and value the input of coaches like Tony Dungy.”

Not only will University officials vigorously support that mandate, but also important is the school’s record of hiring for high profile positions in the athletic department during the last 20 years.

The present football staff includes six African-Americans in prominent positions, the most in school history and more than many other BCS programs.  Among the six are associate head coach Tim Cross, co-offensive coordinator Thomas Hammock, co-defensive coordinator Ronnie Lee and head strength & conditioning coach Mark Hill.

McKinley Boston, the Gophers athletic director during the early 1990s, is one of the few African-Americans ever to hold the position of athletic director at a Big Ten school.  And two of Minnesota’s last three men’s basketball coaches have been African-Americans, Clem Haskins and Tubby Smith.

Minnesota’s hiring of those three for high profile positions exceeds the diversity record for athletic directors and head football and basketball coaches at most Big Ten schools during the last 20 years including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin.  The Gophers almost had a fourth African-American hire when then Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong was a finalist for the Gophers job before Brewster was hired.

The push to hire African-American head football coaches at FBS programs has become vocal and aggressive in recent years.  But the issue certainly went beyond talk after the 2009 season when African-Americans filled seven of 22 coaching vacancies based on Sports Headliners research using Athlon’s 2010 college football magazine.

Among the coaches taking over big time programs were Turner Gill at Kansas, Joker Phillips at Kentucky and Mike London at Virginia.  They joined African-American head coaches already working at high profile schools including Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, Miami’s Randy Shannon and New Mexico’s Mike Locksley.

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