David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

‘Incredible’ Season for Jerry Kill’s Team

Posted on December 12, 2022April 27, 2024 by David Shama

This is the time of year for miracles, and sometimes they even occur in sports.

The miraculous has happened in Las Cruces, New Mexico where the Aggies have shocked the college football world and are preparing for a rare bowl game.

Leading the developing story of good cheer is former University of Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill. He has been orchestrating and often resurrecting college football programs since 1994 but his first season in the arid lands of Las Cruces is a doozy.

For decades the Aggies have been one of the most unsuccessful and forgettable programs in the nation. Fodder for bad jokes and nearly a guaranteed homecoming win for opponents. Just a year ago Kill arrived in town to take over a team that had finished 2-10. Few people, even the coach, expected the Aggies to win much in 2022 either.

In the Aggies’ first four games they were outscored 147-32. Included was a 38-0 beat down by the Gophers where the Aggies managed just six first downs and were out gained 300 to 60 yards.

Things got better with a first victory in late September and the Aggies won three of their last four games, outscoring the opposition 165-31. They finished with a 6-6 record and will take on Bowling Green December 26 in Detroit’s Quick Lane Bowl. Playing an independent schedule, the Aggies lost one-sided games to Minnesota and two other power five teams but had wins over Hawaii, New Mexico, UMass, Lamar, Liberty and Valparaiso.

In a phone interview with Sports Headliners, Kill acknowledged his team was “pretty well beat up with the first four games.” Known for his achievements at five other head jobs, he said the coaching job in 2022 rates high among his successes. “Being able to be where we’re at right now is pretty much close to a miracle,” he said.

How did Kill, his staff and the players surprise everyone including themselves? Well, first they successfully mixed many new players with returnees. During adversity the staff “didn’t get down on the kids.” The coaches stayed consistent with encouragement and instruction, and the Aggies played hard, kept giving effort.

“Yeah, I just did the same things,” Kill said regarding the consistent approach. “When we lost, we just said, hey, this is what we gotta get better at. We didn’t dwell on it. We just moved forward. …We just kept getting better.”

A bowl trip to Detroit is looked on with disdain by many college football fans, but to the Aggies it’s a just reward for all their faith, time and efforts. “They deserve a bowl game, and what they’ve done is incredible,” Kill said. “The exciting thing for me is I coached about two-and-a-half hours from there (Saginaw Valley State). I was 32 years old. That was my first head coaching job. College job.”

After his time at Saginaw, Kill would have three more head college coaching jobs before he took over the Gophers in December of 2010. He turned around a Gopher football program that was in dire shape by every standard. He became one of the state’s most respected and popular coaches ever.

By the time he resigned as coach almost five years later he had led the Gophers to a January 1 bowl game for the first time since 1962. His 2013 team broke a losing streak against Nebraska that went back to 1960. Minnesota defeated Michigan in 2014 for only the second time this century and that year beat Iowa 51-14. He was named the 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Pressure, fatigue, and most of all his long battle with epilepsy forced Kill to resign during the 2015 season. In retrospect, could he have shuffled off a lot of his duties to staff for weeks, months or longer, and continued as the Minnesota coach?

“I’ve never really regretted anything I’ve done in my life, and I did what’s best for the University of Minnesota and me at the time,” Kill answered. “Did I miss Minnesota? I’ve never gotten over it. I never will.

“Would I have handled it differently? If I’d sat out for a year, or whatever, I think I’d hurt the program and I wasn’t going to do that.”

How is his battle with epilepsy? “Yeah, things are going good,” he said. “You just take one day at a time with all that, but I’ve been good.”

Incidents over the last several years? “Since I left in 2015, I’ve had a few but nothing like they were in the past,” Kill said.

After leaving the Gophers, Kill had a series of college athletics administration and assistant football coaching assignments. It’s crystal clear that despite his health history, which includes cancer, Kill is hard wired to love football and work with young men.

About 13 months ago Kill was named interim head coach at TCU after Gary Patterson was fired. Kill had been working for Patterson, directing the offense. He isn’t caught off guard that the Horned Frogs are now one of four teams headed to the College Football Playoffs and competing for the national championship.

“Oh, I am not surprised at all. Offensively, we were dynamic when I was there. They had them all (the players) back. The quarterback was great when I was there. He’s still great (and) better. That offensive unit has been together for a long time. A lot of seniors, a lot of great kids. Great players, probably seven NFL guys on the offense. …”

At 61 years old Kill is rebuilding a program that has only been to four previous bowl games: 1936, 1959, 1960 and 2017. Don’t bet against Kill taking the Aggies to four or more himself. Things are looking up in Las Cruces where the coaching and playing is trending straight up, and the finances will improve after joining a conference next year.

“We’ll get better,” Kill said. “We’re not even close. We’re far from where we need to be. And we’re a lot farther along than I thought we’d be. So, I was hoping we’d win one or two games. …We’re going into Conference USA and that’s going to be a huge boost for us, you know, even financially. So, I think we’ve got a lot of good things ahead.”

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Twins Need to Rethink Carlos Correa

Posted on December 10, 2022December 10, 2022 by David Shama

Free agent shortstop Carlos Correa has the baseball world, including Twins fans, on notice about his future. The view here is Minnesota should tank efforts for signing him and target multiple players through free agency and trades that could collectively help them more.

This week it became more evident than ever it’s going to take a bank full of money over something like 10 years to give the Twins a reasonable chance to re-sign their 2022 MVP. Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts are elite shortstops and peers of Correa who is arguably the best at his position in MLB. This week Turner and Bogaerts signed new deals of $300 million and $280 million respectively. Both contracts are for 11 years.

Power agent Scott Boras represents Bogaerts and Correa. Boras will be on task to top not only top Bogaerts’ deal for Correa, but also Turner’s.

It could require north of $325 million for at least a decade to sign Correa. Even if the Twins want to offer such numbers, it’s possible other teams (think Giants, Cubs) may back up a bigger armored truck to Correa’s door.

Another part of persuading Correa to sign a new deal will involve the caliber of players an organization can put around him. That can be existing talent, hot prospects and what the organization’s vision is for winning. The Twins, 78-84 last season, have a spotty record in the playoffs since winning the World Series in 1991. Their track record shows occasional willingness to spend big money (Joe Mauer, Josh Donaldson and Correa in 2022) but they don’t stretch the payroll like the Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Texas, Padres, Yankees and other clubs.

Correa is 28 and while it was exciting to have him on the roster last season his impact on winning games wasn’t that of a $35 million player. Even if his production was better, it requires more than a couple of elite players to have a great team. Look at the Angels and their stumbling ways despite having two of the greatest players of this generation in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

The view here is the Twins can be better positioned to win by taking Correa money and spending it on a pitcher who could be a staff ace or close to it. Also, bolstering their bullpen and finding a catcher like free agent Christian Vazquez will be money well spent.

Those moves are more likely to make the Twins a postseason contender in 2023 and beyond. In a team game where it takes many to contribute the Twins don’t need to take on a lengthy obligation for a player who will be in his late 30s when he stops playing. Of interest, too, is Correa had back issues with the Astros prior to joining the Twins.

“These long-term contracts in baseball, they rarely work out for the best,” a source with MLB ties told Sports Headliners. “ …You’re paying guys for what they accomplished, not what they’re going to accomplish. It’s always a little bit risky when you tie up that kind of money in one player. I think you have to be ready to put talent around him.”

If the Twins are without Correa in 2023, they already have 32-year-old shortstop Kyle Farmer for the short-term, while awaiting the take over of top prospect Royce Lewis for potentially a longtime.

Worth Noting

The top seven rudest fans at stadiums in the NFL are in order: Eagles, Raiders, Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers, Packers and Bears, per a survey this fall by NJ.Bet. The Vikings rank No. 22 and the Lions, who host Minnesota Sunday, are No. 15. Brief comments on fans for each team include “get too drunk” for the Vikings and Packers, and “heckle too much” for the Bears and Lions. https://nj.bet/news/ranked-rudest-fans-in-the-nfl/

Legendary coach Bud Grant likes the 2022 Vikings team but said a single play going wrong in games could have resulted in a “1-9 record.” Grant made that comment while talking to KFAN’s Dan Barreiro for more than one hour earlier this week.

The former Vikings coach, who will be 96 next May, credits his longevity to family genes and good fortune, including experiences where he could have died. Grant told Barreiro he doesn’t “believe in God.”

Surprisingly, the 10-2 Vikings have been underdogs this week for their game Sunday in Detroit. The Lions, 5-7, want to become the first team since the NFL expanded the playoffs in 1990 to make the postseason after a 1-6 start. They have won four of their last five games.

“The arms race” in college football continues including in the Big Ten with media reports that Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck will now make $6 million after new hires at Nebraska and Wisconsin: Matt Ruhle for $9.25 million with the Cornhuskers and the Badgers paying Luke Fickell $7.5 million for next year.

Lasting memory in the Iowa-Minnesota football rivalry: After this fall’s 13-10 Iowa win at Huntington Bank Stadium controversial Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz stood in front of his school’s fans and simulated rowing a boat, an observer told Sports Headliners.

Rob Gag and Derek Burns, co-founders of Dinkytown Athletes, aren’t taking salaries from their new startup. The collective facilitates Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities and financial compensation for Gopher athletes. Fans, boosters and businesses can benefit athletes through activities such as endorsements and personal appearances. Burns told Sports Headliners paid interns are helping with “business development.” https://dinkytownathletes.com/

Stillwater-based Creative Charters has been taking Gophers football fans to bowl games for years and 2022 is no different. The itinerary for New York City and the December 29 Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium has fans departing December 28 and back home for New Year’s Eve December 31. Details on the Creative Charters website. https://creativecharter.com/index.html

Contrary to what has been reported, new Timberwolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez don’t have to make a December payment to Glen Taylor, a franchise source told Sports Headliners. The two need to execute paperwork this month, with payment required next year as part of their transition to majority ownership.

Don’t be surprised if new Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly makes personnel moves in the coming weeks. Some NBA players, by stipulation in their contracts, can’t be traded until December 15.

Former Gopher men’s gymnastics coach Mike Burns and Michael Hsu, the former University of Minnesota regent with a strong interest in athletics, are applicants for the at-large opening on the 12-member Board of Regents next year. Former Gopher football player William Humphries is an applicant for District 3.

The Wild has recalled Edina native and former Gopher Sammy Walker from Iowa where he led the team in points, goals and power-goals. Walker signed a two-year, entry level contract with the Wild last August.

Old friends: Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, 38, is still friends with 72-year-old Gilles Meloche, the former North Stars goalie who coached Fleury years ago with the Penguins.

The Gopher men’s hockey team earned a 7-1 win at home last night against the Badgers, with three different lines scoring at least one goal. Minnesota had two infractions called in the first period, ending a streak of 218:06 (nearly four games) without a penalty.

Elite skater Mason Moe, a 10th grader on the Eden Prairie boys’ hockey team and grandson of former Gophers athletic director Tom Moe, is a prep forward to follow this winter. He was one of the metro’s top bantam players last winter.

The Gophers announced that four student-athletes earned a GPA of 4.0 this fall: Ava Hill (women’s cross country), Sydney Kretlow (women’s cross country), Elizabeth Overberg (soccer) and Matthew Trickett (football).

Early bird tickets go on sale December 12 for the Minnesota Golf Show February 24-26 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. https://minnesotagolfshow.com/

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Vikings Chase Eagles & No. 1 Seed

Posted on December 5, 2022December 5, 2022 by David Shama

The Vikings have the second-best record in the NFC at 10-2. The Eagles, 11-1, would have a first round bye if the playoffs started today.

The best record and No. 1 seed ensures home field advantage in the postseason, up until the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. Not having to play an opening playoff game could be opportune for the Vikings if key injuries are an issue and an extra week of rehab is meaningful. Certainly having all playoff games at U.S. Bank Stadium would be a big edge.

The Vikings’ dynamic passing offense has the best chance of excelling in a controlled climate. An outdoor setting, with extreme weather conditions possible in January, is not desirable. Then, too, the eardrum rattling noise in U.S. Bank Stadium is disruptive for opposing teams’ communications and can fuel adrenaline rushes in the Vikings.

The teams having the best records in the AFC and NFC, with their first-round byes, need to win only two games to reach the Super Bowl. The other 12 playoff teams must earn wins in the Wild Card, Divisional and Conference rounds. If after the regular season ends the Eagles have the best record in the NFC, and the Vikings second best, Minnesota could only have home field advantage for the conference championship game if Philadelphia was eliminated from the playoff field.

The Eagles’ next three games are on the road against the 7-4-1 Giants, 3-10 Bears and 9-3 Cowboys. Then they finish the regular season at home with the 4-8 Saints and Giants. That could be a more “slippery road” than the Vikings’ final five-game regular season assignment.

The Vikings have the 5-7 Lions in their way Sunday in Detroit. A win keeps the Vikings at only two losses and clinches the NFC North Division title. The game, though, might be a struggle, with the Lions having won four of their last five. In September, playing at home, the Vikings hung on to win 28-24.

It’s been a shake-your-head in disbelief season for the Vikings who have won nine one-score games. After the date in Detroit, they will try to continue their magical ride with home games against the 4-8-1 Colts and Giants, before closing the season at the 5-8 Packers and at the Bears.

If the Vikings and Eagles finish with identical records, Philadelphia would have a bye and home field advantage throughout the conference playoffs because of a 24-7 win over Minnesota earlier in the season.

Worth Noting

Bad look: Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert being ejected Saturday night early in the second quarter for tripping the Thunder’s Kenrich Williams. With the Wolves already missing their other big man star, Karl-Anthony Towns, Gobert needed to play all four quarters to give Minnesota its best chance to win. Instead, the Wolves lost another game to a mediocre opponent while often appearing unfocused.

Bad look 2: Wolves bench players laughing late in the game as the team tried to overcome a deficit in the 135-128 loss.

Before the game Wolves coach Chris Finch described Gobert as a “great professional” who has been an asset in his first season in Minnesota since being acquired in a controversial trade last summer with the Jazz. “…All signs are good, you know,” Finch said. “Have some normal growing pains, some of them we expected, some of them we didn’t. We didn’t know what to expect so we’ve just been working through that.”

The Wolves have a versatile defender in third-year forward Jaden McDaniels who can guard the two, three and four positions. With Towns unavailable at the four spot for awhile because of his calf injury, Finch is glad to have McDaniels as a defender. “I think we’ll see him play all over, the two thru the four for us,” Finch said.

Anthony Edwards, the Wolves third year guard who is No. 19 in NBA scoring at 23 points per game, consistently frustrates defenders with both his outside shooting and attacks on the hoop. “So you gotta go up there and play him high because he can shoot, and then you gotta be able to kind of contain him in between the free throw line and the rim because otherwise it’s a launch pad,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault.

Chet Holmgren, the Minneapolis native who is missing his rookie season with the Thunder following foot surgery, was out on the Target Center court before the game shooting. He was making a succession of long range shots while wearing basketball shoes. The 7-foot-1, 190-pound Holmgren still has a similar physique to when he was in high school two years ago.

Daigneault said the staff has engaged Holmgren with “systematic stuff” to keep him up to date on Thunder schemes. ”…Fortunately, he’s just a junkie so he loves everything about the game. So his engagement level throughout this process has been very impressive.”

It will be interesting to see if former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer remains an analyst for Deion Sanders now that Sanders is leading Colorado. Also, former Gophers’ head coach Tim Brewster, a member of Sanders’ staff at Jackson State, is headed to Boulder, per Footballscoop.com.

Dino Babers, coach of the 7-5 Syracuse team the Gophers will play in the Pinstripe Bowl December 29, has a 36-48 record with the Orange and could be on the hot seat next fall. He was hired by Mark Coyle when Coyle was athletic director at Syracuse.

Coyle, the Minnesota AD now, hired the Gophers’ P.J. Fleck who has an impressive road record as head coach. In Minnesota’s last 23 away games the program is 17-6 (.739), including two bowl wins. That is the best 23-game stretch away from home in program history (began with a 37-15 win at Wisconsin on November 24, 2018). Since then the only Big Ten team with more wins or a higher win percentage away from home is Ohio State at 21-3 (.875).

Fleck is 3-0 in bowl games and the Gophers have won five consecutive postseason games.

With the Big Ten already committed to events in Minneapolis, it appears likely that U.S. Bank will host the conference championship football game this decade. Led by Minnesota Sports and Entertainment executive Wendy Blackshaw, the conference has agreed to have its women’s (2023) and men’s (2024) basketball championships at Target Center. The Big Ten office, headed by former Minnesotan Kevin Warren, held its basketball media days in Minneapolis earlier this fall.

The most challenging “get” on the local college sports landscape will be landing the national championship football game. The 2022 game was in Indianapolis, setting a precedent for northern cities.

Minnesota Sports and Entertainment is forming a MSNE Council and has sent invitations to potential founding members. Membership includes a long list of perks and opportunities to benefit the community. Annual cost is $5,000.

Bill Lester, the former Metrodome executive, has a 12-year-old grandson fighting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Caffrey’s dad and mom, Bill and Michelle, founded Rare Disease Renegades (RDR) to fund research into DMD and other rare diseases. Funds raised not only benefit Caffrey but also others afflicted with rare conditions. RDR has been running an auction of interest to Minnesota sports fans. https://www.32auctions.com/runrenegaderun

St. Paul native and baseball Hall of Famer Jack Morris, along with Twins president Dave St. Peter and Star Tribune columnist LaVelle Neal, were part of the 16-member Contemporary Era Committee that Sunday voted Fred McGriff into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were among those who didn’t receive enough votes for enshrinement.

The Pohlad brothers, Jim, Bob and Bill, are being recognized by Twin Cities Business as 2022 Buinsess People of the Year for their efforts in rejuvenating downtown Minneapolis and concerns for poverty and racial justice. Jim, 69, has turned over his Twins leadership role to nephew Joe Pohlad, 40.

The Wild has been promoting no ticket fees on remaining games. The team is averaging 17,762 fans or 98.9 percent of capacity, per Hockeyreference.com.

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