Thunderbolt or thud. When the University announces its new football coach the reaction will either generate immediate enthusiasm or none at all. Present us with former Gopher quarterback Tony Dungy, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano or West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez and listen to the telephone ring in the ticket office. Hire an offensive or defensive coordinator, or head coach from the Mid- American Conference, and watch for some yawns.
A hot coordinator like LSU’s Bo Pellini or Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, or a not so well known head coach like South Florida’s Jim Leavitt, might eventually establish a superb program at Minnesota. Such a hire, although greeted with a whimper by the masses, isn’t necessarily a flawed strategy but it is the wrong approach if the University doesn’t first move heaven and earth to first find a heavenly head coach.
Perhaps never before have the University president and athletic director communicated such high expectations as heard during the last few weeks from Bob Bruininks and Joel Maturi. Bruininks expects a football program that can at least occasionally win Big Ten Conference championships. Maturi talked championship at the news conference announcing the firing of Glen Mason who during 10 seasons never finished better than fourth in the conference: “I want to assure the fans of Minnesota that we are committed to bringing a championship here, and we’re going to do everything we can to do that.”
It’s not just Bruininks and Maturi who are creating expectations but also fans and media who don’t accept all the excuses as to why Gopher football has to be mediocre. I can never recall a time, not even when Minnesota football was at its lowest lows, when there was so much optimism about a better future.
Steve and Dorothy Erban’s Creative Charters company has been organizing trips to away Gopher football games for many years. They recently e-mailed their customers with an upbeat message that included this: “We have a GOLDEN opportunity to be part of bringing a football championship to the University of Minnesota. Gopher fans, the time has come to support our leadership and ask what we can do to bring a Big Ten Football Championship to our new on-campus stadium. I can vision it now, sparkling GOLD letters in the end zone, 2009 BIG TEN CHAMPIONS.”
Yes, there is optimism but also angst over “what undoubtedly is the most important hiring decision in Golden Gopher sports in the past 60 years,” according to Mike Wilkinson, a zealous fan since the 1950s. And this from a former Gopher football player who e-mailed the following: “The U has a chance to do things correctly and get winners on and off the field. They need to do it.”