The late Cal Stoll, the former Gopher head coach who recruited Dungy to play quarterback for Minnesota in the 1970s, was proud of the emotionally strong Dungy whose accomplishments include coaching Tampa Bay to the first winning season in franchise history. “All football teams reflect the personality of their head coach,” Stoll once said.
In 2000, when Dungy was coaching in Tampa, Stoll said that he expected his former player to become the first African American head coach to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There’s no doubt that will happen.
Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe was a major disappointment after joining the Vikings in 2007 as a free agent but he was much improved last season, including statistically going from 323 yards in receptions and one touchdown to 596 yards and seven scores. Earlier this month coach Brad Childress described Shiancoe as a “different cat” now.
“I’ve just seen a quantum change in him as a person. (It also) reflected on the playing field,” Childress said. “He’s comfortable with what we’re doing. He understands the work ethic here. He understands, I always talk about, the mantle of what it takes to be a starter, the importance of being out at practice and taking those reps. … What it was that led to that epiphany, I don’t know. I just think he’s pushed through it and worked himself into a really different cat right now.”
Jason LaFrenz, Gopher assistant athletics director for marketing and ticket sales, reported via e-mail earlier this week that about 1,500 tickets were available for tomorrow night’s basketball game at Williams Arena. Purdue, 3-2 in the Big Ten Conference and 14-4 overall, is a favorite for the league title. The Gophers, 16-2 and 4-2 in the conference, can take a major step toward a first division finish in the league with a win against Purdue, ranked No. 18 in the country.
The Gophers, ranked No. 20, received a wakeup call on Sunday about how difficult winning away games can be when Northwestern, previously winless in the conference, beat Minnesota 74-65. The Gophers had won their first two conference road games, at Iowa and Wisconsin. With a win at Evanston on Sunday they could have won three straight conference road games for the first time since 2005.
The Northwestern loss exposed a season long weakness: ball movement. The Gophers couldn’t solve Northwestern’s trapping one-three-one zone defense, holding the ball too long before passing. Point guard Al Nolen led the futility and contributed six turnovers to the team total of 19.