Gophers Football

[stringer bell]

I think the aberrations were exposed in the bowl games. Ohio State and Michigan have the talent and the coaching to be national contenders. Michigan State played a solid 29 minutes against this year's probable national champ, but NW and Iowa weren't as good as their records, Wisconsin is sound but unspectacular,  Penn State has a ways to go while everybody else was playing so-so teams.

 

Even with a relatively poor recruiting year, some defections after Kill left and coming off a 6-7 record, the Gophers should be able to cobble a winning record next year.

[biggentleben]

I do think it's funny the media story of how poor the Big Ten has fared in the bowl season. The conference finished 5-5. Vegas had Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska as underdogs in their bowl games. Any Big Ten realist knew as soon as the matchups were released that Iowa, Indiana, Penn State, and Michigan State were in for a rough time (and Indiana dang near upset heavily-favored Duke). The conference went 5-1 in the rest of their games, including 3 they were underdogs in.

 

By conference:

1-0 vs. independents (Ohio State won)

1-3 vs. SEC (Michigan won; Northwestern, Michigan State, Penn State lost)

2-1 vs. Pac-12 (Nebraska, Wisconsin won; Iowa lost)

0-1 vs. ACC (Indiana lost)

1-0 vs. MAC (Minnesota won)

[DaveW]

The big ten was awful. Nebraska and Minnesota had no business being in a bowl

Game to begin with.

[Seauville]

Pretty much a sure thing that we're losing Dredrick Snelson at this point, right? Completely taken everything Minnesota-related down on his twitter, taking lots of official visits to other schools (Penn State most recently), etc.

 

I have hope for Claeys and this coaching staff, but I hope they picked him as coach due top his coaching ability and not to keep recruits because he has not been successful on that front minus flipping Seth Green from Oregon to us.

[Mike Sixel]

What I read on line:

 

Ya, they've lost a lot of recruits, but it is still their best class in years.

 

Now, is that good, or a total slam on their awful recruiting the last few years? I don't know....

[drjim]

 

What I read on line:

 

Ya, they've lost a lot of recruits, but it is still their best class in years.

 

Now, is that good, or a total slam on their awful recruiting the last few years? I don't know....

 

Unusually good in state talent this year that pretty much all stayed.

[twinsnorth49]

Unusually good in state talent this year that pretty much all stayed.

For a change. That was one of Kill's stated goals when he arrived and I hope Claeys stays that course. Brewster's ignorance towards in state talent adversely affected them for a few years afterwards.

[twinsnorth49]

For a change. That was one of Kill's stated goals when he arrived and I hope Claeys stays that course. Brewster's ignorance towards in state talent adversely affected them for quite a few years afterwards.

[Vanimal46]

 

For a change. That was one of Kill's stated goals when he arrived and I hope Claeys stays that course. Brewster's ignorance towards in state talent adversely affected them for a few years afterwards.

Brewster was ignorant in a lot of things... What I remember most is he thought he could recruit elite talent in TX and FL, and like you said, completely ignore in-state talent. 

[Badsmerf]

Is anyone that worried about Snelson? I'm all for talent, but that kid is a diva. I'm a big fan of firing limegrover and the qb coach. The offensive scheme was a joke.

 

Recruits change their minds, don't get accepted into schools, get hurt, flunk out, never live up to the hype et cetera. Once the scheme is better it will attract more talent. Why would anyone want to go to Maryland? The team is a terribly coached team that has a flashy offense. I don't want the gophers to be them by any means, but a better offense will make a difference.

[Seauville]

 

Is anyone that worried about Snelson? I'm all for talent, but that kid is a diva. I'm a big fan of firing limegrover and the qb coach. The offensive scheme was a joke.

Recruits change their minds, don't get accepted into schools, get hurt, flunk out, never live up to the hype et cetera. Once the scheme is better it will attract more talent. Why would anyone want to go to Maryland? The team is a terribly coached team that has a flashy offense. I don't want the gophers to be them by any means, but a better offense will make a difference.

If you mean worried about losing him, yeah I think that is a done deal. He will end up at a different school on signing day.

[Mike Sixel]

 

If you mean worried about losing him, yeah I think that is a done deal. He will end up at a different school on signing day.

 

That's all I've read on line also. Too bad.

[Seauville]

 

That's all I've read on line also. Too bad.

It really is just so frustrating. The whole football program is just frustrating right now. A lot of that stems from the unfortunate Jerry Kill situation, which obviously was uncontrollable, but we're risking taking an even further step back if we don't get this ship turned around quickly. Granted nothing happens on the field for 7 months, but any momentum built in the past 3 years is starting to fade and fade quickly.

[Seauville]

To follow up on that though, this tweet makes me feel at least a little better about the whole situation:

 

https://twitter.com/GobieNFN/status/692759362876604417

Edited January 28, 2016 by Seauville

[drjim]

 

To follow up on that though, this tweet makes me feel at least a little better about the whole situation:

 

https://twitter.com/GobieNFN/status/692759362876604417

 

It is a good class, but is driven by a uniquely good group of in state talent.  Will be interesting to see if they can rebound with a better year next year on the field (I think they can) and keep some momentum going with recruiting outside the state.

 

When Kill retired there was always going to be an impact, the key is to make sure it doesn't extend past this season.

[Vanimal46]

19 players signed their letter of intent to join the Gophers next season. They did lose out on WR Dredrick Snelson, who chose to sign with UCF instead of Minnesota. Good luck joining an 0-12 team pal.

Here's the link of the Gophers incoming class if you are interested.

[Badsmerf]

Good luck to that kid, he's going to need it. I'm not losing sleep over it. This is still a good class. I'm really pumped about green coming to mn. Kid has some skills.

[bluechipper]

Todd McShay just projected Mitch Leidner to go in the 1st round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

 

Um...WTF?????????????????????

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2016/insider/story/_/id/15452051/cleveland-browns-headline-todd-mcshay-way-too-early-2017-mock-draft-nfl-draft

[Vanimal46]

I think it's safe to say McShay hasn't watched a second of Gopher football... For those like me who are too cheap to buy Insider, his write-up on Leidner is also found on Twitter...

He projects him to go 25th overall to the Dallas Cowboys:

 

"Leidner shows some upside as a passer, but I'll be looking to see if he can improve his accuracy (59.5% completion rate and 14/11 TD/INT ratio is 2015). Listed at 6'4" and 237 lbs, Leidner has ideal size and has shown the ability to make plays with his legs off designed runs and scrambles. He's a late riser to keep an eye on, similar to Blake Bortles and Carson Wentz. 

http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1553645/funny-gif-Steve-Carell-laughing.gif

[Badsmerf]

Lol. I'll be shocked if he is drafted at all. Cook wasn't even drafted very highly and he was one if the better qbs to come out of the big ten thus decade.

[biggentleben]

Cook had some odd personality stuff that apparently scared off teams. I had no inkling of this and his coach came out strongly against it a few weeks ahead of the draft, but it stuck with teams, perhaps from interviews.

[biggentleben]

 

Todd McShay just projected Mitch Leidner to go in the 1st round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

 

Um...WTF?????????????????????

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2016/insider/story/_/id/15452051/cleveland-browns-headline-todd-mcshay-way-too-early-2017-mock-draft-nfl-draft

 

In his defense, one of the only games he saw of Minnesota this last year was the bowl game, and Leidner played fairly well there.

[Vanimal46]

Cook had some odd personality stuff that apparently scared off teams. I had no inkling of this and his coach came out strongly against it a few weeks ahead of the draft, but it stuck with teams, perhaps from interviews.

Yeah if I remember correctly, one of the things teams were scared off from was Cook being a 5th year SR and not being elected as one of the captains on the team.

 

Who knows if there's any merit to it, or if it's just NFL teams over reacting.

[bluechipper]

USA Today listed 15 quarterbacks to watch for next year's draft, and Mitch Leidner was among them. It kinda seems like a "which of these is not like the others?" sort of list with him on it though.

 

http://draftwire.usatoday.com/2016/05/05/2017-nfl-draft-watch-list-quarterbacks/

[bluechipper]

 

Yeah if I remember correctly, one of the things teams were scared off from was Cook being a 5th year SR and not being elected as one of the captains on the team.

Who knows if there's any merit to it, or if it's just NFL teams over reacting.

He didn't seem like a very likeable guy from the interviews that I saw from him, including the B10 championship game ceremony. I still have no idea how he got MVP of that game by the way.

[Mike Sixel]

That seems unlikely.

[twinsnorth49]

Pretty unlikely, although Leidner's ability is nowhere near as bad as a lot of people like to portray.

[biggentleben]

Pretty unlikely, although Leidner's ability is nowhere near as bad as a lot of people like to portray.

I think this is accurate. Leidner has raw talent that would be desirable at the highest level, but he hasn't translated that on that on the field, and a pro team may watch the tape and believe that's more due to system than Leidner performing poorly. Who knows...

[bluechipper]

On the College Gameday preview show this morning, Kirk Herbstreit picked the Gophers to win the West this year. LOLz and good luck with that. I would guess 3rd could be a possibility. Iowa is my pick, followed by Nebraska.

[twinsnorth49]

On the College Gameday preview show this morning, Kirk Herbstreit picked the Gophers to win the West this year. LOLz and good luck with that. I would guess 3rd could be a possibility. Iowa is my pick, followed by Nebraska.

Chad Leistikow, beat writer for the Hawkeyes thinks the same thing.

 

I'm curious to see how Claeys does in his first full year in charge. I think the offense will be more dynamic with him there and the D should be very strong again.

 

I think it will be between them and Iowa.