Posts Tagged ‘Minnesota’
No. 92: Minnesota
By Paul Myerberg // May 30, 2011
Good coaches can be found anywhere, from high school through the N.F.L., in the F.C.S., the F.B.S. and anywhere in between. Case in point: Jerry Kill, late of Northern Illinois, now of Minnesota. Just where did this guy come from? Kill’s in Minneapolis via DeKalb, via Southern Illinois, via Emporia State via Saginaw Valley State — the one in Michigan. No, he’s never been a coordinator for a national champion. He’s not a Nick Saban disciple. He hasn’t even — my goodness, can this be true? — coached a day in the N.F.L., for goodness’ sake. Kill’s just a football coach, no flash, few frills. Just like his teams. I think he’ll be popular.
Tags: Big Ten, Brandon Kirksey, Brendan Beal, Da'Jon McKnight, Gary Tinsley, Jerry Kill, Kim Royston, MarQueis Gray, Minnesota, Troy Stoudermire
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A Grab Bag of Quarterback Depth
By Paul Myerberg // Apr 25, 2011
It was never a fair comparison: Iowa and Wisconsin both lost a senior quarterback, but the Hawkeyes have had a succession plan in place since 2009, while Wisconsin — prior to losing Curt Phillips — wanted Jon Budmayr to win the job, not have it handed to him. When Wisconsin revealed late last week that Phillips had suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury, it became clear that Budmayr’s time is officially now, even if this is how the quarterback competition might have eventually played out. As noted last week, however, this hurts the Badgers’ depth at the position.
Tags: Big Ten, Dan Persa, Denard Robinson, Devin Gardner, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, James Vandenberg, Jon Budmayr, MarQueis Gray, Matt McGloin, Michigan, Minnesota, Nathan Scheelhaase, Northwestern, Paul Petrino, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
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Grading Minnesota’s Coaching Move
By Paul Myerberg // Jan 20, 2011
Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi put it best: in a parting shot to Tim Brewster, fired in mid-October, Maturi told the gathered media and any coaches interested in the newly vacant position that “you’re not following Vince Lombardi here.” In so many words, Maturi dumped a plateful of frustration on Brewster’s lap while laying the expectations quite low for his eventual successor, though his full-time replacement wouldn’t be named until two months later. Maturi’s choice? Northern Illinois’ Jerry Kill, whose appearance belies his coaching philosophy: Kill likes to run the ball, then run it again, perhaps run it a third time, and takes extreme pleasure in getting pressure on the quarterback. This system might work in the Big Ten.
Tags: Jerry Kill, Minnesota, Tim Brewster
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Minnesota Chooses Wisely
By Paul Myerberg // Dec 6, 2010
No, he’s not flashy. No, he doesn’t quite look like a football coach: he looks more like an insurance salesman, perhaps, or a high school science teacher. Jerry Kill is a football coach, however, and a good one at that — and at a critical juncture in the program’s history, Minnesota made a wise choice in opting for substance first, style second. If we recall, the last time Minnesota changed coaches the program went with the latter at the expense of the former; Minnesota couldn’t afford to make the same mistake twice.
Tags: Jerry Kill, Minnesota, Northern Illinois, Tim Brewster
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Looking for Something to Play For
By Paul Myerberg // Oct 27, 2010
It’s bound to happen sooner or later. In 2009, 47 teams ended the season ineligible for bowl play — some sooner than others, all 47 by the end of the regular season. At most, teams in the F.B.S. have played eight games in 2010; most have only played seven, in fact. Despite being only a little more than halfway through the season, six teams have already seen their bowl hopes extinguished: Akron, Bowling Green, Minnesota, New Mexico, San Jose State and Washington State. Did a single team of this group have viable bowl aspirations heading into 2010? Minnesota did; Washington State might have held out hope that year three was the charm for Paul Wulff; but the rest were realistic, I hope. Now that the chance of a bowl trip is no more, it’s time for these six teams to regroup — rebuild, actually.
Tags: Akron, Bowling Green, Minnesota, New Mexico, San Jose State, Washington State
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Step Right Up, Place Your Bets
By Paul Myerberg // Oct 24, 2010
Baylor’s 47-42 win over Kansas State has pushed the Bears into The A.P. Top 25 Poll, a program-first since Sept. 5, 1993. Let that sink in for a moment. Disregard that outside of Kansas State — which isn’t as good as its ranking suggests — Baylor has yet to beat a team of consequence; also ignore the fact that T.C.U. beat Baylor by 35 points, or that the Bears lost by a touchdown to Texas Tech and barely escaped Colorado. Let’s just feel good for Baylor, which has stormed out of the doldrums thanks to the coaching of Art Briles and the sublime quarterback play of Robert Griffin III. Let’s also ask: now that Baylor’s cracked the Top 25, who’s next?
Tags: Baylor, Colorado, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State
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These Teams Have Life; These Don’t
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 12, 2010
Minnesota's year started with a win over the Blue Raiders.
A few teams’ demise has been greatly exaggerated, in this space and others. A few teams have been written off for dead, whether because of a perceived lack of talent, coaching, or both; or because of an opening weekend disaster. Quite a few teams fit into both categories. On the other hand, a few teams have been sorely disappointing either because of a perceived high level of talent, coaching, or both; or because of a week two disaster on the heels of a solid performance on the year’s opening weekend. A mea culpa is in order for a few teams on the former list. A few unkind words are in place for those teams unable to match their preseason expectations.
Tags: Arizona, East Carolina, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Tim Brewster, Virginia, West Virginia
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Revisiting the Big Ten Split
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 1, 2010
Jim Delany took a big chance splitting up Ohio State and Michigan, two longtime rivals.
Way back on June 12, way back when the Countdown had barely broken into double-digits, I took an early look at how the Big Ten might split following the addition of Nebraska in 2011. In that post, I assumed the conference would realign itself along one of three scenarios: by historic rivalries, by geography or by competitive balance. In my mind, each divisional split offered the 12-team conference some semblance of continuity, the deciding factor behind any eventual decision. Each scenario had its drawbacks, each its positives. Now that the divisional split is final — we think — let’s take a look at how my original projection compares with the real thing.
Tags: Big Ten, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
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