Save Gopher Football
I agree with everything here particularly how inept Joel Maturi actually is - Save Gopher Football
November 12, 2010
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5 Comments:
Interesting platform these guys have created...as they're essentially appealing to the program as a "state resource" that needs to be protected and revitalized. I can't say I disagree. My only worry with letting the alumni and former players get too involved is that they tend to fall in love with fellow alums (see: Trestman, Marc) instead of oustiders that may actually be better for the program (see: Leach, Mike or Bellotti, Mike). The thing we can all agree on is that the fallout from the Brewster debacle is far-reaching. The University squandered what should have been a 5-year period of unprecedented success and revenue generation, thanks to the new stadium. Such a bummer.
RTS - I expect a Hawk blowout tomorrow. This NU team just isn't very good, especially in the secondary and on the offensive line, which will allow Iowa to leverage its two biggest strengths (passing game and D-line).
November 12, 2010 at 12:11 PM
BTW - I just saw this:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ag9Q8fmHa7hvhAifq.tXX4U5nYcB?slug=ap-targetfield-morneau
Morneau needs to shut his pie-hole on this one. At the end, he says: "I don't want to sound selfish, though...this is for the good of the team." C'mon...a big outfield didn't stop the Giants from winning the World Series. Stop whining...both teams deal with the same dimensions, which is why I've never understood arguments/complaints like this.
November 12, 2010 at 12:17 PM
BG, that makes one of us. There a few teams that worry me as much as NU does. They are definitely Iowa's nemesis. For whatever reason it is one of those series where you can throw out records and logic. I would say the biggest advantage is being on the road. The road team seems to own the series.
Regarding Morneau, The failure to make the World Series had nothing to do with a late season meltdown, lack of a true #1 starter or the continued inability to beat the Yankees.
November 12, 2010 at 1:41 PM
I don't disagree with the basic message here of "we just don't trust Joel Maturi." And they're right that a wide net needs to be cast, every voice listened to, an attitude of defeatism scuttled, etc. etc. if the U wants to move upward in football again. If that's all they're trying to achieve, is some public acknowledgment that the school's actually aiming a little higher than recent results justify, then great. But I sense there's more to their goals and that this is a push for actual alumni/booster involvement in the hiring process. Allow me, then, to play a little devil's advocate, as I think that's generally a bad idea:
1. BG's fear is justified. Boosters have different interests than the institution and are disorganized and disparate in desires and message.
2. Once they take over a decision like this, it's essentially regulatory capture of the entire athletic department. Witness Notre Dame from circa Holtz leaving through today. Fickle rich alumni with no patience and willing to buy snake oil from guys like Charlie Weis have ruined whatever chance that program had of returning to its former place.
3. Alumni have a notorious habit of pushing for candidates with less than exemplary backgrounds. Witness UNC, where the boosters and money alums recently took over the process and ended up with Butch Davis, academic scandal, agents all over campus and the NCAA up their butts for the next decade at least.
4. Alumni groups are no more qualified than an A.D., and in fact most times are far less qualified, to be making/influencing decisions like this. Who's to say they'd have a better success rate just because Maturi is 0 for 1? Wasn't Joe Salem a booster pick?
5. Who is behind this? Why the anonymity? I don't trust people who don't put their names out there. Also, this sort of exaggerated rhetoric: "They have been ignored during the search process so far. Why is the message to them, 'We don't care to listen to you and we have all the answers'?" does not give me confidence that this is much more than the lashing out of someone who had their feelings hurt.
6. What's the proposed strategy? What standards would you be setting? What do you want in terms of experience? What should be the program's goals? Who should be heading the search? What schools' processes should be emulated, and why? I didn't get the sense of any insight as to how hiring a college football coach works, just that they know Joel Maturi isn't very good at it.
7. For political reasons and appearance, Maturi's not going to be removed from the public part of this hiring process. That would be tantamount to effectively neutering your Athletics Director. There's a very real chance, in fact, that Maturi's NOT really running this, and that it's Bruininks. You're not going to get him fired and replaced in time to hire someone new, either.
8. I sense some lack of perspective/understanding of how it all works in their mission statement. Big football success has not, for instance, made SEC schools into hot academic places. It has not improved the quality of education provided at Ohio State, which is still the worst school in the Big Ten. The amount of revenue a successful Minnesota program could bring to the general budget of the U is, while substantial sitting alone, not substantial in the grand scheme of things. The university's status as a research institution and undergraduate college is vastly more heavily influenced by fifty other factors before the success of the football team, and most schools' alumni donations are not all that significantly related to the ups and downs of a football program. Otherwise, Oklahoma and LSU would be good schools without budgetary issues. That doesn't mean the school should just give up on it entirely, but I think this group has overplayed its hand a bit.
November 15, 2010 at 12:43 PM
MCA - I change my opinion, I only agree with the sentiment of "Save Gopher Football" and that Maturi is over his head. You make a number of great points, I actually think you should submit it to them.
November 15, 2010 at 1:37 PM
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