Karl H
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Joined: 9/24/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Jim Frenette
quote:
ORIGINAL: TJSweens
One of the Gopher beat writers from the Pioneer Press was on MPR this morning. When asked what specifically it is that Wisconsin and Iowa do that the Gophers can’t seem to do he said it boiled to size. He said the premier athletes generally go to the elite programs and there isn’t much you can do about it. Wisconsin and Iowa counter that by recruiting size and building power running games. Build a massive wall of beef up front and control the ball. Then funnel the bulk of the top athletes to defense. It sounds like the Mason approach except Mase could never get the defense where it needed to be to complete. I don’t know if that is really true or not. I would like to have seen what would have happened if Brewster had stuck with Mike Dunbar and the spread. I think he lost the interest of a lot of offensive recruits when he switched horses in mid stream and tried the power running scheme. If he had been smart enough to commit to the offense that he spent his first 2 years recruiting he would have a dynamic scheme run by an elite coordinator and the ball would be in the hands of Marquis Gray, potentially an elite play maker, on every down.
I agree with the sentiment of getting a real head coach. I think the interest in Trestman is real this time around because he became a head coach since the last time the job was open and has been extremely successful with two Gray Cup championships.
One coach that really intrigues me is Kevin Sumlin of Houston. Troy Calhoun of Air Force is also kind of interesting.
I've been saying for years that the Gophers need more beef on both lines
I'm gonna disagree to a point on this. Our O-line this year is just slightly smaller than Wisconsin's...and clearly bigger than Iowa's. Every starter and top backup is at or over 300 pounds. We have gotten bigger there. On the defensive line, our tackles are heavier than both Wisky & Iowa. Edwards is 335! Iowa's Klug, a minnesota kid is just 275....but a real nice player. At DE, we can get every bit a big a necessary. Hageman & Jacobs are around the 300 mark. KGM is about 275. The problem as I see it, is we don't have anyone who can rush the passer. Wilhite and Garin are supposed to do that, but where are the results? I remember Mason as the guy who used 240 DT's and 205 LB's. If we are too small somewhere, it's probably at RB. We don't have the big horses like Wisconsin.
I still say it's about getting the right players for your system, something Brew didn't do well enough.
And ultimately, it's winning......Brew was simply not a very good head coach in that regard.
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