Minnesota coach gets fired after bowl debacle...

StylesÃ‚â„¢ · 12-31-2006, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ESPN

Minnesota has fired football coach Glen Mason and will announce it later Sunday, several sources said.

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi has called a news conference for 6 p.m. ET Sunday "regarding the future of the Golden Gopher football program."

Minnesota (6-7) lost to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl after allowing the Red Raiders to overcome a 31-point, third-quarter deficit for a stunning 44-41 OT win on Friday night. It was the largest comeback in Division I-A bowl history.

The news release distributed by the university did not mention Mason specifically.

Mason has spent 10 seasons in Minnesota trying to rebuild a program that has long been a bottom feeder in the Big Ten.

He has made strides in several areas, turning the Gophers into one of the premier rushing offenses in the nation, but fans have been disappointed by losses in big games.

The Golden Gophers had won the last three games of the regular season to finish 6-6 and qualify for a bowl game. Mason signed a four-year contract extension worth $1.65 million annually last New Year's Eve. He led the Gophers to seven bowl games in the last eight seasons -- more than half of Minnesota's all-time 12 postseason appearances.

Joe Schad is ESPN TV's national college football reporter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

He had a bad season, and this was his time to either shine or be gone, he looked very strong in the beginning, and then just blew it away, now he has to pay the teams price for it...

Thoughts?

Suntan Superman · 12-31-2006, 11:38 PM

Bullshit... Winning a championship in Minnesota will never happen... Ernie Wheelwright will now be gone, along with Amir Pinnix. Wherever Mason goes give him three years and they'll be a contender. What a stupid move by the University of Minnesota

FSUViking · 01-01-2007, 10:46 AM

Wheelright and Pinnix are only juniors. And let's not pretend like they are some All-World players either.

Mason never contends anywhere. He's good at taking a team that stinks and bringing them to mediocrity. Once he's done that, you'll just continue to be mediocre as long as he's there. Just like he did at Kansas. And Kent State. And Minnesota.

He does one thing well, and he's even overrated at that.

Suntan Superman · 01-01-2007, 08:39 PM

you're right it was just the beginning of this year that Ernie Wheelwright projected into the late first round... he sucks

oh and amir pinnix sucks to your right...

Oh by the way, let's see you go to a program like Minnesota, Kent State or Kansas and turn them into more than mediocre teams... Good luck with that. You know maybe you should look some things up before you go running your mouth

thanks

FSUViking · 01-02-2007, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill S. Preston

you're right it was just the beginning of this year that Ernie Wheelwright projected into the late first round... he sucks

oh and amir pinnix sucks to your right...

Oh by the way, let's see you go to a program like Minnesota, Kent State or Kansas and turn them into more than mediocre teams... Good luck with that. You know maybe you should look some things up before you go running your mouth

thanks

WOW. Well, what exactly did I say that I didn't "look up before I went and ran my mouth" there Professor Football? A first round projection is exactly that...A PROJECTION. Where do you suppose he's ending up now? Probably undrafted. And, I'd really like to see the genius that predicted that, by the way. And if you think Amir Pinnix is something great, you need an education in Great Running Backs 101.

Fuck, son...I'm a UofMn alum. I'm entitled to say what the fuck I want about a program I have followed for 29 years. OK? Good. Let's look at what WISCONSIN was before Barry Alvarez got there, shall we? Or maybe Northwestern? Purdue?

I know, Mason really set the bar high here. What with a 64-57 overall record/32-48 Big Ten record
19-49 against all teams above .500
8-39 against Big Ten teams with 7+ wins (2-15 since 2003!!)
6-14 against Iowa and Wisconsin

I mean, my God. Who could ever hope to approach feats like that? It really doesn't matter what I could do at Minnesota, Kansas, or Kent State. i'm not a coach. It's not my JOB to win college football games. It's Mason's and he didn't do it.:STFU:

FSUViking · 01-02-2007, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss America

Bullshit... Winning a championship in Minnesota will never happen...

Except for the fact we have 4 of them, you'd be right.

FSUViking · 01-02-2007, 09:20 PM

Being a Seminoles fan living in Minneapolis, 2 miles from the UofMN, I kinda cheer for them as my #2 by default. There are no real links to this speculation (save for GopherIllustrated.com) just rumor and hearsay from people who know more about this than I do on radio/tv/newspapers. Apperantly (rumor) alumni and boosters were saying either A.D. Joel Maturi fires Dan Monson and Glen Mason, or Maturi goes. We know the end result of that. Now he has to hire TWO new coaches for the top revenue producing sports in college athletics. If they aren't good, then he'll be out on his ass too.

Real quick (since I don't really care much) the choices for basketball are (in no particular order) Rick Majerus, Steve Lavin, and Flip Saunders. Flip would be the #1 choice since he still lives here, his son is on the team, he's an alum, and his tenure with the Pistons might not last much longer and the U is his dream job.

As for FOOTBALL, based on what I have heard, I'd say the top 4 would be:

1. Craig Bohl; Head Coach @ North Dakota State

- Why? First off he's local, so to speak. Second, coming from NDSU he'd be cheap. Considering the size of Mason's buyout, I'd say he's probably the leading candidate right now.

2. Paul Chryst; Offensive Coordinator @ Wisconsin

- Why? Maturi is from Wisconsin, he's close friends with Chryst, and Chryst is also the godfather of one of Maturi's kids. This is a "Hey, buddy? Want a job?" situation that is something Maturi would totally do, as dumb as it may sound.

3. Frank Solich; Head Coach Ohio University

- Why? Midwestern roots, somewhat of a big name, was considered for the job back before they hired Mason. Probably wants a bigger name school than Ohio U.

4. Lane Kiffin; Offensive Coordinator USC

- Why? Local boy. Graduated from Bloomington Jefferson High School. Helped recruit Dominique Byrd (DeLaSalle) and Walker Lee Ashley (Eden Prairie) to USC and could do a good job of keeping more in-state kids here.

List of others from Gopher Illustrated

DARK HORSE: I would have said Tony Dungy (alumni) but he's already told local outlets he's not interested, so my dark horse is a guy who HAS said he's interested....MIKE TICE. Considering the current climate surrounding the Vikings and especially Brad Childress, I think people would generally be on board with Tice coming back to MSP. His wife still lives here, his kids still go to high school here, his brother still lives here. He even told our local NBC affiliate this morning (KARE-11) that he'd love to come back if it was offered.

DARK HORSE II: Jim Mora JR. Hey, he said he'd like to coach college ball at Washington. Why not throw his name in the hat? :dunno:

Suntan Superman · 01-02-2007, 10:13 PM

I never said Amir Pinnix was great so don't throw words in my mouth... but he is better than you seem to give him credit for. also northwestern? when was northwestern good? Wheelwright would not go undrafted i can guarantee that... but don't forget that Wheelwright is only a Junior and you can redshirt/transfer in the same year. Pinnix isn't golden, but neither was Thomas Tapeh... but he still made the NFL or at least i thought he did? maybe it's a different Thomas Tapeh. Oh and your 4 National Championships came when? Winning won't happen at Minnesota for awhile with all the 'scandals' that have happened. As far as your opinion i respect it. i just think you're wrong tis all. Mason was a good coach, not a good winner, and yes i know winning is a part of coaching. but i changing coaches in College can be tought especially since every recruit that has signed with minnesota is now able to unsign. That can hurt. but meh...

To me as a Minnesota fan secondary also I would love to see Flip and Dungy, do i think it will happen? no but would it be freakin sweet yes.

FSUViking · 01-03-2007, 07:58 PM

Northwestern won the Big 10 and went to the Rose Bowl in 1996.

It doesn't matter when Minnesota won National Championships....the point is they have.

All the scandals? There's been ONE and it was 10 years ago.

I gotta run. Friday Night Lights is on, but we can finish this tomorrow.

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Minnesota coach gets fired after bowl debacle...

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