Inside the Numbers - It's not even close

[OrangeDW]

Bobby Marshall, All-American 1903 - was a black player. First black player to play in the NFL. Oldest as well.

He played professional baseball, hockey, football and was a boxer as well.

But us Minnesotans have always been pretty progressive compared to everyone else.



Roy Wilkins, Exec Director of the NAACP and the founder of the LCCR was a UMn grad.

Whitney Young, Exec Director of the Natl Urban League was a UMn grad.

Sandy Stephens was the first black All-American at QB.

Tony Dungy was the first black Super Bowl winning head coach.

So Kirby Puckett and Prince are NOT the only black people in Minnesota? That Chris Rock was full of ****, man!

 

[tep624]

The 50's and 60's are a good place to start because everyone was allowed to play. I have a hard time believing anyone could be champion of anything like a NC when it willfully excluded whole segments of the population.

At the same time we can't wash the history prior to that away - but it should get an asterisk.

In the past 50 years, Minnesota has been ranked in the final AP poll twice - 18th in 1999 and 20th in 2003. If you start at 1950, our program dwarfs theirs and that's why they don't want to start at 1950, which most people would argue is the beginning of the "modern era". All makes perfect sense now.

We have a Heisman trophy winner in that stretch, they do not.

We were ranked 15 times, they were ranked 7 times in the final AP poll. Each team had a national title per the AP but Syracuse was ranked in the final AP top 10 5 times, including once in the 80's and once in the 90's, whereas Minnesota was only ranked in the final top 10 twice and both occurred in the early 60's.

So basically this is why they either want to focus on the past 45 seconds of College Football or all the way back to 1869, because focusing on the modern era really does nothing for their program. They were more or less completely irrelevant for 50 years, whereas we were on the national stage in the late 80's through the early 90's as a consistent to 15 program, a consistent top 25 program that underachieved during the McNabb years, and then our last significant final AP ranking came at #14 in 2001 led by Dwight Freeney, oops did I name drop another future NFL Hall of Famer? Granted, they've been better than us since that time, most of College Football during the GROB years can lay claim to that, but not to the point where they've been ranked at the end of the year for any significant number of years.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

How about just base it on what you've seen or experienced in your lifetime as a fan? Do you care that Minnesota had more All Americans in the 1940's? Does that give you your jollies, and if so, why? Did you live and die with those dance team championships?

If you're being honest, Syracuse football and basketball have both been significantly better than Minnesota football and basketball in your lifetime as a fan.

Whose lifetime do we base our discussions or our debates on? Yours? Mine? My father is 81 years old, was born the year Bernie Bierman started coaching the Gophers and he listened to the Natl Champion Gophers on the radio in 40 and 41. He went to college and played fb and bb alongside Lute Olson, just blocks from the Univ of Minnesota campus and took his students to Gopher games in 1960. So I heard all of the stories from my father.

My point is, there needs to be a consistent basis from which to start the comparisons, etc.. Who decides when we start? How can any start time truly be fair to all those involved?

The one start time that is not arbitrary or biased or unfair, is the beginning.


As for whether I care about AAs in the 40s? I do.


And serious? Is that how I get my jollies? WOW, I really got under your skin, didn't I, lol.

Again, I see we are being civil.

 

[OrangeDW]

Whose lifetime do we base our discussions or our debates on? Yours? Mine? My father is 81 years old, was born the year Bernie Bierman started coaching the Gophers and he listened to the Natl Champion Gophers on the radio in 40 and 41. He went to college and played fb and bb alongside Lute Olson, just blocks from the Univ of Minnesota campus and took his students to Gopher games in 1960. So I heard all of the stories from my father.

My point is, there needs to be a consistent basis from which to start the comparisons, etc.. Who decides when we start? How can any start time truly be fair to all those involved?

The one start time that is not arbitrary or biased or unfair, is the beginning.


As for whether I care about AAs in the 40s? I do.


And serious? Is that how I get my jollies? WOW, I really got under your skin, didn't I, lol.

Again, I see we are being civil.

I guess you don't realize how gleeful I was when I typed that. Yeah, I said GLEEFUL!

As a fan, I think you go primarily on what you've experienced. I respect sports history a lot, but my first hand experiences are what are most important to me. I've gotten to watch some excellent Syracuse football teams in my time as a fan. I feel a bit bad for the diehard fans who have never experienced their favorite team being really good.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

In the past 50 years, Minnesota has been ranked in the final AP poll twice - 18th in 1999 and 20th in 2003. If you start at 1950, our program dwarfs theirs and that's why they don't want to start at 1950, which most people would argue is the beginning of the "modern era". All makes perfect sense now.

We have a Heisman trophy winner in that stretch, they do not.

We were ranked 15 times, they were ranked 7 times in the final AP poll. Each team had a national title per the AP but Syracuse was ranked in the final AP top 10 5 times, including once in the 80's and once in the 90's, whereas Minnesota was only ranked in the final top 10 twice and both occurred in the early 60's.

So basically this is why they either want to focus on the past 45 seconds of College Football or all the way back to 1869, because focusing on the modern era really does nothing for their program. They were more or less completely irrelevant for 50 years, whereas we were on the national stage in the late 80's through the early 90's as a consistent to 15 program, a consistent top 25 program that underachieved during the McNabb years, and then our last significant final AP ranking came at #14 in 2001 led by Dwight Freeney, oops did I name drop another future NFL Hall of Famer? Granted, they've been better than us since that time, most of College Football during the GROB years can lay claim to that, but not to the point where they've been ranked at the end of the year for any significant number of years.

Of course we've done almost nothing in the last 50 years. And???

We're just letting the rest of the country try and catch up.

We're still ranked #16 all-time by Billingsley's All-Time Ratings.



UMn has the ability to claim to have been one of the Top 3 programs for a significant portion of time in several sports.

Football from 1900-1969. - 70 yrs! TEN titles
Basketball from 1900-1919. - 20 yrs THREE titles
Baseball from 1956-1975. - 20 yrs THREE titles
Hockey from 1920-2014. - 95 yrs! TWELVE titles
Wrestling from 1995-2014. - 20 yrs THREE titles
W Hockey from 1998-2014. - 17 yrs FIVE titles
Dance Team from 2003-2014. - 12 yrs TWELVE titles


So yes, it would be nice if we got to the point of being relevant again in both football and mens bb, but if it doesn't happen, we've still been very blessed over the years and 4 of those programs are still kicking tail at this very moment. And I do enjoy hockey, so telling me that in your opinion its an irrelevant sport will just be a waste of your breath.


Btw, there are over a dozen people making 6-7 figures playing NHL hockey right now, that are former Gopher hockey players. Millionaires! I'd say that's pretty relevant. But that's just me. What would I know. Some have told me that NO ONE cares about hockey. Funny, where does the money come from then?

 

[zibby]

Wow. I thought for sure that Jersey State would immediately leap to the top of the Most Delusional Fanbase in the B1G List. Do you guys call yourselves the USC of the Midwest?

Bottom line: I don't remember you ever being relevant in football or basketball. And I'm old enough to remember when televisions had dials.

 

[TheCusian]

Bobby Marshall, All-American 1903 - was a black player. First black player to play in the NFL. Oldest as well. He played professional baseball, hockey, football and was a boxer as well. But us Minnesotans have always been pretty progressive compared to everyone else. Roy Wilkins, Exec Director of the NAACP and the founder of the LCCR was a UMn grad. Whitney Young, Exec Director of the Natl Urban League was a UMn grad. Sandy Stephens was the first black All-American at QB. Tony Dungy was the first black Super Bowl winning head coach.

Wasn't accusing you of anything. Cool history.

You've furthered my point actually - in the 50's and 60's things became less segregated and the modern era really began. So you guys had an All American who was unique due to his skin color? 1st, great that he was allowed to play. You should be proud of that... 2nd - imagine if that was the norm back then? No asterisk.

And finally - I don't think you get credit for Dungy and the other guys unless they were coaching or playing for the Gophers when they did those things? Proud? Sure. But not at all relevant to what I was saying.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

I guess you don't realize how gleeful I was when I typed that. Yeah, I said GLEEFUL!

As a fan, I think you go primarily on what you've experienced. I respect sports history a lot, but my first hand experiences are what are most important to me. I've gotten to watch some excellent Syracuse football teams in my time as a fan. I feel a bit bad for the diehard fans who have never experienced their favorite team being really good.

I know what you mean. I cherish my time experiencing the Gophers bb team beating Syracuse in the Sweet 16 in 1990 down in New Orleans. I really thought we had GT beat in the Elite 8 matchup, we truly were outplaying them, but they just couldn't miss from outside and when our last second shot to win the game bounced off the rim, my heart got heavy. But it was still a great experience. I also cherish when I made a wild prediction that the Gopher's women's bb team would make the Final Four, and they did. That was a lot of fun following that team. Now those very same players, Lindsey Whalen and Janel McCarville helped lead the Lynx to their 3rd WNBA title in dominating fashion this last season. It was fun following the VB team in their making 3 Final Fours in the last decade and one championship game. I'll be very excited when they win their first Natl Title. I also cherish when the Gophers finally won their first NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2001. Then the wrestling team made it back to back titles in 2002. I was also ecstatic when I heard that the Gophers, just shy of not making the cut off to play in the 3rd round of the NCAA Golf Championships, the year the program almost got cut, came back from 14th place I think it was, moved up into 8th going into the 4th round and had a record breaking final round to win their first NCAA Title, also in 2002. The Men's hockey team made their return to glory that same year in their first of what ended up being back to back titles.

And then this last year, my Gopher's women's hockey team went into the Semi Finals and had to play their toughest competition they had played all year, partly the toughest because it was the SIXTH time they had to play them that year, and they beat them for the 6th time, just barely, in OT, to keep their PERFECT season going, they had not lost a game or even tied a game since earlier the season before, and won the Championship for the 2nd Title in a row for them. They went on to win a few more games this season to end their NCAA record breaking win streak at 62 games, almost 3 times the previous record of 21 games. They are still sitting with only that one loss and are a unanimous #1 in the nation and on route to win their 3rd title in a row. The wrestling team is ranked #2 and I've very excited to see if they can finally beat the current dynasty of PSU and win their 4th title. And my daughter enjoys watching the Gopher Dance team continue to dominate and win Natl Title after Natl Title, year in and year out. 3 times now they've won 4 Natl Titles in a row, and are going for their 5th in a row this year. Not as exciting for me, but its still fun to see that group succeed so consistently.

And whats the most fun for me, is its basically EVERY SINGLE YEAR that I get to enjoy the excitement of one of my teams, and often a couple of them, being in contention for a Natl Title. You can label them my fall back sports if you so choose since its hard for some people to believe anyone could enjoy hockey as much as they do bb or fb, but either way, at least I have fall back sports, and when or if my fb or bb team does well, then I am doubly blessed.


Some sports fans have never had the thrill of experiencing their team win a Natl Title, so like I said, I feel very blessed that I've experienced several of my teams winning them and in sports I enjoy following and/or watching. Sure, football is my favorite, but we can't all have everything we want.

 

[TheCusian]

I know what you mean. I cherish my time experiencing the Gophers bb team beating Syracuse in the Sweet 16 in 1990 down in New Orleans. I really thought we had GT beat in the Elite 8 matchup, we truly were outplaying them, but they just couldn't miss from outside and when our last second shot to win the game bounced off the rim, my heart got heavy. But it was still a great experience. I also cherish when I made a wild prediction that the Gopher's women's bb team would make the Final Four, and they did. That was a lot of fun following that team. Now those very same players, Lindsey Whalen and Janel McCarville helped lead the Lynx to their 3rd WNBA title in dominating fashion this last season. It was fun following the VB team in their making 3 Final Fours in the last decade and one championship game. I'll be very excited when they win their first Natl Title. I also cherish when the Gophers finally won their first NCAA Wrestling Championship in 2001. Then the wrestling team made it back to back titles in 2002. I was also ecstatic when I heard that the Gophers, just shy of not making the cut off to play in the 3rd round of the NCAA Golf Championships, the year the program almost got cut, came back from 14th place I think it was, moved up into 8th going into the 4th round and had a record breaking final round to win their first NCAA Title, also in 2002. The Men's hockey team made their return to glory that same year in their first of what ended up being back to back titles. And then this last year, my Gopher's women's hockey team went into the Semi Finals and had to play their toughest competition they had played all year, partly the toughest because it was the SIXTH time they had to play them that year, and they beat them for the 6th time, just barely, in OT, to keep their PERFECT season going, they had not lost a game or even tied a game since earlier the season before, and won the Championship for the 2nd Title in a row for them. They went on to win a few more games this season to end their NCAA record breaking win streak at 62 games, almost 3 times the previous record of 21 games. They are still sitting with only that one loss and are a unanimous #1 in the nation and on route to win their 3rd title in a row. The wrestling team is ranked #2 and I've very excited to see if they can finally beat the current dynasty of PSU and win their 4th title. And my daughter enjoys watching the Gopher Dance team continue to dominate and win Natl Title after Natl Title, year in and year out. 3 times now they've won 4 Natl Titles in a row, and are going for their 5th in a row this year. Not as exciting for me, but its still fun to see that group succeed so consistently. And whats the most fun for me, is its basically EVERY SINGLE YEAR that I get to enjoy the excitement of one of my teams, and often a couple of them, being in contention for a Natl Title. You can label them my fall back sports if you so choose since its hard for some people to believe anyone could enjoy hockey as much as they do bb or fb, but either way, at least I have fall back sports, and when or if my fb or bb team does well, then I am doubly blessed. Some sports fans have never had the thrill of experiencing their team win a Natl Title, so like I said, I feel very blessed that I've experienced several of my teams winning them and in sports I enjoy following and/or watching. Sure, football is my favorite, but we can't all have everything we want.

Your enthusiasm about the gold rodents almost makes me sorry we are going to win this bowl game.

Almost.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

Wasn't accusing you of anything. Cool history.

You've furthered my point actually - in the 50's and 60's things became less segregated and the modern era really began. So you guys had an All American who was unique due to his skin color? 1st, great that he was allowed to play. You should be proud of that... 2nd - imagine if that was the norm back then? No asterisk.

And finally - I don't think you get credit for Dungy and the other guys unless they were coaching or playing for the Gophers when they did those things? Proud? Sure. But not at all relevant to what I was saying.

Oh no, that's not how it works. EVERY school that produces great coaches, claims them. Where do you think Miami of Ohio got the nickname "Cradle of Coaches" from? Because they are proud of the coaches that have come out of their school, either coaches who used MU as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, or the players who learned from those coaches and went on to accomplish great things themselves.

And Minnesota has produced more accomplished coaches than the actual "Cradle of Coaches" Miami of Ohio, and since producing successful people who go out into the world and affect the world is what a universities mission is, why on earth wouldn't we be able to claim those coaches???


Dang right I'm claiming this extremely long list of legendary coaches. UMn's a "Cradle of Coaches" in its own right.


John Kundla - 6 Pro BB titles with the Mpls Lakers!!!

Herb Brooks - MIRACLE ON ICE!!!! Do you believe in Miracles?! 3 Natl Titles at Minnesota as well.

Bob Johnson - 1st American to coach a team to a Stanley Cup Title. 3 Natl Titles at Wisconsin as well.

Bud Wilkinson - 3 Natl Titles with Oklahoma

Bernie Bierman - 5 Recognized Natl Titles with Minnesota, 2 additional ones with Tulane.

Bud Grant - NFL and CFL Halls of Fame for his coaching. 4 Grey Cup Titles, 4 Super Bowl appearances. More Division Titles than you can count on 2 hands.

Tony Dungy - Super Bowl Champ - First black coach to win a SB. Youngest Coordinator ever in the NFL, youngest asst coach as well. Created the Tampa 2. His Bucs won the SB the year after he left. A shoo-in for the NFL HOF.

Gilmore Dobie - 2 Natl Titles with Cornell, and a 63 game unbeaten streak mostly while at Washington.

Biggie Munn - 2 Natl Titles with MSU, helped get MSU into the B1G conf.

Clark Shaughnessy - 1 Natl Title with Stanford, revolutionized the way football is played in college and the nfl, cfb hof AND nominated 3 times for the NFL HOF as well, even though he only coached 3 seasons in the NFL.

John Anderson - the winningest coach in Big Ten Baseball history.

Jerry Kindall - 3 Natl Titles in NCAA Baseball at Arizona.

George Keogan - 2 Natl Titles in NCAA Basketball at Notre Dame, nicknamed the Knute Rockne of cbb.

Newt Loken - 3 Natl Titles in Men's Gymnastics at Michigan.

There are more, but I'm getting tired of typing. lol All but Dungy & Anderson(he's still coaching) are already Hall of Famers.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

Your enthusiasm about the gold rodents almost makes me sorry we are going to win this bowl game.

Almost.

Lol, but remember, I have the Dance team to fall back on, so you don't have to feel so bad. They are almost a lock to win it all again this year.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Oh no, that's not how it works. EVERY school that produces great coaches, claims them. Where do you think Miami of Ohio got the nickname "Cradle of Coaches" from? Because they are proud of the coaches that have come out of their school, either coaches who used MU as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, or the players who learned from those coaches and went on to accomplish great things themselves.

And Minnesota has produced more accomplished coaches than the actual "Cradle of Coaches" Miami of Ohio, and since producing successful people who go out into the world and affect the world is what a universities mission is, why on earth wouldn't we be able to claim those coaches???


Dang right I'm claiming this extremely long list of legendary coaches. UMn's a "Cradle of Coaches" in its own right.


John Kundla - 6 Pro BB titles with the Mpls Lakers!!!

Herb Brooks - MIRACLE ON ICE!!!! Do you believe in Miracles?! 3 Natl Titles at Minnesota as well.

Bob Johnson - 1st American to coach a team to a Stanley Cup Title. 3 Natl Titles at Wisconsin as well.

Bud Wilkinson - 3 Natl Titles with Oklahoma

Bernie Bierman - 5 Recognized Natl Titles with Minnesota, 2 additional ones with Tulane.

Bud Grant - NFL and CFL Halls of Fame for his coaching. 4 Grey Cup Titles, 4 Super Bowl appearances. More Division Titles than you can count on 2 hands.

Tony Dungy - Super Bowl Champ - First black coach to win a SB. Youngest Coordinator ever in the NFL, youngest asst coach as well. Created the Tampa 2. His Bucs won the SB the year after he left. A shoo-in for the NFL HOF.

Gilmore Dobie - 2 Natl Titles with Cornell, and a 63 game unbeaten streak mostly while at Washington.

Biggie Munn - 2 Natl Titles with MSU, helped get MSU into the B1G conf.

Clark Shaughnessy - 1 Natl Title with Stanford, revolutionized the way football is played in college and the nfl, cfb hof AND nominated 3 times for the NFL HOF as well, even though he only coached 3 seasons in the NFL.

John Anderson - the winningest coach in Big Ten Baseball history.

Jerry Kindall - 3 Natl Titles in NCAA Baseball at Arizona.

George Keogan - 2 Natl Titles in NCAA Basketball at Notre Dame, nicknamed the Knute Rockne of cbb.

Newt Loken - 3 Natl Titles in Men's Gymnastics at Michigan.

There are more, but I'm getting tired of typing. lol All but Dungy & Anderson(he's still coaching) are already Hall of Famers.

What's that have to do with your FB team?

 

[rrlbees]

Oh no, that's not how it works. EVERY school that produces great coaches, claims them. Where do you think Miami of Ohio got the nickname "Cradle of Coaches" from? Because they are proud of the coaches that have come out of their school, either coaches who used MU as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, or the players who learned from those coaches and went on to accomplish great things themselves. And Minnesota has produced more accomplished coaches than the actual "Cradle of Coaches" Miami of Ohio, and since producing successful people who go out into the world and affect the world is what a universities mission is, why on earth wouldn't we be able to claim those coaches??? Dang right I'm claiming this extremely long list of legendary coaches. UMn's a "Cradle of Coaches" in its own right. John Kundla - 6 Pro BB titles with the Mpls Lakers!!! Herb Brooks - MIRACLE ON ICE!!!! Do you believe in Miracles?! 3 Natl Titles at Minnesota as well. Bob Johnson - 1st American to coach a team to a Stanley Cup Title. 3 Natl Titles at Wisconsin as well. Bud Wilkinson - 3 Natl Titles with Oklahoma Bernie Bierman - 5 Recognized Natl Titles with Minnesota, 2 additional ones with Tulane. Bud Grant - NFL and CFL Halls of Fame for his coaching. 4 Grey Cup Titles, 4 Super Bowl appearances. More Division Titles than you can count on 2 hands. Tony Dungy - Super Bowl Champ - First black coach to win a SB. Youngest Coordinator ever in the NFL, youngest asst coach as well. Created the Tampa 2. His Bucs won the SB the year after he left. A shoo-in for the NFL HOF. Gilmore Dobie - 2 Natl Titles with Cornell, and a 63 game unbeaten streak mostly while at Washington. Biggie Munn - 2 Natl Titles with MSU, helped get MSU into the B1G conf. Clark Shaughnessy - 1 Natl Title with Stanford, revolutionized the way football is played in college and the nfl, cfb hof AND nominated 3 times for the NFL HOF as well, even though he only coached 3 seasons in the NFL. John Anderson - the winningest coach in Big Ten Baseball history. Jerry Kindall - 3 Natl Titles in NCAA Baseball at Arizona. George Keogan - 2 Natl Titles in NCAA Basketball at Notre Dame, nicknamed the Knute Rockne of cbb. Newt Loken - 3 Natl Titles in Men's Gymnastics at Michigan. There are more, but I'm getting tired of typing. lol All but Dungy & Anderson(he's still coaching) are already Hall of Famers.

Maybe it's just me but your history lessons are beginning to bore the sheet out of me. I don't care about your 1908 swim team. Got anything about the game you want to discuss?

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[DynstyUgrl]

Wasn't accusing you of anything. Cool history.

You've furthered my point actually - in the 50's and 60's things became less segregated and the modern era really began. So you guys had an All American who was unique due to his skin color? 1st, great that he was allowed to play. You should be proud of that... 2nd - imagine if that was the norm back then? No asterisk.

And finally - I don't think you get credit for Dungy and the other guys unless they were coaching or playing for the Gophers when they did those things? Proud? Sure. But not at all relevant to what I was saying.

Oh, I knew you weren't accusing me of anything, no worries. Just enjoy letting people know that we were the first to have a black player playing fb for us. First in the Big Ten at least. We have never discriminated. He wasn't "allowed" to play, he just did. There was never any allowing or disallowing. If more black players had drifted on up our way, more would have played. We had Indians playing for us, a Chinese guy, we took in whoever.

One thing that saddens me, is how many black players started flocking to the very schools who didn't want them, the minute they started letting them in. If I was a black player back in the day, I would have refused to go somewhere where they didn't want me, but all of a sudden come to figure out that they can use me for my athletic ability, so then they do want me.

One thing to notice, Wilkins graduated from UMn in 1923, and Young graduated in 1947. These were blacks who were not football players, not athletes being taken in to be used for their talents, they were welcomed into our university and given a damned good education and were sent out into the world and they had affected significant major influence on the world, changing it for the better.

Where is that today? All blacks seem to be wanted for now is for sports and entertainment. It's sad. Maybe that is an extreme oversimplification and over generalization, but its partly accurate, isn't it?

 

[DynstyUgrl]

Maybe it's just me but your history lessons are beginning to bore the sheet out of me. I don't care about your 1908 swim team. Got anything about the game you want to discuss?

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Oops, hey, I can take a hint, and I can take an upfront comment, too. It's probably not just you, you were probably just the first to say something, so that's my cue, I'll try to wrap it up for the evening. It's been fun, for me at least.

 

[CuseIsGodsTeam]

How does the Minnesota faithful like the new open air stadium?

Are you missing the dome come november?

 

[Alsacs]

Listen I mean I get you hate Syracuse because Syracuse Graduate Gary Anderson missed that FG for the Vikings in 1998 NFC Champiosnhip game against Atlanta, but please just leave.
Minnesota is probably currently the 2nd least interesting team in the B1G behind Purdue so you have to get your attention elsewhere. I don't waste my time arguing with people who want to argue those are the most annoying people out there

 

[TheCusian]

Oh no, that's not how it works. EVERY school that produces great coaches, claims them. Where do you think Miami of Ohio got the nickname "Cradle of Coaches" from? Because they are proud of the coaches that have come out of their school, either coaches who used MU as a stepping stone to bigger and better things, or the players who learned from those coaches and went on to accomplish great things themselves. And Minnesota has produced more accomplished coaches than the actual "Cradle of Coaches" Miami of Ohio, and since producing successful people who go out into the world and affect the world is what a universities mission is, why on earth wouldn't we be able to claim those coaches??? Dang right I'm claiming this extremely long list of legendary coaches. UMn's a "Cradle of Coaches" in its own right. John Kundla - 6 Pro BB titles with the Mpls Lakers!!! Herb Brooks - MIRACLE ON ICE!!!! Do you believe in Miracles?! 3 Natl Titles at Minnesota as well. Bob Johnson - 1st American to coach a team to a Stanley Cup Title. 3 Natl Titles at Wisconsin as well. Bud Wilkinson - 3 Natl Titles with Oklahoma Bernie Bierman - 5 Recognized Natl Titles with Minnesota, 2 additional ones with Tulane. Bud Grant - NFL and CFL Halls of Fame for his coaching. 4 Grey Cup Titles, 4 Super Bowl appearances. More Division Titles than you can count on 2 hands. Tony Dungy - Super Bowl Champ - First black coach to win a SB. Youngest Coordinator ever in the NFL, youngest asst coach as well. Created the Tampa 2. His Bucs won the SB the year after he left. A shoo-in for the NFL HOF. Gilmore Dobie - 2 Natl Titles with Cornell, and a 63 game unbeaten streak mostly while at Washington. Biggie Munn - 2 Natl Titles with MSU, helped get MSU into the B1G conf. Clark Shaughnessy - 1 Natl Title with Stanford, revolutionized the way football is played in college and the nfl, cfb hof AND nominated 3 times for the NFL HOF as well, even though he only coached 3 seasons in the NFL. John Anderson - the winningest coach in Big Ten Baseball history. Jerry Kindall - 3 Natl Titles in NCAA Baseball at Arizona. George Keogan - 2 Natl Titles in NCAA Basketball at Notre Dame, nicknamed the Knute Rockne of cbb. Newt Loken - 3 Natl Titles in Men's Gymnastics at Michigan. There are more, but I'm getting tired of typing. lol All but Dungy & Anderson(he's still coaching) are already Hall of Famers.

I guess. We typically brag on our coaches leaving for the next level professionally - not leaving us and doing well at another school, especially a rival. Being a stepping stone to another college means your school doesn't hold onto good coaches - it basically says you're second tier...

A lot of our best FB coaches left here for the NFL. We've had good luck with coaches staying and not "moving up" on the collegiate level.

 

[WildBronco]

I'm sure the dance team, hockey team and wrestling team don't count towards the final football score. I know that I have been away from college football for a while (since last Saturday) but I haven't heard and rule changes on scoring.

To be fair and balanced, we won't add in our hoops scores. Or lacrosse scores...women's lacrosse... women's field hockey... women's volleyball...or women's softball (our coach looks like Jennifer Anniston, so top that!).

The issue will be settled on the field in Reliant Stadium. I will be in Section 532, Row J. Stop by, if Minnesota wins I will shake your hand and congratulate you.

You're right, that dude really does like Jennifer Aniston.

 

[sutomcat]

You're right, that dude really does like Jennifer Aniston.

Problems telling the roosters from the hens? I didn't think there were city folk in Minnesota.

Bottom line is, Syracuse has far more wins than Minnesota in football, and a far better winning percentage. The same of course applies to basketball. In the sports that matter, Minnesota looks up to Syracuse, as it always has. Much respect for Minnesota, it did a great job producing future coaches in the 1920s and 1930s and back when the NBA was more like hockey in the late 1940s and early 1950s, there were a lot of former Golden Gophers skating around on NBA courts, throwing hip checks and shooting for the 5 hole.

FYI, Syracuse is ahead of Minnesota in the Capital One standings for best men's sports programs as well. Neither school is listed among the leaders for women's programs. And yes, our softball coach is prettier too.

Link

 

[jekelish]

I'm sure Minnesota is a fine little school, and people get a lot out of their ice fishing majors. However, we boast something you people can never match:

RoboCop received his master's degree from Syracuse and also taught some courses. Suck on that.

 

[baggerbob]

No, that's a good point. I fully acknowledge that those numbers are misleading, and I guess I should have put a stronger disclaimer in the post. I know 5 of the Gopher's Div 3 losses were to Chicago from before 1914, when they were in the Big Ten and a legit cfb team. I'm sure that is the case with a lot of those games.

I tried to make sure that it was clear that it was the current divisions they are in now that were listed. I got the info from cfbdatawarehouse dot com. It looks like he's going to try to create another listing with records reflecting what conf and what division schools were in when the games were played. I was disappointed when I saw that he didn't have that done yet. I thought that he did in the past? But that would be a far more accurate way of looking at everything.

Lets actually talk about modern football and take a time of 17 years from 1987-2003 if you take the final AP poll. Out of the 65 teams that will be in the power 5 next year only Rutgers-0, Indiana-1, Baylor-0, Iowa St-1, Vanderbilt-0, Kentucky-0, Duke-0, Wake Forest-0, Oregon St-1 had less top 25 finishes then Minnesota at-2. Syracuse Had 9 top 25 finishes, including Syracuse only 17 other schools had that many during that time. We have at least had a modern history where we were good, and then our bad period, which this current staff seems to be putting behind us. Then there is your overall record from 1951-2013, 308-361, we had Greg Robinson with his 4 year record of 10-37, yet still during that time of 1951-2013 went 390-300. Your last Big 10 title 1967, how's that for not being relevant, your winning percentage for 63 years .460, ours .565. Come back sometime when you are back in the top 25, or actually have a 17 year period where you get ranked better the 50% of the time. I admit from 1900-1950 your record of 293-102 was amazing, but that is ancient history, we aren't all the way back yet, but you haven't done anything in 60 years. Have a good day!

 

[orangefog]

Hmmm...what lifetime should we base the comparison on? How about what seems to have been a lifetime since this stupid discussion started. I have never read so much useless crap about a school in my life. I absolutely loved the "Tale of the Tape", it was concise and witty. I didn't have to know that Minnesota has the softest toilet paper or that the woman with the biggest collection of Winnie the Pooh crap lives there. The stuff about the dance team dynasty, who gives an ? Is there a day that you don't wear your maroon sweatshirt? Did you have a set of cosmetic gopher teeth made? Where is Buzz Shaw when you need him?

 

[DynstyUgrl]

I guess. We typically brag on our coaches leaving for the next level professionally - not leaving us and doing well at another school, especially a rival. Being a stepping stone to another college means your school doesn't hold onto good coaches - it basically says you're second tier...

A lot of our best FB coaches left here for the NFL. We've had good luck with coaches staying and not "moving up" on the collegiate level.

Cusian, are you really that clueless??? Miami of Ohio is the school that brags about being the stepping stone.

Minnesota isn't and never has been a stepping stone, not to other collegiate jobs and not to the NFL, either. Where did you get that idea? Because I said that Miami of Ohio is a stepping stone?

We KEEP our good fb coaches, our hockey coaches and our Bb coaches/managers. Although we did lose one hockey coach to the NHL, but only after his job with the 1980 US Olympic team garnered him an incredible amount of fame. As for bb? We've had all kinds, even some NBA HOF Coaches, one big cheater, a HOFer's son, some cbb hall of famers, etc..

Minnesota produced one of the best NBA coaches ever, two of the best NFL coaches ever, one of the best CFL coaches ever, possibly the best American born NHL coach ever, the best US Olympic hockey coaches, and some of the very best College football coaches EVER. They couldn't all coach at Minnesota. Bierman DID, and won FIVE Natl Titles, and it took a World War to stop his dynasty from continuing, and it surely would have. No college football program in the country lost more because of Pearl Harbor than the Univ of Minnesota. And Biggie Munn and Bud Wilkinson were already coaching elsewhere when Bierman retired. The timing wasn't right. And we hired first a future hall of famer, then a guy who brought us a Natl Title. And Minnesota hired lots of established coaches or future hall of famers back in the day, so those Gopher alums went elsewhere to get their starts in coaching, and were successful. It's not realistic to think that a school is only going to hire former alums, and in fact, some schools avoid doing so unless the situation is too good to pass up. A lot of it is based on timing.


But your desperately trying to turn this into a criticism is kind of lame. LOL, trying to make us out to be 2nd tier is laughable.
We haven't lost a decent coach to another college team since Lou Holtz, who had a ND clause in his contract, and good riddance to him anyway, I would have rather sucked, like we have, than to have had him and won like ND did. Mason basically came to Minnesota in an effort to either make or break his career. He could have made it into the HOF had he succeeded at UMn. He didn't. We didn't lose him to tOSU or anywhere else. UMn's a destination job. Not the #1 destination necessarily, I'm not deluded, but its a make or break place for people like Glen Mason and Jerry Kill. It broke Mason, so far it looks like it could make Jerry Kill, but its still too early to know, we thought the same of Mason after his first 3 years.

We lost ONE single hockey coach to the NHL, and only after he pulled off the greatest sports upset of the 20th century. We've had just TWO baseball coaches in the last 70-80 years?! First one is in the cBb HOF after winning 3 Natl Titles at Minnesota, the 2nd is still coaching and has the most wins in Big Ten Baseball history!

We had John Wooden basically hired as a bb coach, but a snowstorm prevented us from getting the call through to him, so he went with his 2nd choice, UCLA. It's in his book if you don't believe me.

We passed on Bobby Knight and got a coach that brought us a Big Ten title in his 2nd or 3rd season instead.

We hired a former SIX TIME PRO BB/NBA Title winning coach. We got Tubby Smith. A future HOF coach to come to Minnesota. We took a chance on a future HOF Coaches son. So far it seems to be working out.

We got the US Gold Medal winning Olympic coach to take the VB coaching job. We got his predecessor from a very successful Illinois program. We were and are a destination program in that sport as well. We've only had 2 or 3 wrestling coaches in the schools entire history, basically. We are a final destination.

Seems to me we're pretty well established to be FIRST RATE.

 

[DynstyUgrl]

Lets actually talk about modern football and take a time of 17 years from 1987-2003 if you take the final AP poll. Out of the 65 teams that will be in the power 5 next year only Rutgers-0, Indiana-1, Baylor-0, Iowa St-1, Vanderbilt-0, Kentucky-0, Duke-0, Wake Forest-0, Oregon St-1 had less top 25 finishes then Minnesota at-2. Syracuse Had 9 top 25 finishes, including Syracuse only 17 other schools had that many during that time. We have at least had a modern history where we were good, and then our bad period, which this current staff seems to be putting behind us. Then there is your overall record from 1951-2013, 308-361, we had Greg Robinson with his 4 year record of 10-37, yet still during that time of 1951-2013 went 390-300. Your last Big 10 title 1967, how's that for not being relevant, your winning percentage for 63 years .460, ours .565. Come back sometime when you are back in the top 25, or actually have a 17 year period where you get ranked better the 50% of the time. I admit from 1900-1950 your record of 293-102 was amazing, but that is ancient history, we aren't all the way back yet, but you haven't done anything in 60 years. Have a good day!

If this isn't the worst case of cherry picking I've ever seen, then I don't know what is?

But when your cfb team is only ranked the 50th best cfb program of all time(Billingsley), and you only have 1 Natl Title and have only breached the Top 4-5 in the rankings twice in your entire history, I guess you have to cherry pick in order to find a time period where you can kind of impress, eh?

It's easy to look better than Minnesota in fb if you are talking about any time period after 1967. EASY.

Except for the last 10-15 years. Syracuse has sucked during the last 10-15 years, and Minnesota hasn't been much to write home about either, we just haven't sucked as much as Syracuse has in that period.


Thing is, some of you Syracuse fans talk some major smack like you are all that? Syracuse, outside of Lacrosse and Basketball, really isn't much of anything at all. And even in basketball, you still are not "Elite", seeing as you only have one Natl Title. Minnesota has put more players into the NBA than Syracuse has. Whats up with that????

Don't believe me, go check. I did. UMn grads blow Syracuse grads away in the NBA!!!

I'm not trying to disrespect Syracuse, they've done incredibly well, minus the lack of multiple Natl Titles, in the Big Dance, you all should be proud and I'm not trying to argue that you shouldn't be, but its pretty hard to resist the temptation to slam Syracuse when so many of you all are doing nothing but disrespecting and slamming Minnesota. Why don't you try being more respectful?!