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Glen Mason (official thread)

If Glen knows what he is doing, he'll get on a flight to Colorado. There's nothing quite like the hang man's noose to focus a committee's attention. I think he has done a good job at Minnesota and they will have difficulty attracting his equal at the same salary if he leaves.

The phrase I underlined says it all. This process illustrates that Minnesota wants the best coach they can get for a certain amount of money.

Ohio State hires the best coach they can get.

Extend Minnesota's bargain shopping to every other aspect of the program and you begin to understand their perpetual mediocrity.
 
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Update on Mason's status.

As for Mason, who has one year left on his contract, he might be better off letting the University of Minnesota fire him and pay him for 2006. Mason also would be paid a $2 million annuity. He would not have a problem getting a good job starting with the 2007 season.

However, look for Mason and the university to work out a multiyear contract by the end of today. They have given him a final offer, and I'm told that is it.

Defense a problem

Since Mason took over as Gophers coach in 1997, the team has set all types of records running the ball and producing an offense that ranks with the best in the country.

But the defense has been a different story.

The change in defensive coordinators has not helped. It was the same story with all of Mason's defensive coordinators with the Gophers: David Gibbs, Moe Ankney, Greg Hudson and now David Lockwood, who took over the position this season.

Better defensive athletes is the answer.

The Gophers showed their defensive problems again Friday, playing like they did when they gave up 52 points to Iowa in the final game of the season, a game in which the Hawkeyes passed at will. The Gophers led Virginia 21-10 Friday in the first half of the Music City Bowl in Nashville, having given up only a total of 145 yards to the Cavaliers.

But in the second half, Virginia wound up passing for 365 yards and gaining 468 yards on offense.

At one time in the first half Friday, the Gophers had gained 143 yards to only 1 by Virginia. And leading 21-7, the Gophers had a chance to extend the lead to 21 points when they drove deep into Virginia territory.

I don't know what the answer is. But somehow the Gophers have to find a way to play better defense. Like all of the coaches say, defense wins games.
 
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1/2/06

Mason gets four-year extension at Minnesota


Minnesota has reached an agreement on the key terms of a four-year contract extension with football coach Glen Mason, the university announced late Saturday night.

The extension will last through 2010 and pay Mason an average of $1.65 million per season. He will also be eligible for up to $750,000 in incentive bonuses tied to on-the-field performance and graduation rates.

"We are extremely happy to have an agreement on the key terms of the contract," Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said in a prepared statement. "I have said all along that we were committed to keeping coach Mason at the University of Minnesota and today is certainly an indication of that desire."

Mason and university administrators made an oral commitment to reach an extention after Friday's Music City Bowl, which Minnesota lost to Virginia.
Minnesota did not want Mason to enter his final season without an extension and said it would not renew his assistant coaches' contracts without it. The assistant coaches' contracts were set to expire on Saturday night and would automatically roll over.

Mason came to Minnesota in 1997 after turning around the Kansas program. He completed his ninth season at Minnesota with the Gophers' fourth consecutive bowl appearance and sixth in seven years, the most bowl appearances under one head coach in school history.

Minnesota's 32 wins over the last four seasons are the best four-year performance by the Gophers since 1902-05.


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2/1

Posted on Wed, Feb. 01, 2006
Top recruit explains snub of U

BY RAY RICHARDSON

<!-- begin body-content --> Matt Carufel, Cretin-Derham Hall lineman who picked Notre Dame
Pioneer Press
'Minnesota was close, but it doesn't help them that they don't have an on-campus stadium. It's not a football school. If I was a hockey player, Minnesota would be my first choice. They're just not a big-time program.'
The words of Cretin-Derham Hall offensive lineman Matt Carufel could send chills through the University of Minnesota football program for years to come.
Carufel, ranked No. 56 among USA Today's top 100 seniors, had no hesitation when he talked about his reasons for picking Notre Dame over the Gophers.
"Minnesota was close, but it doesn't help them that they don't have an on-campus stadium," Carufel said. "It's not a football school. If I was a hockey player, Minnesota would be my first choice. They're just not a big-time program."
How does Gophers coach Glen Mason deal with such a perception, especially when it comes from a homegrown, nationally ranked player?
Mason will have a chance to address the issue today when NCAA rules allow him to comment on recruits signing their national letters of intent. Today is the first day of college football's one-week signing period.
Carufel's preference for Notre Dame reflects what could be a modest recruiting year for Mason and his staff. Mason expects to get signed commitments from at least 20 players, including six from Minnesota, but the group does not rate highly with national experts.
The Gophers' 2006 class is ranked 59th by Rivals.com and 76th by ESPN.com, which also rated the Gophers 10th in the Big Ten Conference. Only Indiana had a lower Big Ten ranking. The Gophers have no recruits among ESPN.com's top 150 players or USA Today's Top 100.
Carufel, listed at 6 feet 5, 280 pounds, helped Notre Dame achieve a No. 7 national ranking from Rivals. Penn State was ranked fourth, Ohio State 10th and Michigan 13th.
Perhaps the most glaring message for the Gophers is that Illinois, 0-8 in the Big Ten last season, is ranked fourth in the conference by Rivals and No. 31 nationally. Illinois was ranked No. 24 before commitments at other schools had been confirmed by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Former Florida coach Ron Zook, in his second year at Illinois, landed two players on ESPN.com's top 150 — tight end Jeff Cumberland of Columbus (Ohio) Brookhaven, No. 66; and wide receiver Chris James of Chicago Morgan Park, No. 126.
"Illinois would normally be down, but sometimes there's a lot of excitement when a new coach comes in," said Mike Farrell, national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "Zook is a great recruiter, and he's doing a good job of protecting his borders."
Two days ago, Mason lost a player who had given him a commitment last summer. Offensive lineman Brad Thorson of Mequon Homestead, rated the No. 8 prospect in Wisconsin, changed his mind and will play for new Badgers coach Bret Bielema. Cretin-Derham wide receiver Kim Royston, recruited by the Gophers, also will sign with Wisconsin today.
Aundre Henderson, a Rivals "four-star" defensive tackle from Louisville (Ky.) DuPont Manual, backed out of his commitment to the Gophers in December and will sign today with the University of Louisville.
The Gophers' disappointing finish (7-5) and Mason's late-season contract talks, which nearly led to his departure, might have contributed to the program's recruiting troubles.
"Everything slowed down for Minnesota when they started losing games, and then there was the coaching situation," Farrell said. "If kids aren't aware of it, the parents are. No doubt, schools used that situation against Minnesota."
Mason signed a five-year contract Dec. 31, but the delay and uncertainty caused some recruits to have second thoughts.
Wayzata linebacker Tommy Becker, who led the Trojans to the Class AAAAA state championship in November, said he would have changed his mind as well if Mason had left. Becker committed to Minnesota after taking his official visit in December. He chose the Gophers over Iowa State, Oklahoma and Kansas.
Becker challenged future prospects in Minnesota to "step up their game" to help Mason and his staff increase in-state recruiting.
"A lot of kids from Ohio and Texas are on the team," Becker said. "Maybe the kids in Minnesota need to improve their performance. I'm going to the U to do what I can to get on the field and play so I can help change things."
Ray Richardson can be reached at rrichardson@pioneerpress.com.
 
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Fitzgerald, Mason optimistic about future of programs

By Bruce Hooley
Special to ESPN.com



There are traces of defiance in both their voices, proving neither Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald nor Minnesota's Glen Mason has conceded what everyone outside their programs accepts as fact:

ncf_u_fitzgerald_195.jpg

Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE
Pat Fitzgerald took over a tough situation, but sees improvement from his squad regularly.


Defeat on Saturday is as certain as the sunrise.

The coaches of the two winless programs in Big Ten conference play, Fitzgerald and Mason must feel like they've stumbled into some sort of masochistic reality show for guys with million-dollar contracts.

At a time when both covet something positive on which to build, there is instead this bit of unrelenting reality from a coldhearted schedule maker:

Minnesota at No. 1 Ohio State.

Northwestern at No. 2 Michigan.

And so the two worst teams in the league prepare for respective good, old-fashioned butt-kickings, because there have been precious few advancements in butt-kickings lo these many years.
Wait ? that previous sentence is being reviewed, and there is indisputable video evidence which shows a new wrinkle on butt-kickings developed just last week.

Coincidentally -- or, not -- at Northwestern and Minnesota.

The Wildcats had a 38-3 lead on stumblebum Michigan State midway through the third quarter, before allowing the biggest comeback in Division I-A history in an eventual 41-38 loss.

The Gophers, not to be outdone, offered the nifty trick of being embarrassed by a Division I-AA opponent in a game Minnesota actually won.

That's right, even though a blocked final-play field goal preserved a 10-9 victory over North Dakota State, the Gophers were left to do everything but issue a retraction afterward.

"I'm not so sure we should have won by the way we played," said quarterback Bryan Cupito, whose team was outgained North Dakota State (380-249), and had 11 fewer first downs, 22 fewer offensive plays and suffered a 10-minute deficit in time of possession.

Minnesota's student section contributed to the sideshow by serenading its head coach with chants of, "Fire Mason."

Never mind that he signed an five-year, $8.6-million extension after last season.

At 0-4 in the league and 3-5 overall, Mason is being forced to defend himself after guiding the Gophers to bowl games in each of the previous four years and six of the nine seasons he's been in Minneapolis.

"If you're worried about criticism, you probably shouldn't be a major college head football coach," Mason said. "If you don't think you're going to have to endure some tough times, don't take the Kent State job; don't take the Kansas job; don't take the Minnesota job."

Those are the three places Mason has been the head coach, so he's sort of the Ty Pennington of his trade.

Talk about your Extreme Makeovers: His six bowl trips double the number Minnesota made from 1975 (when the Big Ten began allowing more than one team to participate in the postseason) until his arrival in 1997.

ncf_u_mason_195.jpg

Bruce Kluckhohn-US PRESSWIRE
Glen Mason led Minnesota to unprecedented success, but isn't feeling the love from fans.


"This is my 10th year," Mason said. "Some of those people who might have been in the stands [chanting] were eight or nine years old when I came here ? and Minnesota wasn't very good against anybody."

While no one is yet screaming for Fitzgerald's firing, Northwestern has lost five straight games for the first time since 2002 and is staring at its first six-game skid since 2001.

At 31, Fitzgerald is the youngest head coach in Division I-A.

Is he getting a pass from Wildcats faithful because he's still learning on the job?

Because he took over in the toughest of circumstances, by his own admission some 10 years before he envisioned, after the tragic death of Randy Walker this summer?

Because Fitzgerald was a Northwestern legend, leading the Purple to Pasadena in 1995 and to another Big Ten title in 1996 as the nation's best linebacker both seasons?

Yes, yes and yes.

But Fitzgerald also deserves high marks for the consistency of his message in a season in which Northwestern was bound to struggle -- Walker or no Walker -- because of losing four-year starter Brett Basanez at quarterback.

The guy expected to replace him, C.J. Bacher, got his first start Saturday against Michigan State.

He wasn't cleared to practice until Sept. 25 because of a fractured fibula.

Bacher will start again Saturday at The Big House, where Fitzgerald sees roses in a task fraught with thorns.

"I think our guys have plenty of motivation to go into this game," he said. "It's a great opportunity for us to continue to build on what we did the first 2? quarters last week. We have evidence that we can play our own style of football now in Big Ten play. We need to go out and finish a game and give ourselves a chance to win."

Mason doesn't even frame the trip to Ohio State in those terms. Once, the trip was a homecoming for him, a return to his alma mater where he played for Woody Hayes and coached with The Old Man and Earle Bruce, before embarking on a career path he hoped would someday return him to the Ohio Stadium sideline.

That seemed likely after his underdog Gophers upset No. 5 OSU in the Horseshoe in 2000, but the job ultimately went to Jim Tressel less than three months later.

Now Tressel has one national championship with the Buckeyes and perhaps another in the offing, plus a 33,000 square-foot indoor facility that's undergoing a 57,000 square-foot expansion at a cost of $20 million.

As for Mason?

He doesn't even have an on-campus stadium, just one on the drawing board for later this decade.

He does have those students, though. The ones chanting for his firing.

"Some of the things haven't changed at all [at Ohio State] since I was a student, like the tradition of dotting the 'i' [in Script Ohio]," Mason said. "But that stadium has changed, their [indoor] facility has changed, and everything about how they do business has changed. So you're in a very competitive business, and we've just got a long, long way to go ? to being a consistent contender in this league when you're not one of those places that would be a 'Have.'

"Let's face it: I don't think anybody would argue that some schools have built-in advantages and some schools have built-in disadvantages."
 
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