Save Gopher Football

I thought it was just me thinking this way. I was really encouraged to see that a group of former Gopher football players and Alumni placed an ad in the Minnesota Daily this week asking that Joel Maturi not be allowed to hire the next Gopher football coach. Maturi is a joke. The Athletic Department is a financial mess, and new leadership is needed not only on the field, but in the administration to get the program headed toward respectability again.

Personally I'd love to see Mike Grant hired; but I'm not qualified to make the decision any more than Maturi has proven to be.

The text of the letter is as follows:

PRESIDENT BRUININKS
HOW MUCH WILL MATURI COST US THIS TIME?

Athletic Director Joel Maturi is using the same process and people who produced Tim Brewster to hire our next football coach. Why should we expect a better outcome this time? The A.D.’s last hire cost us more than $4 million in coach salary and 4 years of lost momentum for our football program. Another misstep could condemn Minnesota football to permanent mediocrity. It’s 4th down for Gopher football…with so much on the line, do we really want to hand the ball again to the same person who fumbled his last assignment?

THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN FOOTBALL

Over the last five years, the Athletic Department has cost the University MORE THAN $26 MILLION in subsidies and deficits. With the University’s budget under tremendous pressure, with a legislative request for $1.2 BILLION for the next 2 years and with EVER HIGHER TUITION BILLS, this is money we can put to better use elsewhere on campus.Even worse, the University is missing an opportunity for TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ADDED REVENUE. Most Big Ten athletic departments operate in the black, raising more than they spend, with football as the economic engine. Football programs can be a source of community and alumni pride bringing in millions more in donations, sponsorships and partnerships supporting academic programs far beyond the football field. We’ve seen it happen in WISCONSIN and IOWA. With new leadership, there is no reason it can’t happen here, too.

As former Gopher football players, now taxpayers and businessmen, we can no longer stay silent. A world-class university with a new football stadium deserves excellence in ALL areas, including the leadership of its once proud football program. The team deserves a top quality coach. It’s not too late and we don’t have to “settle.” We just have to speak up—loudly and in one voice. Please join us.Help ensure Joel Maturi isn’t the one to hire the next Gopher Head Football Coach.

Go to: www.SaveGopherFootball.com to help