In deciding what topics to write about in a given day, I don't have a ton of rules. In general, I try to write about: things that interest me; things I think will interest readers; and things that other people aren't writing about, either at the Star Tribune or in other outlets.
Depth, recruiting fuel new wave of Gophers football optimism
P.J. Fleck's team won 11 games in 2019 but had momentum derailed by the pandemic. Now the Gophers are trying to pick up where they left off.
May 27, 2021 at 4:23PM
But I am also open to suggestions, and one general rule I have about that is this: If more than one person sends me the same suggestion independently, it's probably worth a long look and possibly attention.
As such, there was this sequence in my email inbox Wednesday morning.
10:28 a.m.: I receive an email from a prominent online sports wagering site with news that the over-under regular season win total for the Gophers football team has been set at 8.5.
10:28 a.m.: One colleague forwards me the odds, with a comment about how that number seems pretty big.
10:29 a.m.: Another colleague forwards me the odds, with a comment about how that number seems pretty big.
And so here we are now. I talked about expectations and optimism for the season with Randy Johnson, our old and now new again Gophers football beat writer, on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Future optimism about this team will be generated by whatever comes of recruiting battles for incoming 2022 players and beyond — an area where Fleck has thrived in the past and should start to thrive again with the return of face-to-face recruiting on Tuesday for the first time in nearly 18 months.
"The biggest thing I've missed is the social interaction. The people, right?'' Fleck said earlier this week. "It's a program built on people.''
Optimism in the here and now starts with the trenches. The Gophers are old, big and deep on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Those are bad traits if you are trying to clean out a swimming pool. They are excellent traits for the offensive and defensive lines.
Oddsmakers must have looked at that, plus returning QB Tanner Morgan, and went game-by-game for the 2021 season and decided enough people would bet on 9-3 to stick the number at 8.5.
The year starts with a home game against Ohio State, an opportunity for a great crowd but also an opportunity to start 0-1. Assuming that outcome, an "over" wager would then be banking on 9 wins in 11 tries — remember, this is a regular-season win total bet — against: Miami (Ohio), at Colorado, Bowling Green, at Purdue, Nebraska, Maryland, at Northwestern, Illinois, at Iowa, at Indiana, Wisconsin.
That is certainly optimistic, but why not have optimism right now — especially with all those big fellas up front on offense and defense.
Fleck's team rolled to 10 regular-season wins two years ago. If he can pick there instead of being sidetracked by 2020's fits and starts (and 3-4 record), anything is possible.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
