Welcome to Tuesday everybody. Apologies for the late posting time. I'm just back from vacation and am still getting caught up on both work and Gophers/college FB news so today's Nugz are going to be quicker hitting than usual. Given how long winded I usually am that may actually prove to be a feature not a bug. Still a lot of links to get through though so it probably won't help much.
Tubby's Contract Details and a little more BB
Yep, I'm not opening with football. Don't worry, you'll survive. Amelia Rayno breaks down all the details in Tubby's new contract. Summary? He's making a little more money, his buyout increased, he can't be fired mid-season now, and there is a vague clause about the contract needing to be reviewed at the end of this season. Here's more detail about the money:
· Salary: Smiths’ contract is split into two parts: base salary and supplemental salary. His base salary remained the same ($600,000/year plus an annual increase of at least 5 percent a year – meaning he will actually be making roughly $765,000 in base salary for 2012-13 based on those minimum raises -- but his supplemental increased by $50,000/year, going from $1.15 million per year to $1.2 million. This will pay him $250,000 more in supplemental salary over the remaining life of the contract. It also means his overall salary for the 2012-13 season is close to $2 million.· Buyout: Previous to the new extension, in the scenario in which Smith was fired without cause, the University would have had to pay him a $1.5 million buyout. That had gone down from $2 million a year on May 1. Under the new deal, Minnesota would have to pay him $2.5 million (or half his remaining base + supplemental salary for the rest of the contract if that amount is less than $2.5 million) for firing him without cause. As of now, he has more than $10 million in base + supplemental remaining on his contract, so the $2.5 million buyout is the working figure for at least the next two seasons.
There were also incentive changes and a set of events that trigger an automatic 1 year contract extension. Those events are good incentives though, as they are winning a B1G title, winning a B1G tourney title, or reaching the Sweet Sixteen.
- FSN notes that this contract keeps Tubby near the top of the pile in D1 deals.
- Something called TheBestBasketballBlog (no bragging there) debates whether the extension was a good idea.
- Amelia Rayno delivers a post called "In the words of Trevor Mwbakwe." Among the many notes is the fact that Trevor feels he is 1 month away from being ready for full contact.
- The Gophers ACC/B1G Challenge matchup versus Florida State on 11/27 will be on The Deuce.
Ok, enough with that. On to football!
Football
I'll start with a quick roundup of links from the first part of this week. A roundup of late Friday through the weekend is after the jump.
Mon 8/6/12
Now that we're all caught up from the weekend, let's focus in on the news that has come out yesterday and so far today:
- Phil Miller offered a quick roundup of Monday's session. High points? The team is back to wearing the old practice helmets, Kill spent a lot of time working with the young guys, and the team won't be in full pads until Wed. He also took a look at how the staff used their connections to land their new trio of JUCO defensive backs. Sid also devoted the first chunk of his column to the JUCO's.
- Fuller's blog says DCT is still interested in running track at the U, though football is still the #1 priority. He also notes that Isaac Fruechte (who I think flew under the radar with McDonald and Harbison coming in) has been impressive thus far. He takes all the WR notes and delivers an article focusing on potential improvements to the vertical passing game.
- The Gopher Sports blog also focuses on the WR corp. They also posted a Mike Grimm interview video with Gray from the Media Days. Gopher Gridiron delivers Day 3 photos as well as video. Rounding out the multimedia bonanza is some audio of Coach Kill's post practice interviews.
- FSN has their quick hits from Monday's practice.
- The Big Ten Football Dude thinks the Gophers are doing a nice job of flying under the radar. He highlights the fact that despite the optimism you hear/see, the team isn't talking big.
- FBT's emann continues his "15 for 2012" series with Mike Rallis at #6. If you've missed some of that series you can find the rest here.
Today 8/7/12
- Scoggins profiles a guy we all know has the potential to be huge for the Gophers, DT Ra'Shede Hageman. Shede says all the right things about it being on him to take the next step. I really hope he does...if everything falls in to place for him he'll be a lot of fun to watch (besides setting himself up for a shot at the NFL).
- Miller eschews a flashy profile and focuses on workhorse blocking fullback Mike Henry.
- An Iowa rag uses a questionable headline on an otherwise solid piece profiling Gray.
- emann continues the FBT "15 for 2012" with a look at #5, Ed Olson.
- Gopher Gridiron has photos from today's practice.
Post Nugz 8/3/12:
- New Gopher Q&A with Lincoln Plsek.
- Sandell focuses in on the critical need for WR's to step up as well as other notes from Friday.
Sat. 8/4/12
- Phil Miller felt the Gophers didn't miss a beat in their first practice, a feeling that Fuller shared.
- Miller also had a post about Michael Carter's focus and intensity coming into the season. Again, Fuller shared similar thoughts in a nugget filled blog post that focused first on the senior LB leadership.
- Keeping with the STrib, Scoggins feels a bowl game is a realistic goal for this year's Gophers team.
- OC Matt Limegrover dropped 118 pounds during this off season. He is no longer a Diet Coke addict. Congrats Coach!
- Nate Sandell's opening practice post hit all the themes listed above. Same for Gaardsy's take on the KFAN Blog.
- The Gophers Sports blog continues the "hit the ground running" theme while Gopher Gridiron offers up photos from Day 1.
- FSN focused in on the young receivers.
Sun. 8/5/12
- The WR's displayed the ability to make tough leaping catches on Day 2 says Phil Miller.
- Good news! Sandell feels that James Gillum is living up to expectations thus far.
- FBT offers up a view of Sunday's practice. MV also takes a look at speedy new commit Jalen Myrick.
- Gopher Sports says Kill was pleased with the progress on Day 2. Gopher Gridiron has Day 2 photos.
B1G Football
- ESPN has been running a B1G Players Poll focusing on what coaches players would like/hate to play for. Here is Part 1 and Part 2. Summary? Everyone knows Bielema is a tool.
- B1G coaches share their thoughts on other teams (anonymously of course). Nothing suprising in how opposing coaches size up the Gophers and Jerry Kill.
Uniforms and Marketing
- Thank your lucky stars Nike didn't eff our new uni's. The one off special unis that Adidas is giving Nebraska and Wisconsin for their 9/29 game are U-G-L-Y. This is the sort of trainwreck I'm glad the Gophers avoided.
- Northwestern became "Chicago's Big Ten Team" a few years back. It seems that the University has had enough of that, because they just decided to brand themselves as the B1G team for the whole state. Their new slogan? "ILLINOIS. OUR STATE. OUR TEAM." Oooooh...burn.