Monday, January 01, 2007

Gophers Try to Dig Out of a Hole

Glen Mason said he was "extremely disappointed" when he received a phone call from Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi informing him his services were no longer needed. Of course, a lot of people were extremely disappointed when Mason's team blew a 31-point lead Friday night in the Insight Bowl and lost to Texas Tech, 44-41, in overtime. Mason did a lot of good in his 10 years at Minnesota, but he also built a legacy of turning victories into defeat. In the 2000 Micronpc.com Bowl, Minnesota blew a 24-0 lead and lost to North Carolina State, 38-30. Then came a 2003 game against Michigan, when Minnesota lost a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 38-35 loss. In between, Mason, an Ohio State grad, lobbied for the Buckeye job in 2001 that eventually went to Jim Tressel. Mason nearly lost his job last year, but an 11th-hour deal rewarded him with a five-year contract. Mason leaves with a pedestrian 123-121 record, including 32-48 in the Big Ten.

3 comments:

Jeff said...

You need to fix your entry. Minnesota lost to North Carolina STATE in the MicronPC.com Bowl. NOT "North Carolina".

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that Jeff. Correction made!

The Wiz

Anonymous said...

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigten/minnesota/coaching_records.php

Glenn Mason won over 53% of hs games at U of M. The last coach with a winning percentage better was ther in 1942-1944. Even the great Lou holtz had a losing record ther. Do you really think Mason's replacement will be more successful tha he was?