[NU Sports] Dunbar rumors?

[Joe Thiegs]

Well, that's the main reason I'm skeptical, especially since Dunbar
generally has been considered to have done a good job in his first year at
Cal, the opener at Tennessee notwithstanding.  Also, I thought one of his
draws to the west coast was that he has family out there.  The only thing I
can think of that might be an issue is that maybe he feels like he doesn't
have as much autonomy as he expected, given Tedford's reputation as a head
coach who likes to call plays.  Brewster has gone on record saying that he
doesn't expect to be calling plays on Saturdays but will instead hire a
talented OC and DC and let them do their jobs so he can just focus on
managing the game and the team.  Going from OC at a top-10 program at Cal to
the not-so-top-10 program at Minnesota might be seen as a bit of a step down
to some, but the rumor I read indicated that an Assistant Head Coach title
could be part of the mix.  That might be appealing to a guy who either wants
to be a head coach or who wants some of the upside of being a head coach
without all of the downside.  The speculation I've read also indicates that
the Minnesota job would come with a significant pay increase from what he's
getting now, so I suppose there's always the chance he could be leveraging
that into a higher salary at Cal.

As for whether it's really a step down, first remember where Cal was just a
few years ago.  Second, remember that only six schools (Notre Dame, Alabama,
USC, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Ohio State) have more recognized national
championships than Minnesota.  The Gophers' six titles are more than teams
like Miami (5), Nebraska (5), Pitt (5), Georgia Tech (4), Tennessee (4), and
Texas (4) have.  (I suppose I should point out that Harvard has four
recognized titles too). The problem is that the last of the Gophers'
championships was almost half a century ago, and the fans who were students
during the most recent one are hitting retirement age.  Still, I think
Minnesota is a sleeping giant--more so than Michigan State, which everyone
seems to refer to with that metaphor--and certainly has more tradition and
built-in advantages than Iowa and Wisconsin (at least, the advantage gap
will close after the new stadium opens in 2009), and the Hawkeyes and
Badgers each have become pretty big players on the national scene in the
recent past.

-Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Jeff Beamsley
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:10 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Dunbar rumors?

That would be an awfully short trip to the west coast wouldn't it?

The Cal program seems on the upswing basically because of improved offense.
>From a career point of view, staying seems like a better opportunity for
Dunbar.  Tedford gets hired away, Dunbar is in line.  Cal continues to be
successful, Dunbar gets hired away as a HC.  OC's at successful college
programs are getting a lot of visibility these days.

Jeff


-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
Behalf Of Joe Thiegs
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:38 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: [NU Sports] Dunbar rumors?

Sorry to interrupt the McGee thread (not really), but speaking of NU
offensive coordinators, has anyone else heard rumors about Dunbar possibly
coming back to the Big Ten as the new OC / Assistant HC for Minnesota?
There is talk of that possibility on Cal and Gopher message boards this
morning.  Some Cal fans speculate that maybe he is not that happy in his
current role because Tedford still calls many of the shots on offense.
Interesting development, if true, but I'm not holding my breath yet.  -Joe
 
 
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