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player ready...The Big Ten does not need to wait for the media to vote on the Dave McClain Coach of the Year. The conference may ship the trophy to Minneapolis in care of Minnesota head coach Glen Mason.
But make it rush delivery. As the architect of the Big Ten’s latest dramatic turnaround, Mason is bound to become the hottest candidate in the coaching rumor mill that will begin to spin this month.
It happened to Gary Barnett after he worked a miracle in Evanston and to Joe Tiller after he revived Purdue.
Mason, who is in the third year of a seven-year contract, said Tuesday he won’t be distracted by speculation about his future. But he worries it can affect recruiting, which always will be a struggle in a state bordered on two sides by Canada and the sparsely populated Dakotas.
“It does not help you achieve what you want to achieve,” Mason said. “It becomes a perception and people deal more in perception than reality. The kids you’re trying recruit read that stuff, the coaches on your staff read that stuff and their wives read that stuff.”
Mason has developed a shiny resume by rebuilding broken programs. In 1987, he was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year after leading Kent to its first winning record in more than a decade. In 1995, he won Big Eight Coach of the Year for taking Kansas to a 10-victory season; the Jayhawks went 1-10 in 1988, his first year.
Now the 49-year-old New Jersey native has Minnesota (6-3, 3-3) eligible for its first bowl trip since 1986 after stunning then-No. 2 Penn State 24-23 in Happy Valley on Saturday. Mason said he senses the same sort of attitude adjustment in the Twin Cities that took place at his previous coaching stops.
“It’s monumental because you go from being a loser to a winner,” he said. “You just feel so much different about yourself. Your players carry themselves different, the coaches carry themselves different, the secretaries carry themselves different.”
Mason is quick to credit his predecessor, Jim Wacker, with leaving enough talent to compete.
“Really, from day one all they ever said was, `Coach, just tell us what we have to do. We want to win,’ ” Mason said.
Redemption: Tailback Thomas Hamner is one of the better players Mason inherited. The senior from Hamilton, Ohio, who ranks 11th nationally with 122.8 yards per game, has a reputation as a solid big-league back. But he feared he always would be remembered for the fumble that helped ruin Minnesota’s bid to upset No. 1 Penn State in State College two years ago. In reality, a bad call by the officials probably did more to send the Gophers to a heartbreaking 16-15 loss.
“Every time I was working out, every time I was practicing the last two years, I was envisioning coming back (to Beaver Stadium) and making things right,” Hamner said. “This game was personal for me. I felt like I lost the game the last time I was here. You can say what you want about what the refs did the last time, but that game was on my shoulders.”
And so was this year’s game. Facing one of the nation’s tougher defenses, Hamner carried 38 times for 96 yards and caught three passes for 58 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown.
He also didn’t fumble.
“I was gripping that ball so hard coming down the stretch, I think there was air coming out of that thing,” Hamner said. “I think it was flat by the time I got done with it.”
Kind of like Penn State.
Tough fight: Indiana assistant head coach Pete Schmidt, who was Cam Cameron’s first hire when he took over three years ago, has been diagnosed as having cancer.
Schmidt, 51, disclosed his illness in an emotional address to the Hoosiers Saturday morning.
“Pete is so well thought-of here,” Cameron said Tuesday. “He’s one of the finest men in our profession.”
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Schmidt, who is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, will not accompany the team to Minnesota this weekend.