Ex-U AD Tried to Hire Bob Stoops
McKinley Boston told Sports Headliners
during a telephone interview last week that he tried to hire Bob
Stoops as Gophers football coach when Boston was Minnesota’s
athletic director.
The Gophers were floundering
after the 1995 season under coach Jim Wacker. Wacker was 3-8 in 1995 and had won just seven
Big Ten games in four seasons at Minnesota after Boston had hired him
away from TCU. The “Air Wacker” show was a
success offensively, but the Gophers defense was a “bomb.”
Boston, now athletic director at New Mexico State, comes to town this
week for Saturday’s game between the Aggies and Gophers. He talked last
Friday about his memories at Minnesota, where he played for the Gophers
from 1964-67, and later served as athletic director and then as University vice president for student affairs.
Boston said back in the
mid-1990s he had the commitment of governor Arne Carlson,
University president Nils Hasselmo and Minnesota’s Board of
Regents to take Gophers football “back to the glory days” of the 1960s.
“We knew the (public) perception that we were not committed (to
improving football),” Boston said.
Stoops, then the defensive
coordinator for coach Steve Spurrier at Florida, was one of the
hottest young names in college coaching. The Gophers were prepared to
offer a $1 million per season salary, far above the going rate at that
time for a big time head coach.
Spurrier, though, advised his
young assistant (35) to wait another season, predicting the Gators would
win a national championship in 1996 and Stoops could have his pick of
head coaching jobs. Stoops, who knew the Big Ten from playing and later
coaching at Iowa, was also incentivized to stay at Florida by a $500,000
raise, according to Boston. “If Spurrier doesn’t do what he did, I
think we get him,” Boston said.
Oklahoma hired Stoops after the
1998 season and in 2000 he won the national championship. His record at
Oklahoma is among the best in the country and he’s won seven Big 12
titles.
Wacker was allowed to coach
one more season at Minnesota after the Stoops mission failed, finishing 1996
with a 1-7 conference record, 4-7 overall. By then Boston had moved
into academic administration at the U and Gophers athletic director
Mark Dienhart hired Glen Mason from Kansas as head football
coach.
Boston has been athletic director at New Mexico State since December of
2004. He hired Hal Mumme whose passing circus was similar to
Wacker’s and so was his record, never having a winning season with the
Aggies. Now Boston’s coach is DeWayne Walker who played for the
Gophers in 1980-81 and was defensive coordinator at UCLA before going to
New Mexico State. Walker’s first two seasons have been difficult,
winning five games and losing 20.
Both New Mexico State and
Minnesota are historically known as challenging places to win football
games.
“I am very optimistic about
this season,” Boston said last week. “This is his (Walker’s) third
year. There’s a lot of chemistry and a lot of discipline.”
Boston, 65, plans to continue at New Mexico State for another “four or
five years.” This week will likely be his only return to Minneapolis as
AD watching the Aggies since Minnesota and New Mexico State aren’t
scheduled to play beyond this season.
On Friday night a lot of
Boston’s Minnesota friends will gather for a homecoming party at J.D.
Hoyt’s downtown. “Minnesota was home for a long time,” Boston said. “I
spent a total of 15-16 years there. Lots of friends and lots of
memories. I am looking forward to it (coming back).”
