AJ Barker quits Minnesota FB & obliterates Kill on way out
Wow...this is unbelievable.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^
thats alot of words.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:40 PM ^
It's a technique used quite well by the Amish.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:16 PM ^
tl;dr
November 18th, 2012 at 6:46 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:33 PM ^
Kinda like their own poor man's offensive version of Jordan Kovacs. Featured on BTN the Journey this year:
November 18th, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^
This week on the Journey: My coach is a gopher and I would like some cheese with my wine.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:20 PM ^
Minnesota football has not been on my radar since Rickie Foggie left.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^
The sad thing is that he would have gotten a lot of attention from big schools if he didn't post this rant and just quit the team. Now there are going to be questions about his intangibles.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:32 PM ^
I thought it was also a bit weird how he focused on how he felt he was being manipulated and included testimonial from his mom's friend. The fact that staff ridiculed his religious beliefs, made homophobic remarks towards him, and interfered with his medical treatment is damning enough. Finally, what is a "tyraid" and does it involve beanie babies?
November 18th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^
other than what AJ told him?
November 18th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:23 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 7:49 PM ^
Um, a lengthy career says otherwise. 127-73 at 4 stops before Minnesota. Jackass he might be, good football coach he definitely is.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:08 PM ^
That's not my definition of a good football coach. Kill sucks, we all know it.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:42 PM ^
I guess you think Bobby Petrino, Jim Tressel, and Mike Leach are good coaches too then???
November 18th, 2012 at 6:26 PM ^
There are two sides to every story. The thing is that we will probably never get the other side of this one.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:00 PM ^
Which is strange, because usually the only side of the story we get is the coach announcing that the player has left the team for one reason or another. The coach doesn't usually say too much, but rumors and such leak out, and the player never really has a chance to tell their story.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:26 PM ^
He wrote all of that without including a joke about Kill's mustache or gopher like appearance or creepiness in the B1G coaches video? And he decided to break his serious rant on tumblr?
November 18th, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^
You can say that again.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:01 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:28 PM ^
double post- But any way best of luck to Barker and I hope he has a successful career at another school. Funny how not getting a scholarship was a blessing in disguise.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^
golden opportunity lost...a double post that was actually worthy of being a double, since the original reply was "you can say that again"
...soo...close...
November 18th, 2012 at 6:28 PM ^
forget the wisdom of the old cliche..."brevity is the soul of wit."
Count me in the tl;dr camp.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:30 PM ^
I gotta say, with the language that young man used, fuck Jerry Kill. I know it's just one side of the story. But it's hard to believe that kid (after reading what he had to say) is some meathead who has a problem with "the state of things" in the Minnesota program.
I will probably always have the default setting of siding with the player in situations like this. I mean, on one hand, who cares? Right? It's just football. But on the other hand, it's everything 18-21 year olds absolutely cherish when they are capable of playing for a D1 program.
To be fair, fuck anyone who takes that away from a kid. And yes, to me, 18-21 year olds are respectfully "kids."
November 18th, 2012 at 6:48 PM ^
"I know it's just one side of the story." You should have stopped there.
November 18th, 2012 at 8:55 PM ^
Barker's is a pretty convincing side, though.
Even if you grant that there are two sides, that means that there is some legitimacy to what Barker's saying. And if even some of what he's saying is true, there is no way I'd ever let my son play for Coach Kill.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:18 PM ^
Why does granting that there are two sides mean that Barker's side has some legitimacy?
November 18th, 2012 at 6:33 PM ^
Wow. Now maybe I can understand why Sparty is favored over them by so much. Their locker room is going to be a mess this week. This is going to be tough week to manage for the Minnesota coaching staff.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:35 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 9:29 PM ^
with pain is much different than playing with an injury.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:56 PM ^
Any chance this kid is a psych major? He could turn this in as a class assignment as long as there is a 5000 word requirement.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:35 PM ^
This was uncomfortable to read, because it's a reminder that some part of what goes on in college football coaching and training is like sausage-making: if you could actually see the process you would be less happy with the product. I don't know how many coaches belittle their players, mess with their heads, and downplay injuries, but I'm sure it's not just Jerry Kill.
Anyway, IMO Barker should not have published it. I suspect the negative fallout it will generate will not be worth the catharsis he felt when he posted it.
November 18th, 2012 at 6:53 PM ^
Those in football like to see themselves as a civilian version of the military. We all know that is preposterous, but still they believe it. The old tear-you-down-build-you-up approach is something a lot of coaches still use. Unfortunately for these coaches kids today won't tolerate such treatment.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:21 PM ^
It's dying, though. Professional athletes won't put up with it (see Carlesimo, P.J.). The parents of high school athletes are a threat to it if it goes too far. It's in college that it seems to be making its last stand--the players are finally away from home and they aren't yet making more money than their coaches.
Motivation doesn't have to involve humiliation. Even tearing down to build up doesn't have to involve humiliation. There are coaches that understand that; the future is theirs.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:33 PM ^
The military comparisons used in football always make me cringe. I believe it was the former Buffalo Bills coach, Marv Levy, who said something like " I don't think the troops yelled Touchdown! when they stormed the beaches at Normandy."
November 18th, 2012 at 7:39 PM ^
The drill instructors are not as harsh as they used to be. No more Gunnery Sargeant Hartmann's in todays Armed Forces.
November 18th, 2012 at 9:02 PM ^
I pretty much saw the last of that style when I went in the Marines. Even then though, the Drill Instructors really were good motivators. I never felt torn down too much. It is a fine line, I think Kill perhaps went too far.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^
I dunno man... I don't see Hoke & Co. being accused of this...
November 18th, 2012 at 6:36 PM ^
November 18th, 2012 at 6:38 PM ^
I read most of his tirade, and just couldn't help thinking it reflected more on Barker than on Kill. He just came across sounding like a whiner who has convinced himself (with the help of his mother and father) that he's an indispensable star on the team (or as one of the readers of the article posted, he's "a special snowflake").
November 18th, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^
I thought he had some concrete examples of things done wrong by the Kill staff but his novella was a bit dramatic and overboard.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^
And thought the same thing. He really came off as a pre-Madonna to me.
November 18th, 2012 at 7:42 PM ^
How does this differ from a post-Madonna? Would Deborah Harry be considered as the "pre-Madonna?"
November 18th, 2012 at 10:04 PM ^
Lady Gaga would be a post-Madonna
November 19th, 2012 at 7:26 AM ^
It's an old MGo joke...
November 19th, 2012 at 3:14 PM ^
...looking in.
I hate it when I'm not in on the inside jokes!
*shakes fist because he's a relative newcomer to the MGoCommunity and is too old to understand all of the MGoLingo and MGoJokes*