Kolpack: NDSU’s 2nd win over Gophers raises questions about Bohl’s future

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North Dakota State head coach Craig Bohl acknowledged at his Monday press conference that he doesn’t pay attention to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision coaches top 25 poll. Then he proceeded to rip it.

He said he was “dumbfounded” how his team could drop from No. 6 the previous week to No. 12 last week without playing. A former voter himself, he said he lost confidence in it, and said “the heck with it, I’m looking at Illinois State,” Saturday’s opponent.

“I’d like to see who’s voting on the deal and post it, I know that,” he said.

If only journalism and coaching changes had that simplistic of a relationship. I’d love to see which athletic director, if any, is interested in Bohl and see the A.D. post it.

After the Bison defeated the University of Minnesota for the second time in three tries, and the fact NDSU is back in the national FCS spotlight after reaching the quarterfinals last year, the coach may be back in the bull market.

Once a volatile bear after the 3-8 debacle of 2009, with success comes that old Rumor Train.

Will the Bison head coach ever catch it out of Fargo? He just signed a seven-year contract the NDSU athletic director said Bohl “is pretty committed here.”

“It would take one heck of a job for him to even consider something else,” Taylor said. “Craig is really happy here. … But you can’t do anything about the rumor thing.”

The rumor thing will continue to escalate at this pace.

Everybody, of course, is hoping this seizure situation with Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill gets taken care of. Football is still a game. But at this rate, you have to wonder what the future holds with the Gophers.

Twin Cities columnists are either calling for him to take the rest of the year off or questioning the coaching capability of the staff. Kill himself said he got outcoached by NDSU on Saturday in the 37-24 loss.

Here’s the other dynamic: How many FCS coaches make it at the FBS level? Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was the poster boy making the jump from Youngstown State. Mike London went from Richmond to Virginia two years ago and the Cavaliers are 2-2 after 4-8 last year.

London won an FCS national title in 2008. Tressel won four titles at Youngstown. Then again, Jerry Moore won three straight national championships at Appalachian State and he’s still there.

History says just beating Minnesota doesn’t qualify you as a hot commodity in the FBS market. You have to win it all at the FCS level, you have to have a pedigree and you have to have a connection with an FBS athletic director, who then would have to sell the idea to the president.

Bohl has the pedigree. But until NDSU marches to Frisco, Texas, and comes away with a ring, it’s hard to put any serious credence to Bohl hopping the FBS train.

The Gophers could be an asterisk. NDSU has proven it can recruit Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas. The Gophers fan base has watched that first hand. The new Minnesota president came from FCS Stony Brook University in New York. And it’s become apparent that no proven FBS coach will touch the Gophers job (see Randy Edsall).8

Bohl already tied for second place for the job after Glen Mason was fired. He didn’t get an interview after Tim Brewster was fired.

For now, the hope is Kill gets his medical situation under control. He’s only coached four games, he’s a tough guy, he took over for a coach who ran a mediocre program into the ground and he has a long-term contract.

Kolpack is a sports reporter for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co. Email him at jkolpack@forumcomm.com.

Tags: craig bohl, college football, sports, bison, columns