If you’ve sat through the first two 2020 Minnesota Vikings games, then you either hate yourself or you’re stupid. Tony Dungy is neither because it doesn’t look like he’s watched any games that feature our purple and gold. Either that, or he is watching a different Vikings team than I am.

How do I know? He tweeted something pretty bold on Wednesday afternoon. For those of us idiots who have watched just about every minute of Vikings football this season, Dungy’s take seems more uneducated, than it does bold.

Houston, Philadelphia, and Minnesota have a chance. I don’t see any of the other 8 teams winning 9 of the next 14. https://t.co/JmIVppZDyR

— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) September 23, 2020

Wait…. What?

I don’t know anything about the 0-2 Eagles or Texans, other than one has a former DII QB who can’t handle the spotlight, and the other traded their best player in the offseason.

It would take an absolute miracle for the Vikings to turn their ship around and finish 2020 in the playoffs. This is a team that can’t stop anyone on defense and can’t move the ball more than 9 yards per possession on offense.

We have Vikings Twitter fighting daily about whether to blame the coaches or the players (Kirk Cousins). The problem with their argument, is that they’re both right. Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak couldn’t coach themselves out of paper bags right now, but Kirk Cousins couldn’t find an open receiver during a 7-0 drill, if his last life-rock depended on it.

So, I either want some of whatever Tony Dungy is smoking OR I want to know how his hypnotist is. I’m all about some homerism, especially out of a media member… but this tweet goes beyond that. It borders on senile…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Tony Dungy is completely buying into PJ Fleck and the Gopher Football team. Speaking with Big Ten Radio on Sirius XM, the former Gophers legend believes the Gopher Football team is primed to take the next step and potentially become the next Clemson.

He isn’t talking about simply winning the Big Ten Championship or Rose Bowl. Dungy means the whole damn thing. A national championship. 

In 2019 ⁦@GopherFootball⁩ had a breakout season. #Gophers legend and #NFL HOF coach ⁦@TonyDungy⁩ tells ⁦@BenHartsock⁩ and ⁦@PPistone⁩ he thinks the best is yet to come. pic.twitter.com/lTELPZrA6Z

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 16, 2020

Dungy, the Super Bowl XLI winning head coach, has spent some time with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney recently. Having spent so much time there that he’s drawn comparisons to their meteoric rise and the Gophers’ current trajectory.

The number one reason Dungy believes the Gophers can do it? Head coach P.J. Fleck. 

“Clemson, I visited with Dabo Swinney a lot. It was not a place where you say automatically, hey if I take this Clemson job, we’re going to be national championship contenders in three years. It wasn’t looked at that way. The fact that it can happen at Clemson, the fact that it can happen at Minnesota, that makes college football great.”

Tony Dungy on Gopher-Clemson comparison

NOT YOUR USUAL BLUE BLOOD

When you think of blue blood college football programs only a handful come to mind. Ohio State, Alabama, USC, and Notre Dame are a few of them. And while Minnesota may have been in that category more than 60 years ago, they could be on their way back.

Looking at Clemson prior to Swinney, they were nothing to write home about. They hovered between six to nine wins per year for nearly two decades under Tommy Bowden. But once Swinney took over, it was a whole new world. Clemson won the ACC Championship in only Swinney’s fourth year at the helm. While adding two national championships and four playoff appearances between 2015-2019.

That progression is what Dungy was looking at when he made the Minnesota-Clemson comparison. Fleck is entering his fourth year as head coach. Fleck had some early hiccups but is finally seeing results. Those results led to an 11-2 finish in 2019 alongside victories over (#4) Penn State and (#12) Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

And with that, No. 17 Minnesota takes down No. 4 Penn State ?

(via @GopherFootball) pic.twitter.com/lrLHi693MN

— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) November 9, 2019

Throw in both coaches being vibrant, outspoken, and relatable, and the comparison isn’t too hard to see. Fleck relates to his team and he’s getting the best out of them.

THE PIECES ARE THERE

Gopher Football currently boasts quarterback Tanner Morgan receiving Heisman hype, receiver Rashod Bateman being listed as a pre-season All-American and a massive uptick in recruiting. The ingredients are there for the Gophers to take the next step under Mr. Row The Boat.

While the next step may be winning the Big Ten West. That is a huge mental hurdle for the program to make and should be much celebrated when it happens…in 2020. Then it is off to the races as they get back to competing for high-profile bowls and the playoff year in and out.

It won’t be easy. Gopher Football will have to perennially compete with the likes of Wisconsin just to make it to Indy and Ohio State to go any further. But the groundwork has been laid.

If Fleck can continue to see more high-end recruits choose the Twin Cities and develop them, there isn’t much stopping the boat from rowing all the way to national prestige.

Minnesota fans rowing the boat over Penn State’s grave pic.twitter.com/N86IeA6CLY

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 9, 2019

Jack Kewitsch | Minnesota Sports Fan