Weber cherishes his Gophers years

Adam Weber will conclude his Gophers football career Saturday against Iowa, and despite the poor record of the team over the past four years, he will go down as one of the best quarterbacks ever to wear the Maroon and Gold.

The Gophers' record during the four years that Weber and the other 14 seniors performed was 16-33 overall and 7-24 in the Big Ten, an indication of the bad shape the football program is in.

What is sad is the abuse this 23-year-old young man has taken from the fans and some of the media. He shouldn't have had to take this abuse.

While losing has been tough on Weber, he said it's actually been harder on his parents, who hear the boos and worse from fans sitting near the family.

"I'm sure it's been a lot harder on my parents, especially my mom," he said. "But I believe she's gotten stronger from the whole situation. I believe that we'll all look back on these past four years with a lot of great memories, a lot of great moments.

"I think the most important thing is that it's allowed my family and my extended family to kind of grow closer. Every single Saturday they tailgate together, they watch the games together, and so regardless of the ups and downs and what other people will say, I believe my family has gotten really close because of football and myself playing at the U."

Weber said he expected some criticism as the team's quarterback.

"You realize that's part of the responsibility of the quarterback," Weber said. "You understand when things are going well you have a lot of friends, and when things are going sour, you really find out who your real friends are."

Despite the negatives, Weber describes his playing time with the Gophers as four wonderful years.

"Obviously there's many things that I would have liked to have changed," he said. "I wish we could have won more games and things like that. But all in all, I'm very happy and I feel very lucky to have played these last four years."

Playing under four different coordinators made things difficult for Weber, and he does believe that if the offense had been coached by one, the team might have been better.

"I think consistency within the offense would have helped," he said. "There's always some growing pains whenever you learn a new offense. I hope that in future years, we're able to find someone and stick with them for a while and let that whole system grow, because that's what it's going to take to win football games."

He looks for the Gophers to be much improved next year.

"The new coach will inherit players who have a lot of experience," Weber said. "[With] our weight program, we're stronger and we're faster. I know the results don't show it this year, but I believe we have the talent on this team and the new coach will be inheriting some great football players."

Yes, it would be great if the Gophers could upset Iowa on Saturday, because then Weber and the other 14 seniors would really have something positive to remember after tough college careers.

Liked Childress Adrian Peterson, the great Vikings running back, said he had a lot of respect for fired coach Brad Childress.

"He was a good coach, a good guy," Peterson said. "He gave me an opportunity to come here and be a part of this organization, and I have nothing but respect for him.

"You look in the papers, it shows that not really being on point like we were last year -- third-down conversions, we're taking the penalties -- we have doubled that to this point compared to last year, so that shows and it makes a difference."

Was Peterson surprised Childress was fired?

"In this league you never know what to expect, but we move forward with coach [Leslie] Frazier as our head coach and that's our focus," Peterson said. "Frazier, he's someone I've known since I got here, and he's already had my respect. He's a great leader and someone that when he talks, your ears are up and you listen to the words that are coming out of his mouth. I have confidence in him that he's going to do what it takes for us to win. Yeah, we're definitely going to come out swinging [Sunday against the Redskins] and get this winning streak going."

Peterson still has hope the team will make the playoffs.

"I'm always thinking the best, because anything else is working against itself," he said. "You know I feel like we still have an opportunity, but it starts with us doing our job first. ... We still have six games, so we can finish 9-7 and let the chips fall where they may."

Hoping for Hoke? Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi has been in San Diego, where he interviewed San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke. There is no doubt Hoke is one of the coaches who would fit the Gophers football program.

However Hoke, who is 7-4 this year and 11-12 overall in his two years coaching the Aztecs, has a $1.5 million buyout that will reduce to $1 million after Dec. 15. Hoke, who has three years left on his contract after this year, is earning $675,000 this year, with an additional $50,000 for making a bowl game. Minnesota probably would double Hoke's salary. San Diego State officials might try to raise Hoke's salary, but they are unlikely to match a Gophers offer if he is the man for the job.

Maturi also has written letters to all of the recruits who committed to Tim Brew- ster to convince them to still come to Minnesota while the new coach is being sought.

Jottings The Virginia basketball team that will play the Gophers at Williams Arena on Monday lost 106-63 to Washington and then beat Oklahoma 74-56 in the Maui Invitational. ... The Gophers, ranked 15th by the Associated Press, have an RPI ranking of 13. The Gophers' strength of schedule ranks No. 32.

Former Vikings offensive lineman Artis Hicks is a starting guard for the Redskins. ... Randy Moss has one reception in two games for the Tennessee Titans.

It's hard to believe there were $60 tickets still available for Saturday's Gophers-Iowa football game this week at TCF Bank Stadium, because Hawkeyes fans do such a great job following their team.

Al Newman, the former Twins player and coach, apparently has changed his mind about coaching baseball at Apple Valley High School and hopes to get a scouting job.

Ex-Gophers basketball coach Dan Monson got a nice victory over his formal rival, Iowa, when Long Beach State defeated the Hawkeyes 78-72 on Monday.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com