That Time Minnesota Had a Dynasty

Once upon a time, Minnesota owned college football.

The Golden Gophers were a force to reckon with in the 1930s and early 1940s. In a span of 8 seasons, they won 5 national titles, and had a Heisman trophy winner. The last team to three-peat? The Minnesota Golden Gophers in 1934-1936.

Lets go back: in the 1931 season, Minnesota watches as one of their former players, tailback Bernie Bierman, coaches Tulane to an 11-1 season and a Rose Bowl appearance. Meanwhile, the Gophers had just finished a 7-3 campaign, which wasn't bad, but certainly not the 11-1 that Coach Bierman had just experienced. Seeing his success, they convince him to come home and coach for the Golden Gophers. So, in 1932, Coach Bierman takes over and the rest is history.

The style of Bernie Bierman was much like that of modern day coach Dave Aranda: neither shows much emotion and they always seem very even keeled. Bernie ran his offense much the same, with a focus on fundamentals and doing your job. His single-wing formation wasn't flashy, in fact it was often remarked as dull. However, Coach Bierman used it to win an abundance of both Big Ten and National Championships.

It probably doesn't surprise you that Ohio State and Michigan have the most conference in the Big Ten, but would you guess that Minnesota has the third most? Coach Bierman is the 5th winningest coach in terms of Big Ten titles, and is tied for third with Woody Hays with 5 national titles.

In his first year with the Gophers in 192, he finishes a modest 5-3. This would be a small step towards the upcoming run he would start. His 1933 squad improved to 4-0-4 and a Big Ten title. Next year he would reach the pinnacle of the sport, going 8-0 and bringing the Big Ten and a National Title to Minnesota, which he followed up by doing the exact same thing next year. That's right, Coach Bernie Bierman went 3 seasons without a loss, won two titles and 3 conference championships. Next year was a "down year" as his 1936 squad did lose, but they still won the national title with a record of 7-1. The Gophers did regress some in 1937 & 38, losing 2 games in each year, but even then they brought the Big Ten title home to Minnesota. 1939 would end up being the worst year in this run, with the Gophers going 3-4-1.

With the 1940 season on the horizon, there must have been some doubt for Coach Bernie Bierman; his teams had technically been getting worse every year, going from 8-0, to 7-1, then 6-2 to 3-4-1 the prior year. Whatever the outside world thought though, the team at the University of Minnesota clearly didn't listen, as the Gophers would proceed to rip off two consecutive undefeated, national titles seasons. That means that after the 1941 Season, the Gophers had collected 7 Big Ten titles and 5 National Titles from their new coach since 1932.

So how does Coach Bierman respond? Well, pearl harbor was attacked in 1941, which gave him more to think about than just football. After all that he had accomplished, he served 3 years in the Marines during World War II. Coach would return to Minnesota after the war, but never got higher than 3rd in the conference after his return. Still, he accomplished more in an 8 year span than almost every other coach is history. His teams placed fundamentals above all else and they reached the pinnacle of college football 5 times during his tenure. Coach Bierman is a hall of famer for his time in Minnesota, and he reminds us that sometimes there are bigger accomplishments than what is done on a football field.