New AD Teague pays $800,000 to drop football games against Tar Heels

Oct 13, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Golden Gophers running back Donnell Kirkwood (20) runs for six yards in the first quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Under new Gopher athletic director Norwood Teague, the football program recently dropped two games against the University of North Carolina in the 2013-2014 seasons by paying $800,000.

The Gophers swept this year’s non-conference schedule, but this latest move befuddles even the most average fan, especially after these comments from Teague to Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins:

"“It’s a tough decision,” Teague said. “It’s one that we feel like is part of our plan for building a program. It’s one where Coach Kill feels like that playing in the Big Ten is hard enough. We have a young program, and we want our guys to have games in which they can build confidence and do some things rather than playing a BCS program that’s pretty good right now. So it’s kind of part of the overall plan.”"

Paying money (and a lot of money with that) to avoid playing a team that many fans would expect to be an easy non-conference victory is troubling and says a lot about the program and the confidence it has with Kill and its cast of young players.

At least the Tar Heels have been to four straight bowl games.