(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

We are approaching the 2009 season wanting to know what to expect?

Well, I could assure you Gopher fans, that with a new stadium, new players, and new coaches, we are definitely going to see something different.

Whether it is a new in-game strategy, or a better team. It's going to be different. For now we'll start with the players.

We're getting a solid freshman class with players who will be willing to step up and be contributers for our team. Let's start with our top 5 new faces.

Recruiting

1. Hayo Carpenter- Hayo is one of our best recruits if not the best recruit in this class. He is 5' 11" and ran the 40 with a time of 4.4 and was ranked the best WR at the Junior College level. Now that's something to be excited for! You should expect him to step up right away and do the most out of this class.

2. Michael Carter- Michael is also one of our best recruits that I'm sure most Gopher fans were excited to hear change schools. Michael is the brother of Gopher star Tyrone Carter. Michael was originally committed to WV as he revealed it at the high school football all star game. But decided to change his mind at the last moment. Michael is a CB who was 12th best in the nation. Gopher fans should expect Michael to take time to get used to the organization and become one of our top play makers from years to come.

3. Moses Altiplate- You might know Moses from playing QB at Bloomington, MN. Moses was ranked the 16th best QB in the Nation. He's good sized at 6' 5" 230 lbs and was a huge steal in this recruiting class. When Webbers gone, you could see him as your next QB. But there's still competition ahead of him.

4. Hasan Lipscomb- Hasan is 5' 11" 201 lbs and ran the 40 at a time of 4:38. He is ranked the 24th best RB in the country and will fit in right away with our mediocre running game that needs a lot of help.

5. Ra'shede Hageman- Ra'shede is 6' 6" 251 lbs. You might also be familiar with him from playing at Minneapolis. He is ranked the sixth best TE in the country. He will do very well with a gopher team who are great at developing TE's.

So these top five recruits are ready to show us their play making abilities and will help replace last years seniors. With these guys, you'll forget all about them! I'll guarantee that. Other than losing the seniors, another area that we lost were coaches. It is never a good sign to hear that your coaches left for another team. So all we could hope is that their replacements will do better and will never think about leaving.

Coaching Changes

Last year the only coaching change the gophers made was replacing Everett Withers and bringing in Ted Roof. After watching the huge improvement in the Gopher D last year, Gopher fans really couldn’t have hoped for a better change. But after Roof spent the end of last year for Auburn, the Gophers found themselves doing it all over again.

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