Minnesota’s Head Coach Draws Fire : College Football: Big Ten commissioner, U of M take disciplinary action after blast at officials.

The Big Ten and the University of Minnesota have disciplined Minnesota football Coach John Gutekunst for publicly criticizing conference officials.

During his weekly news conference Wednesday, Gutekunst said he believed the Gophers were treated unfairly by officials who he said have preconceived ideas about the outcome of each game, and he questioned whether underdogs are treated less favorably by officials. He listed incidents in games against Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin to back up his claims.

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, saying Gutekunst violated a conference rule prohibiting undue public criticism of officials, reprimanded and censured Gutekunst Thursday.

“Coach Gutekunst’s comments of Nov. 8 were in violation of this standard,” Delany said in a statement. “Conference policy encourages coaches to communicate their feelings to the conference’s supervisor of football officials through the proper channels.”

Gutekunst also was reprimanded by Minnesota men’s Athletic Director Rick Bay, who said in a statement that he spoke with Gutekunst and then filed a letter of reprimand in the coach’s personnel record at the athletic department.

Bay said this is Gutekunst’s first such offense, but he warned that further such violations would result in more serious penalties.

Bay said he was taken aback by Gutekunst’s comments.

“I was a little surprised, but I knew he was frustrated,” Bay said.

Fans and the news media have speculated all year about the job status of Gutekunst, whose team was 2-7-2 last year and has struggled despite building a 5-3 mark this year. Bay has said he won’t decide on Gutekunst’s future until after the season.

The Gophers, who are 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, are the most penalized team in the conference with an average of 8.5 penalties a game. The difference between the Gophers’ penalties and their opponents’--four penalties a game--is by far the highest in the league. The next closest is Illinois, with a difference of 1.6 penalties a game.