Q&A: Gopher commit may have a show with Coach Fleck one day
So take me through the end of your recruiting, it seemed like Minnesota came in later there.
They had been recruiting me throughout. I had been talking to Coach Fleck throughout. He wasn’t sure about how interested I was in Minnesota. Once I de-committed from Florida, he was the first person I talked to. We talked for a long time, we had great conversations. The opportunity presented is great. I can come in and play right away, compete – we’re going to be competing for championships soon, really soon – with the class we’re bringing in, the best class Minnesota [has had]. It’s perfect timing. I’m a Jacksonville native, went to IMG Academy, always been in the heat, but something about the snow, I just fell in love when I went up. The atmosphere, everything just fit.
Was that your first time in the snow like that?
Yes sir
First time ever?
First time ever.
So what did you think of that?
I always used to play with mom and my dad and told them if it snowed in Jacksonville for Christmas, that was all I’d want, and now to have the opportunity to go play in the snow and all types of weather and get training from one of the best offensive line coaches and it’s just great because I was just looking at it, when offensive linemen go high rounds from some of those up north schools, Big Ten and I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me.
When you went up there, were you able to see a lot of new places, maybe find some of the better places to eat up there?
Yes sir, we experienced a lot. It was just a great time. Zach [Annexstad]’s from there, so he knew places to go in Minnesota. He’s from an hour and 30 minutes away from there, so we knew places to go. It was fun.
Was it important to have guys you knew go there?
Importance… it was not a big factor. I was going to go where I was going to go regardless because of the opportunity presented -- it just makes you more comfortable. The opportunity fits. Since they are going, it just makes it a lot more comfortable. I’ll be up there with Daniel [Faalele], Daniel’s going to be my roommate, Zach’s going to be my roommate, it's just definitely something that makes me feel a lot better.
Being a Jacksonville kid, was it pretty tough to de-commit from Florida?
It really wasn't pretty tough because I look at what I want for the future. I want to be great, so why not go to the Big Ten and be a great offensive lineman?
Have your parents already made a plan for getting up to games?
Yes,
so with my stipend check, I'll be able to get my mom up to a couple games, we'll start off with two or three my freshman year and go from there. As I save more, we can get more, and she’ll be working and be able to get tickets and then just go from there.
Coach Fleck is a head coach that gets a lot of attention --
Haha, a lot of attention.
As a recruit though, you get to know him away from the cameras, what was he like away from all that?
Crazy. I watched Coach Fleck on his ESPN special, and you expect every coach to act a certain way in front of the camera, but camera’s off, Coach Fleck is the same way. And I love it because that energy is what you need as a player because if a coach doesn’t have energy, why would you want to be out there? But if you have the energy... he's out there racing with us sprinting, doing everything we're doing, it makes it better. He understands. He knows what we're going through is hard and is not taking us for granted, and we're not taking him for granted either.
Did you watch that show before or after Minnesota started recruiting you?
I watched it before. I watched it with Zach because Zach’s my roommate, so he kept it in my ear for me. It was nice and he’s the exact same.
https://247sports.com/Article/QA-Go...ave-a-show-with-Coach-Fleck-one-day-113121533
Go Gophers!!
