Shooter: Season schedule "should easily allow first-year coach PJ Fleck a 5-0 start"

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How do you row a boar? Simply type fast, fat finger an r and don't get over to the t. And, since I just wrote the sentence, I would remember what I was trying to say, so I didn't bother to proof read. And there you have it. I guess I'm not a skilled typist. I'll own that. I promise that I will work to try to get better. Thank you for your comments. All comments are appreciated and count as hits. I'm sure that the management of this fine site will appreciate all of your hits. Hits help with the advertising budget you know. The more hits...the more the management can charge for ads. It's all good.

Of course, you could always just name the damn row boat BOAR...
 

I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.
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Felt the same way when Tubby was let go. Takes a while but you'll get over it.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.
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I totally get that. I didn't support the coach change, but am optimistic PJF can bring us to new levels. However, I find it comical that all the folks on here that would hit up a GH with PJF behind the wall have been lowering expectations from the second he was hired.


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short ornery norwegian said:
I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.
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I fully understand how you feel, but let's not hold anything against the new coach, his staff, the team, or the players. Place it where it belongs. On Kaler and Coyle. PJF just came off a 13-0 regular season. That is beyond outstanding. It is elite. May the Gophers see a 13-0 season before long!
 


short ornery norwegian said:
I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.
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I'm pretty similar. I think we may have peaked under Claeys though and hopefully fleck can raise ceiling. I still have nightmares of losing to fcs teams and giving up 40 yard naked bootlegs for td on 4th and 1
 

CoMn said:
Ozzy: I think we were supposed to beat Iowa...
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Going into the year few people would have had us beating Iowa. It was a toss up at the time as Iowa had lost a couple.


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BroncoRedux said:
You will know when the Minnesota football program has arrived. Opposing teams will play their best against us. Minnesota will almost never be a homecoming opponent. Pre-season polls will include Minnesota even when “fans” know they are not deserving that particular year. Coaches on the team will be sought after head coaches. A 5 – 0 start is a meaningless stat in the journey to becoming an elite football program. Where Minnesota football is in 5 years will tell the entire story. I suspect it will be in a good place.
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The good news is we are not staring from the basement. We are not the homecoming opponent any more, and opposing teams have known they needed to play their best to beat MN. There is more respect to get, but Fleck is not stepping into a down program.


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Easily start 5-0? While I understand that we beat most of these teams in 2016 and our program is in better shape currently than any of them, 5-0 is never easy. It's 5 FBS teams, including 2 bowl teams from 2016 and a cross-country road game against a P5 foe. Then a B1G road game, which is always a challenge.

Add in a new staff, new systems, new QB, and whatever hangs over from the suspension and we should feel elated with a 5-0 start. 4-1 is probably more real.
 



Breakin' The Plane said:
Funny how Mitch was the worst QB in Gopher history, but the QB position is a major concern. How could it be any worse ?
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Yep...I've brought that up several times in other threads. There's definitely some sort of concern within the Hire PJ crowd about expectations for this year. With five home B1G games and a lot of talent on the bench, I would have expected TC to win 8 regular season games.

Iowa has lost almost every skill player on offense and Nebraska is going with a transfer QB who is a 50% passer and can't run, at all. Both those games should be close to toss ups.
 

fmlizard said:
Easily start 5-0? While I understand that we beat most of these teams in 2016 and our program is in better shape currently than any of them, 5-0 is never easy. It's 5 FBS teams, including 2 bowl teams from 2016 and a cross-country road game against a P5 foe. Then a B1G road game, which is always a challenge.

Add in a new staff, new systems, new QB, and whatever hangs over from the suspension and we should feel elated with a 5-0 start. 4-1 is probably more real.
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I gave a half dozen examples of teams with new coaches and staffs over the past 5 years who did not miss a beat and continued success. PJ's offense and defense are similar and Gophs have smart, talented players. Don't see an issue with them picking up the schemes at all.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I'm just waiting for one of the Fleck apologists to make the argument that next year is his 1st year as a head coach - at a major conference - so we should lower our expectations.

Can't have it both ways - Fleck is either one of the best young coaches in the country, or he's not. If he is, then expectations should be set accordingly. We've been hearing about Claeys' flaws all season - so clearly one of the best young coaches in the country should be able to do better, right?

I am a Gopher fan - I will root for the program, and root for the players.

BUT - to be perfectly honest, if Fleck somehow falls on his face next year, the evil reptile part of my brain will be getting some sick enjoyment out of the situation.

Sorry, but the more hype we get, the more I am inclined to dislike Fleck. I don't like being in this position, but it's how I feel.

Where I'm at today - the guy could turn out to be a great coach, but the way Claeys and his staff were treated has left me very upset, and right now, I'm holding that against Fleck. May not be fair, but it's how I feel. I just can't stand the hype and the BS.[/QUO

Totally agree SON! Well said.
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Tough to call the season this early. Let's see who comes back. Interesting, PJ not even sniffing at the JC ranks
so far.
 





Johnnyboy18 said:
Where is all this great talent returning everyone is seeing? No quarterback that has started a game. No proven reciever. Solid tight ends. Decent at best offensive line. Good running backs. Decent d-line. Good linebackers. Questionable secondary considering no one knows who's going to be on the team next year. How is this loaded with talent?
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A ton of players saw the field with good playing time in 2016. There is a lot of talent just waiting for the opportunity just like Cashman, Coughlin, Smith, Poock, Brooks, Celestin, Devers, Johnson,Barber, Huff, Elmore...etc. I have no doubt there are many more like these players waiting for the chance to step up.
 


PMWinSTP said:
Yep...I've brought that up several times in other threads. There's definitely some sort of concern within the Hire PJ crowd about expectations for this year. With five home B1G games and a lot of talent on the bench, I would have expected TC to win 8 regular season games.

Iowa has lost almost every skill player on offense and Nebraska is going with a transfer QB who is a 50% passer and can't run, at all. Both those games should be close to toss ups.
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The QBs we have on the roster with college experience at QB are

Connor Rhoda 7/15 82 yards 1 TD passing and 5 carries for -8 yards 0 TD
Demry Croft 7/17 34 yards 0 TD passing and 9 carries for 38 yards 0 TD
Neil McLaurin 86/164 975 yards 8 TD 7 INT and 85 carries for 475 yards 6 TD

Although Rhoda and Croft are from limited action, they didn't beat out Mitch for the starting spot. This is why some people have concerns about the QB position for next year. All around 50% passers.
 

All Golden All Gopher said:
The QBs we have on the roster with college experience at QB are

Connor Rhoda 7/15 82 yards 1 TD passing and 5 carries for -8 yards 0 TD
Demry Croft 7/17 34 yards 0 TD passing and 9 carries for 38 yards 0 TD
Neil McLaurin 86/164 975 yards 8 TD 7 INT and 85 carries for 475 yards 6 TD

Although Rhoda and Croft are from limited action, they didn't beat out Mitch for the starting spot. This is why some people have concerns about the QB position for next year. All around 50% passers.
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Both Rhoda and Coft are better passers. Croft was pressed into a game where nothing on offense was working. Rhoda had a couple passes dropped in the MD game.

Fleck's offense is similar but actually fits these guys better than what TC was running. This is a great article on how he puts QB in high success passing situations with easy reads. http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/11/19/13577022/pj-fleck-coach-western-michigan-wmu
 


If Fleck says something to the effect of: "This team should win between 6-8 games next year," then goes out and wins 7 games, will he be fired?
 



Only if Coyle decides he wants another guy, but at the press conference he'll make up a bunch of non-sense as an excuse.
 

Boy oh boy if he makes a prediction I will go on and on about how doing so was really dumb. You know, like it is a big deal or a deal at all.


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Its dangerous to believe everything you read - especially from those who have no idea what they are speaking of.
 

Urban Meyer, coming off a great season at Bowling Green, took over a Utah team that had a losing record the prior year and proceeded to go 22-2 over the next two years. Great coaches can do great things, let's hope PJ is in the great coach category and be optimistic. I know Meyer had Alex Smith at QB and guys like that don't grow on trees. If we can get adequate QB play this team can do great things.


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Just because one coach had immediate success, doesn't mean every new hire in the future should "easily" have simiar success.
 

joshvanklomp said:
Just because one coach had immediate success, doesn't mean every new hire in the future should "easily" have simiar success.
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No one is saying every new hire should. We are saying this new hire should.


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