Reusse: Fleck says failure is growth, so there's growth in his first 'U' result

BleedGopher

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per Pat:

We have been informed that Phillip John Fleck performed quite an amazing feat by putting together a 25-player recruiting class in the four weeks after being hired as the Gophers football coach.

The amazement factor should be lessened by the fact Fleck stole nine of those players from his former school, Western Michigan, where he had been recruiting those players and getting commitments for months, maybe a couple of years.

For all the bravado, the Gophers wound up 12th in the Big Ten, beating out only Purdue and Indiana.

Purdue has become a Big Ten bottom feeder in recent times and had a new coach in Jeff Brohm from Western Kentucky. Indiana has been a traditional bottom feeder, and went spiraling downward again when it fired Kevin Wilson, a strong recruiter, and replaced him with defensive coordinator Tom Allen in December.

The Gophers wound up rated 57th nationally, one spot above Memphis, the first non-Power 5 team to appear in the rankings.

This isn’t a rebuild. There’s a base of talent here. Even without 10 suspended players, it’s a team that impressively won a bowl game, much to the dismay of a university president and athletic director who knew that night in San Diego they were going to fire Claeys and bring in Fleck after Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl.

The other day, I heard Phillip John in a radio interview spouting that failure was growth. If that's the case, his first Gophers result is definitely growth -- since finishing 12th in the Big Ten and four notches below the Mendoza Line nationally in recruiting is failure.

http://www.startribune.com/fleck-sa...ere-s-growth-in-his-first-u-result/412533013/

Go Gophers!!
 

does anyone seriously read what he writes anymore?
 

That's low effort BS even for Pat... he may as well copied and paisted from the least knowledgeable folks on here...
 

Well, calling it a failure is a bit over the top. However, he has a point about how the bobos talk about the class as if it was elite and lower expectations to boot.


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Which recruiting rankings is he referring to?

This looks like the first class that I can remember ever that Minnesota did not lose a single player to an FBS program.

Surprised the media hasn't mentioned that since "gotta get then in-state guys first" has been their mantra for decades.
 


It's certainly not a failure, under the circumstances, it's pretty good. Talking about where the recruiting was ranked before Fleck was hired, because that would undercut his position.
 


Although Pat doesn't like much of anything his hatred of Fleck seems to be higher than it has been for some of the other coaches that have been here recently. I think a lot of it stems from his feeling that Claeys got a raw deal and for Pat personally it probably has something to do with feeling Claeys was fired in part because he was overweight.

This particular "story" is just lazy on his part. Fleck did a good job assembling a class in a really short timeframe. Yes he pulled in some guys from Western but he also got some nice commitments from guys that didn't really seem to be on the radar for the old staff. But the bottom line is that given the timing it is foolish to judge fleck in any way on what he was able to do in this recruiting cycle because 3 weeks just isn't long enough to establish relationships with guys that wouldn't have given him the time of day while he was the coach of Western Michigan but might now listen since he is at Minnesota.
 

Which recruiting rankings is he referring to?

This looks like the first class that I can remember ever that Minnesota did not lose a single player to an FBS program.

Surprised the media hasn't mentioned that since "gotta get then in-state guys first" has been their mantra for decades.

Gindorff and Wilson both had Gopher offers and Fleck went after them hard.
 



Although Pat doesn't like much of anything his hatred of Fleck seems to be higher than it has been for some of the other coaches that have been here recently. I think a lot of it stems from his feeling that Claeys got a raw deal and for Pat personally it probably has something to do with feeling Claeys was fired in part because he was overweight.

This particular "story" is just lazy on his part. Fleck did a good job assembling a class in a really short timeframe. Yes he pulled in some guys from Western but he also got some nice commitments from guys that didn't really seem to be on the radar for the old staff. But the bottom line is that given the timing it is foolish to judge fleck in any way on what he was able to do in this recruiting cycle because 3 weeks just isn't long enough to establish relationships with guys that wouldn't have given him the time of day while he was the coach of Western Michigan but might now listen since he is at Minnesota.

Not only that, but I'm sure the suspensions, boycott, etc, didn't help with recruiting. It would likely have been even more difficult to overcome had Claeys stayed on.

I'll judge his 2018 class much more critically than this one.


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He came from a school with less recruiting cache. It has been a month. When he is at our esteemed big ten school in a major league town for a year or two, with state of the art new facilities he will recruit higher ranked classes. It will happen.
 

So "Phillip John" has replaced "Country Jer" as Pat's latest technique to set himself above the crowd as the erudite sports writer and social commentator. What a chump!
Pat's much more effective with the human interest story about the one-armed golfer from Butterfield Odin trying to make the sectional playoffs!
 




It's certainly not a failure, under the circumstances, it's pretty good. Talking about where the recruiting was ranked before Fleck was hired, because that would undercut his position.

Where you finish matters. So Mississippi was ranked well below the Gophs until yesterday, close to 70th. Go look at where they are now.
 

Well, calling it a failure is a bit over the top. However, he has a point about how the bobos talk about the class as if it was elite and lower expectations to boot.


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That, and he correctly pointed out this is not a rebuild.
 


He came from a school with less recruiting cache. It has been a month. When he is at our esteemed big ten school in a major league town for a year or two, with state of the art new facilities he will recruit higher ranked classes. It will happen.

I agree, and will be very disappointed if that does not happen. I expect all the teams should get a recruiting benefit from the Athletes Village.
 

Although Pat doesn't like much of anything his hatred of Fleck seems to be higher than it has been for some of the other coaches that have been here recently. I think a lot of it stems from his feeling that Claeys got a raw deal and for Pat personally it probably has something to do with feeling Claeys was fired in part because he was overweight.

This particular "story" is just lazy on his part. Fleck did a good job assembling a class in a really short timeframe. Yes he pulled in some guys from Western but he also got some nice commitments from guys that didn't really seem to be on the radar for the old staff. But the bottom line is that given the timing it is foolish to judge fleck in any way on what he was able to do in this recruiting cycle because 3 weeks just isn't long enough to establish relationships with guys that wouldn't have given him the time of day while he was the coach of Western Michigan but might now listen since he is at Minnesota.

I've always been one to take Pat with a grain of salt and appreciate the good things he brings to the table, but I've found this episode to be disturbing. I don't think hatred is an exaggeration at all. Much of his criticism is irrational including this particular one. The dude is approaching this with an agenda, starting with a conclusion and taking action to try and realize it. He seems to be feeling his oats, thinking he can actually influence the outcome - in other words, affect whether Fleck is ultimately successful. He knows he got into Brewster's head when he was here, but he also realizes that Brew would have failed no matter what. Pat is worried that Fleck is going to end up succeeding despite his predictions and his best efforts. Step one for Pat will be to continue to pour on the criticism and cynicism and make Fleck lose his cool, either publicly or privately. I actually don't think that's going to happen. PJ seems like he has the focus and emotional IQ to avoid that.
 

Gindorff and Wilson both had Gopher offers and Fleck went after them hard.

As hard as he could in 3.5 weeks?

Wilson has been committed to Harvard for as long as I can remember. Quit acting like Fleck missed on him.
 

Pat, put a couple lumps of sugar in your coffee and enjoy the ride.

Try not to be a Debbie Downer and ruin everyone else's day.
 

Pat can dish it ot but he cant take it . I tweeted him once with something that wasnt even critical of him and he blocked me. What a wimp. Like a big baby. And of course he didnt use the scout ranking which had us in the twenties in the country until right at the end when we slipped to the thirtes. Retire already.
 

As hard as he could in 3.5 weeks?

Wilson has been committed to Harvard for as long as I can remember. Quit acting like Fleck missed on him.

He said he couldn't think of any MN kids going to other programs. I named two. I didn't call him a failure for not bringing them in.

Fleck-aid drinkers are a touchy bunch.
 

Glad "Fat Pat" enjoys using Fleck's full name, didn't know they were on such a personal level already


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I've always been one to take Pat with a grain of salt and appreciate the good things he brings to the table, but I've found this episode to be disturbing. I don't think hatred is an exaggeration at all. Much of his criticism is irrational including this particular one. The dude is approaching this with an agenda, starting with a conclusion and taking action to try and realize it. He seems to be feeling his oats, thinking he can actually influence the outcome - in other words, affect whether Fleck is ultimately successful. He knows he got into Brewster's head when he was here, but he also realizes that Brew would have failed no matter what. Pat is worried that Fleck is going to end up succeeding despite his predictions and his best efforts. Step one for Pat will be to continue to pour on the criticism and cynicism and make Fleck lose his cool, either publicly or privately. I actually don't think that's going to happen. PJ seems like he has the focus and emotional IQ to avoid that.

Reusse's still the best sportswriter in the city when he writes. He's just ranting here. I was never under the impression that he was going to like Fleck. He probably sees him as Brewster 2.0. But he rides every coach in town, so I take him with the whole container of Morton's Iodized with the E-Z Pour Spout.
 

He said he couldn't think of any MN kids going to other programs. I named two. I didn't call him a failure for not bringing them in.

Fleck-aid drinkers are a touchy bunch.

Didn't he say FBS programs? NDSU and Harvard are not FBS.
 

Reusse's still the best sportswriter in the city when he writes. He's just ranting here. I was never under the impression that he was going to like Fleck. He probably sees him as Brewster 2.0. But he rides every coach in town, so I take him with the whole container of Morton's Iodized with the E-Z Pour Spout.

This was true up until Claeys. I don't read all his stuff and I don't get as worked up by most of it as a lot of people here but it seems like he really liked Claeys and supported him in a way he didn't with other U of M football coaches. Did he have a nickname for Claeys? If he did I can't recall it.
 

LOL, Reusse writing some elite stuff. Good to know what P J stands for. [emoji41]
 

per Pat:

We have been informed that Phillip John Fleck performed quite an amazing feat by putting together a 25-player recruiting class in the four weeks after being hired as the Gophers football coach.

The amazement factor should be lessened by the fact Fleck stole nine of those players from his former school, Western Michigan, where he had been recruiting those players and getting commitments for months, maybe a couple of years.

For all the bravado, the Gophers wound up 12th in the Big Ten, beating out only Purdue and Indiana.

Purdue has become a Big Ten bottom feeder in recent times and had a new coach in Jeff Brohm from Western Kentucky. Indiana has been a traditional bottom feeder, and went spiraling downward again when it fired Kevin Wilson, a strong recruiter, and replaced him with defensive coordinator Tom Allen in December.

The Gophers wound up rated 57th nationally, one spot above Memphis, the first non-Power 5 team to appear in the rankings.

This isn’t a rebuild. There’s a base of talent here. Even without 10 suspended players, it’s a team that impressively won a bowl game, much to the dismay of a university president and athletic director who knew that night in San Diego they were going to fire Claeys and bring in Fleck after Western Michigan played in the Cotton Bowl.

The other day, I heard Phillip John in a radio interview spouting that failure was growth. If that's the case, his first Gophers result is definitely growth -- since finishing 12th in the Big Ten and four notches below the Mendoza Line nationally in recruiting is failure.

http://www.startribune.com/fleck-sa...ere-s-growth-in-his-first-u-result/412533013/

Go Gophers!!


Reusse is very predictable. Its clear that Fleck knows a little about the local media (or was prepped) as he has called them out so to speak, to be more positive and that grates at Reusse so he fires back in the only way he knows how, by being more sarcastic and negative. Its predictable and if Fleck keeps momentum and gets more and more folks on the bandwagon, Reusse will look even older and more out of touch than he already does.
 

We know that Pat is a "slob" and he feels threaten by PJ. As a result he will continue to blast him whenever he can due to his insecurities.
 

Not only that, but I'm sure the suspensions, boycott, etc, didn't help with recruiting. It would likely have been even more difficult to overcome had Claeys stayed on.

I'll judge his 2018 class much more critically than this one.


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Absolutely! Couldn't agree more. I'm going with elite post on this one. All opinions of Claeys aside, there are a lot of parents who weren't even gonna let him in their living room. I work the father of a top 2018 local recruit and he told me he would have tried to discourage his son from meeting with Claeys. That sentiment would have definitely affected recruiting. There were some hurdles in recruiting and Fleck cleared them. 2018 will look more like a sprint than hurdles.
 




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