GopherSports Q&A: Coach Fleck Previews Spring Practice

BleedGopher

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GS: The team wrapped up winter conditioning last week. How did that part of the process go?

P.J.: What we wanted to do with winter conditioning was connect this football team. I was very honest. I told our team I thought they were a group when we got here and did not consider them a well-connected team yet. We are getting there. Every day we are getting closer and closer. I wanted to show them the importance of connection and bringing people together and what a culture can do for people. That's what culture is, it's connecting people. We just have a very unique way of doing it. Our players have responded very well to that and they have learned to work within our culture and our system and a lot of them have seen a ton of growth so far.

GS: You and your staff have only been here for a few months, but what players have you seen emerge as leaders?

P.J.: It's hard to identify one because there have been multiple. We just had our first leadership council meeting last week and will have those every Thursday. I think those are very important. There are 36 leaders on our football team right now who were picked by their teammates to learn how to lead. What does it mean to be a leader and to develop those leadership skills as we go? I think that is very important. Instead of being able to separate and say I want this guy here and this guy there, I think our whole team is learning how to do it and they are doing it very well collectively. They are not just saying these guys are the leaders and they are the ones who are going to connect us. They have done it as a whole. They have gone out to dinner and lunch with each other a lot more than they ever have. You can tell when we played whiffle ball, the connection and excitement they actually have for one another. Now that has to come out in spring ball.

GS: Speaking of spring ball, the team will practice two times before spring break. What will be the main point of emphasis for those two practices?

P.J.: We want our players to learn our scheme. We learned how to work in winter conditioning and what our tempo is, but now we have to apply it to scheme and play within the system. I am talking about the techniques and details of football and not just working out and touching a line. Now it comes down to football and applying that. I think that is what we want to see in these first two days. We want to teach them how we practice. Our tempo and how we do things is very different and you have to adapt to that. Just like how we had to adapt to how we did winter conditioning because everything we are doing we are doing for the first time. There is a new system, a new offense, a new defense and a new special teams. Even a new way of moving from period to period. The way things are called is different and there are different names for drills. There are so many things that we have to be able to teach. And that is what those first two days are for. I have never done two days prior to spring break, but I think it separates it from our learning part. Yes, you are going to make mistakes, but I just want everybody flying around and getting to know how we do things. Then we come back from spring break and we are going.

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/030617aaa.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Fleck is either Elmer Gantry reborn or a freaking ground breaking genius whose methods will be documented and emulated by an entire generation of coaches to come. His record at WMU gives us a hint, but the next few years will tell us if it translates to prime time.

Gunna be fun to watch.
 

Wow, clearly a different way of doing things and am enjoying every bit of it.
 


6. Minnesota Football Coach Jerry Kill's Warrior Elite Program

Here's an amazing team building, discipline, and competitiveness program used by Coach Jerry Kill and Minnesota Football to forge a championship team in the offseason.

See how you might be able to adapt this concept to your team:

The Warrior Elite -- The Forging of a Champion

Each player votes for five student-athletes who they consider leaders. Votes are counted and the top six are made platoon leaders.
Platoon leaders draft their teams.
Each team begins with 5000 points. Points can be earned or lost each week according to performance in the classroom, off-season training, and community service. If a team disputes points earned or deducted, the platoon leaders resolve it.
The top two teams at the beginning of spring practice have no conditioning (run- ning) for four weeks.
The team that finishes last each week will have extra conditioning for each week they finish last. This is done in an attempt to prevent teams from giving up.
The team with the most points at the end of the semester is declared the winner. The winning team receives a plaque to be placed in the locker room and will be served a steak dinner for their first meal in fall camp.
The Warrior Elite--Point Values

Beginning point value in each Team's "Bank": 5,000



Deductions from Point Total
Missed breakfast 200 pts
Quit a workout early 50 pts
Miss a workout 200 pts
Missed workout due to injury 100 pts
Improper workout attire 100 pts
Short Study Table hours 50 pts per ½ hour
Missed Tutor Session 200 pts
Late for class (Tardies) 100 pts
Missed class 200 pts
Missed Rehab Appt. 200 pts
Any Miscellaneous Tardies 100 pts
D's on a 6/12-week grade report 50 pts
F's on a 6/12-week grade report 100 pts
Additions to Point Total

Made Tutor session/appointments 50 pts
A's or B's on any 6/12-week grade report 50 pts
0 absences AND 0 tardies on 6/12-week grade reports 50 pts
Extra Study Table hours 50 pts per extra ½ hour
Community Service hours 100 pts per hour
Greatest Weight Room Improvement by a team 1 pt per pound of max lift improvement
NOTE: Team Leaders will have the ability to speak to the head coach about the removal of a group member who is a detriment to his team's ability to compete for the overall team Championship. The head coach will have the final decision. Removal of a chronic problem team member: 500 points

http://www.twincities.com/2016/08/0...ers-hope-summer-trips-lead-to-fall-victories/

Some of Minnesota’s football players got a crash course in cabin life this summer, courtesy junior center Matt Leidner, who invited the offensive line and backfield for a weekend at his family’s cabin in northern Minnesota.

At times it was pretty funny, such as the time the running backs nearly capsized a pontoon boat when they all crowded to the front to see a fish in the water.

“The back of the pontoon is in the air, and I was like, ‘Oh, get back! Get back!’ ” Leidner recalled Tuesday.

Then there was the time some of the running backs wore two life jackets — one the traditional way, the other upside down like a diaper — because they can’t swim.

“But they were jumping in the lake, which is pretty cool because they couldn’t see the bottom, and they were a little scared,” Matt said. “They went for it. The O-line was just sitting in the water. It was really nice.”

The Gophers shot clay pigeons at the Leidners’ cabin near Duluth and floated down Wisconsin’s Apple River, hoping their summer activities will help them win football games this fall. With aid from sports psychologists, the Gophers’ leaders brainstormed other bonding activities, as well, from cookouts to paint ball.

“There have been so many fun things we’ve done this summer,” senior quarterback Mitch Leidner, Matt’s older brother, said. “It helps the freshmen see what it’s like to be a Gopher football player and how to carry yourself both on and off the field.”


http://btn.com/2012/08/14/did-you-see-this-gophers-go-paintballing/

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/colle...the-most-minnesota-team-bonding-exercise-ever

http://www.twincities.com/2012/09/13/gophers-football-jerry-kill-leans-on-team-leaders-this-year/
 


Liked this:

GS: The quarterback runs the offense and your staff had a very successful offense at Western Michigan. Can you give the fans a sneak peek about what they can expect on offense?

P.J.: I will be very honest. We are very simplistic. I am the same football coach who went 1-11 in our first year at Western Michigan. We didn't have a great offense that year, but it was the same type offense that we run. We just didn't have the right people and the right players to fit into that system. We have a lot of players here who can fit into that. That was one of the reasons why we took the job. You feel like you can keep your same system and build around your players. There are things that can be added and things that we can take away. Kirk Ciarrocca is one of the best coordinators in the country. We are going to be an offense that is incredibly balanced, but we are going to do what we do at the best level that we can do it. We want to make sure that we do our best better than our opponent do their best. That is what is comes down to. One of the main statistics is turnover margin. At Western Michigan we were 116th in the nation when we were 1-11. We were No. 1 in the country in turnover margin when we went 13-1. The other team that had a fantastic year in turnover margin was Washington. The two teams that kind of shocked the college football world last year were Western Michigan and Washington and they were 1-2 in turnover margin. It's the No. 1 statistic tied to winning. It's not all these fancy plays. You fumble and you turn it over and it does not matter. You take care of the football, be a balanced offense and do what you do better than your opponent then you are going to have a lot of success.
 

Liked this:

GS: The quarterback runs the offense and your staff had a very successful offense at Western Michigan. Can you give the fans a sneak peek about what they can expect on offense?

P.J.: I will be very honest. We are very simplistic. I am the same football coach who went 1-11 in our first year at Western Michigan. We didn't have a great offense that year, but it was the same type offense that we run. We just didn't have the right people and the right players to fit into that system. We have a lot of players here who can fit into that. That was one of the reasons why we took the job. You feel like you can keep your same system and build around your players. There are things that can be added and things that we can take away. Kirk Ciarrocca is one of the best coordinators in the country. We are going to be an offense that is incredibly balanced, but we are going to do what we do at the best level that we can do it. We want to make sure that we do our best better than our opponent do their best. That is what is comes down to. One of the main statistics is turnover margin. At Western Michigan we were 116th in the nation when we were 1-11. We were No. 1 in the country in turnover margin when we went 13-1. The other team that had a fantastic year in turnover margin was Washington. The two teams that kind of shocked the college football world last year were Western Michigan and Washington and they were 1-2 in turnover margin. It's the No. 1 statistic tied to winning. It's not all these fancy plays. You fumble and you turn it over and it does not matter. You take care of the football, be a balanced offense and do what you do better than your opponent then you are going to have a lot of success.

Last two posts are great stuff to keep in mind, thanks for posting. Foundation and talent is in place. TOP and T/O margin are two stats I always keep an eye on...improve both even marginally last year and Gophs have another win or two. Fleck's recent teams have been extremely good at both, so that is yet another reason to think the Gophs can match last year's regular season win total.
 




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