short ornery norwegian
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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle with Sid, Dave (and Mike) on Sunday.
Sid: how was your vacation? (went to Hawaii)
PJF: tremendous
Sid: find any players there?
PJF: went there to relax, not to work. (notes Hawaii does have track record for producing big linemen)
Sid: 3 days of practice so far- what have you learned?
PJF: 2 days so far - 3rd day on Tues. Biggest thing -Players know how we practice. Surprised some of them. Got to see expectations - become expectations. You are the standards. Put pads on Tuesday, get more physical as we more forward. everyone gotten reps - not equal, but gotten reps.
Sid: any more committments?
PJF: can't speak specifically. (said there was another commit recently)
Sid: what about players in spring practice (I think referring to new recruits enrolling early?)
PJF: (didn't address question directly - don't think he understood Sid....) whole team willing to do things we ask them to do. everyone wants to impress. energy level high. long way to go - new system on offense/defense. get them to learn what we're doing.
Sid: same question (about players in spring practice)
PJF: only about 3 guys (in that situation)- only had 2 practices with no pads so far (so can't tell much about any individual player)
Sid: spring game?
PJF: big issue - only 6 OL - not sure it's going to be a game - not enough bodies. I might be playing LT by 2nd quarter. Got to get through Spring healthy. learn system - come together as a FB team. Look at team now as a group - not as a true team. bring them closer every day of practice.
Sid: (NCAA) voted on adding a coach?
PJF: love to see it. necessary with demands of recruiting. limitation in amount of coaches you can have on the field vs. the amount of players. Use to be elem teacher - learned that student to teacher ratio is really important - look at other sports - have better ratio (coaches to players). like to see coach added for teaching factor on the field.
Sid: new signing date?
PJF: no news yet. lot of coaches want it - lot don't want it.
Sid: any (position) switches to fill holes?
PJF: major issue with numbers. we don't have a FR or SO at DT - major gap there - major shortage at OL. not just talent, but depth. have to work on that for the next two years. once we get through this season, we're going to get a lot younger - big youth movement in the course of the next two years. depth issue we have to fix.
Mike: how are practices different?
PJF: not one to use conditioning as punishment. it's mental conditioning. practices last about 1 hour 35-minutes - non-stop, take about 15-seconds between drills - goes for everyone - be moving as fast as possibly can. on offense, move more quickly between plays. we need to learn how to be able to react on the fly - using instinct instead of thinking.
Mona: Kirk Ferentz likes to recruit TE's and convert into linemen
PJF: it all depends. we've got kids committed who might weigh 250 now - might grow into a tackle. If they're 220 (in HS) hard to project - got to gain 80 pounds - look at everything (frame, parents, etc) to determine where is a kid going to go. If they are 240-250 in HS, great chance to become a tackle. I Love very athletic linemen - had very athletic linemen at WMU. We run an inside zone scheme; linemen need to be able to get out in open space, cut and run. At the same time, we're in the Big Ten - got to have big linemen too.
Sid: Murray's certificate.
PJF: row the boat. Ski-U-Mah.
Sid: how was your vacation? (went to Hawaii)
PJF: tremendous
Sid: find any players there?
PJF: went there to relax, not to work. (notes Hawaii does have track record for producing big linemen)
Sid: 3 days of practice so far- what have you learned?
PJF: 2 days so far - 3rd day on Tues. Biggest thing -Players know how we practice. Surprised some of them. Got to see expectations - become expectations. You are the standards. Put pads on Tuesday, get more physical as we more forward. everyone gotten reps - not equal, but gotten reps.
Sid: any more committments?
PJF: can't speak specifically. (said there was another commit recently)
Sid: what about players in spring practice (I think referring to new recruits enrolling early?)
PJF: (didn't address question directly - don't think he understood Sid....) whole team willing to do things we ask them to do. everyone wants to impress. energy level high. long way to go - new system on offense/defense. get them to learn what we're doing.
Sid: same question (about players in spring practice)
PJF: only about 3 guys (in that situation)- only had 2 practices with no pads so far (so can't tell much about any individual player)
Sid: spring game?
PJF: big issue - only 6 OL - not sure it's going to be a game - not enough bodies. I might be playing LT by 2nd quarter. Got to get through Spring healthy. learn system - come together as a FB team. Look at team now as a group - not as a true team. bring them closer every day of practice.
Sid: (NCAA) voted on adding a coach?
PJF: love to see it. necessary with demands of recruiting. limitation in amount of coaches you can have on the field vs. the amount of players. Use to be elem teacher - learned that student to teacher ratio is really important - look at other sports - have better ratio (coaches to players). like to see coach added for teaching factor on the field.
Sid: new signing date?
PJF: no news yet. lot of coaches want it - lot don't want it.
Sid: any (position) switches to fill holes?
PJF: major issue with numbers. we don't have a FR or SO at DT - major gap there - major shortage at OL. not just talent, but depth. have to work on that for the next two years. once we get through this season, we're going to get a lot younger - big youth movement in the course of the next two years. depth issue we have to fix.
Mike: how are practices different?
PJF: not one to use conditioning as punishment. it's mental conditioning. practices last about 1 hour 35-minutes - non-stop, take about 15-seconds between drills - goes for everyone - be moving as fast as possibly can. on offense, move more quickly between plays. we need to learn how to be able to react on the fly - using instinct instead of thinking.
Mona: Kirk Ferentz likes to recruit TE's and convert into linemen
PJF: it all depends. we've got kids committed who might weigh 250 now - might grow into a tackle. If they're 220 (in HS) hard to project - got to gain 80 pounds - look at everything (frame, parents, etc) to determine where is a kid going to go. If they are 240-250 in HS, great chance to become a tackle. I Love very athletic linemen - had very athletic linemen at WMU. We run an inside zone scheme; linemen need to be able to get out in open space, cut and run. At the same time, we're in the Big Ten - got to have big linemen too.
Sid: Murray's certificate.
PJF: row the boat. Ski-U-Mah.