CBS Radio: P.J. Fleck: You Either Like Me, Or You Don’t

BleedGopher

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per CBS Radio:

P.J. Fleck hasn’t coached a single game at Minnesota, but already he’s taken the Gophers to new heights. Minnesota’s 2018 recruiting class, with 10 oral commitments, is ranked tenth in the country.

“We want to create a lot of energy and excitement,” Fleck said on CBS Sports Radio’s The DA Show. “I think a lot of people take my energy and excitement for promise, especially right away. We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got to continue to build this program, build our depth, and everything starts in recruiting. I think any coach will tell you that. I think any athletic director will tell you that, that it starts in recruiting. But not only recruiting high school student-athletes; it’s recruiting your players within the program, especially when you take over, to think that the University of Minnesota is an elite football program. We haven’t won a Big Ten championship in over 60 years. We haven’t won a national championship in over 70 years. But I think with the right formula and the right energy and the right recruiting structure and the right program and the right culture, you can do that.”

Fleck’s unflinchingly upbeat attitude might annoy some people, but it’s a key selling point for many others – and make no mistake: Fleck will need to be positive. Minnesota went 9-4 last year; it was the Gophers’ second nine-win season since 1905.

“I think the biggest thing is we’re ourselves,” Fleck said. “We don’t sell anything. One thing about us is I think you either really, really like me and like our staff, like our energy, like our positivity, like our excitement – or you don’t. The great thing about us we’re not one of those staffs you have to see 15 times to figure out, ‘Well, I just don’t know about those people. We’re kind of wishy-washy.’ That’s not us. We are who we are. We’re not for everybody, but we are for a lot, and we are for many. The biggest thing for us is we’re just us. I said the same thing at Western Michigan when we were having recruiting success. We are just us.”

Fleck, 36, pulled Western Michigan from the depths in just four seasons. He went 1-11 in 2013 but 13-1 in 2016.

“I couldn’t tell you if a kid was three, four, five stars,” Fleck said. “I could not tell you that. We want the howl of a young man. We want the heart. We want the unconquerable will. We want the spirit. We want the soul. We want the drive. That all four areas of his life – academically, athletically, socially and spiritually – are important to him. If you can find young people that their life – not just football, but their life – is incredibly important to them, I think you can have success as a football program.”

Fleck did cause a bit of controversy earlier this month, saying on CBS Sports Radio’s The Jim Rome Show that he took a “major pay cut” to coach at Minnesota – even though his salary went from roughly $820,000 to $3.5 million.

“Well, I was just making a statement,” Fleck said. “The whole thing was talking about our children, that we want to teach them a lesson: Chase your dreams; don’t chase the money. You never can win when you talk about money when you’re a head football coach because we make too much money. My point was that there were two contracts on the table. I wasn’t talking about what I was making at the time. I was talking about there was something on the table at Western Michigan; there was something on the table at the University of Minnesota. That’s all I was saying. It wasn’t a disrespect to Western Michigan University; it wasn’t a disrespect to the University of Minnesota. The whole thing we were talking about was lessons I was teaching my children, my own four kids. That’s what came out.

“It probably came out in a way that, if I would have said it again, I probably wouldn’t have said it that particular way,” Fleck continued. “But in my mind, I knew what was on the table. Nobody else did. That was the point. I knew what was on the table. But this wasn’t about money. This was about chasing a dream of mine to coach in the Big Ten and to coach at a place that was very similar to Western Michigan when we took over to turn it into something that maybe it’s always dreamed of becoming – or hasn’t become that in the last 60 years or 70 years. That was why I was so inspired to take that job, and that was the point of the message. One person took that, pulled it out, tweeted it all over the place, and the next thing you know, everybody wants to talk about P.J. Fleck talking about money. It was actually the complete opposite. It was the passion and the opportunity to come here, but it was a comparison of two contracts on the table in terms of what was being offered.”

http://da.radio.cbssports.com/2017/04/18/p-j-fleck-you-either-like-me-or-you-dont/

Go Gophers!!
 

Nobody is liked by everyone. Whatever PJ's thing is, he should do it.
 

I love Fleck, but dang it I was a year old when we last won a National Championship and am not over 60 let alone 70!
 

Actually you can be in the middle on PJ, I like what he's doing, but he irritates the hell out of me when he throws everything that was here before him under the bus. I much prefer hearing from the other staff members. I'll probably like him better when all the players are his recruits and he has full ownership of the program.
 

I hope he wins big, does it quickly and goes on his merry way.
 


He was talking about kids they recruit by the way.
 

I am glad he finally just admitted he poorly worded the statement about​ money. Now hopefully everyone can move on.

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk
 

I just can't wait until we start playing games - then we can have our normal arguments around here. It's so annoying that we have gone into our personal corners based on personality of the current coach and how the previous staff was treated. As much as I "hate" some of you some of the time, we are all Gopher fans and if we met in a bar in some random city, we would probably both have a great time talking Gopher sports (as long as we kept our avatars secret).

I realize that I can turn into a complete a$$hole on this board sometimes and I apologize, but there are so many ACTUAL Gopher haters out there (in our own city) that we should all try and make this place more civil as we have more in common than we may think at times. Again, I realize I have not always practiced what I am preaching - but I will try and live up to it from now on.
 

I just can't wait until we start playing games - then we can have our normal arguments around here. It's so annoying that we have gone into our personal corners based on personality of the current coach and how the previous staff was treated. As much as I "hate" some of you some of the time, we are all Gopher fans and if we met in a bar in some random city, we would probably both have a great time talking Gopher sports (as long as we kept our avatars secret).

I realize that I can turn into a complete a$$hole on this board sometimes and I apologize, but there are so many ACTUAL Gopher haters out there (in our own city) that we should all try and make this place more civil as we have more in common than we may think at times. Again, I realize I have not always practiced what I am preaching - but I will try and live up to it from now on.

Lent just finished[emoji848] but I agree that we, for the most part, are all Gopher fans and are all wanting success for Gopher athletics



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Last National Championship was Fall of 1960 and last BIG was 1967. My new math tells me that's 57 and 50 years.


I love Fleck but have to admit I get tired of hearing about the 4 areas (academic etc.). But then again, he's not recruiting me.

Mason, Basement Brew, Kill and Claeys all played not to lose. I know Fleck will play to win. Big difference.
 

Yes Fleck isn't for everyone and why should he be? Every coach is different and I can see where kids really like Fleck. They want to win, they want to be successful, they want to grow as citizens, and enjoy the enthusiasm that Fleck brings. I'm your side coach!
 

“I couldn’t tell you if a kid was three, four, five stars,” Fleck said. “I could not tell you that. We want the howl of a young man. We want the heart. We want the unconquerable will. We want the spirit. We want the soul. We want the drive. That all four areas of his life – academically, athletically, socially and spiritually – are important to him. If you can find young people that their life – not just football, but their life – is incredibly important to them, I think you can have success as a football program.”

Johnny Ringo recruiting pitch

I want your blood! I want your soul! And I want em both right now! Don't any of you have the guts to play for blood?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SabBIwWtmi8?start=46" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 



Me likey.

Sometimes he can be a little much but I think he's sincere and that goes a long way with your players.

Love that he's always around campus and very supportive of the other programs that makes for a great ambassador.
 

Love Gopher football but am not a Fleck fan.

Question for you: Is your dislike of Fleck purely based on his personality/slogans/etc or do you dislike him because you don't think he can/will be successful? If it's just personality, I got to say that I'm kind of with you...I think it would drive me crazy if I had to work for PJ Fleck in real life - but I think his routine is well suited for college football and will be beneficial to our program.

Most, if not all, college football coaches are disingenuous nut-jobs. Fleck just does it with more evangelistic enthusiasm.
 

Me likey.

Sometimes he can be a little much but I think he's sincere and that goes a long way with your players.

Love that he's always around campus and very supportive of the other programs that makes for a great ambassador.

Fleck was not popular with athletic department members at WMU because he didn't play nice with others.

Perhaps he's learned his lesson.
 


That's the way a lot of us (WMU fans) felt.

Appreciative of what he did on the field especially last Fall, but glad he's gone.

If you're so happy he's gone, why did you follow him here?
 

I catch myself rolling my eyes at his cliches as well. Maybe cuz I try and listen to every interview and it's now so repetitive. But if he goes 13-0 here and gets in the Playoff there's no chance I'd trade those cliches for a more "traditional" and "normal" football coach. No one would want him to go on his merry way.


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That's the way a lot of us (WMU fans) felt.

Appreciative of what he did on the field especially last Fall, but glad he's gone.

not buying this for one minute. he put wmu on the map for the first time ever. no way you are glad he's gone. no way.
 



The only annoying thing about this article is the typical reference to win totals in the distant past. I know, the Gophers have rarely won as many as nine games. Does that mean the U of M has never had any football success?
 

The only annoying thing about this article is the typical reference to win totals in the distant past. I know, the Gophers have rarely won as many as nine games. Does that mean the U of M has never had any football success?

Arbitrary stats always mean... whatever I want them to ;)
 

Actually you can be in the middle on PJ, I like what he's doing, but he irritates the hell out of me when he throws everything that was here before him under the bus. I much prefer hearing from the other staff members. I'll probably like him better when all the players are his recruits and he has full ownership of the program.

+1


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#coacheslivesmatter
 

not buying this for one minute. he put wmu on the map for the first time ever. no way you are glad he's gone. no way.

That's pretty myopic considering title of this thread quoting Fleck himself.
 

I hope he wins big, does it quickly and goes on his merry way.

My guess is the opinion of him will change for many if we ever get to the point where we are winning big.
 

Question for you: Is your dislike of Fleck purely based on his personality/slogans/etc or do you dislike him because you don't think he can/will be successful? If it's just personality, I got to say that I'm kind of with you...I think it would drive me crazy if I had to work for PJ Fleck in real life - but I think his routine is well suited for college football and will be beneficial to our program.

Most, if not all, college football coaches are disingenuous nut-jobs. Fleck just does it with more evangelistic enthusiasm.

Each coach has their own style and personality. Fleck is probably a type AAAA. I too would have trouble working with him but the main thing is getting the players to buy in.

At this time, the media is focusing on Fleck rather than the players and team to the point of overkill. The BTN coverage of his shoes during the Spring Game was a bit too much.

The time will come when it will change from Row-this, Elite-that, Culture-blah to how about winning big and often? That is what he was hired to do.

Long time Iowa HC Hayden Fry has one of the most successful coaching trees. One of his coaches stated that "Hayden gave you enough room to do your job, but he kept the reins on you. He was a psychologist, to put it politely. He used all kinds of gimmicks and everything. He knew what he was doing. He had a reason for everything he did." Maybe PJ was lurking in his shadow.
 

My guess is the opinion of him will change for many if we ever get to the point where we are winning big.

That may be a lot sooner than many people think!

He says the buy in has been incredible from the team and the work ethic and "how" of the returning team is great.

He recruited really well down the stretch so he has some really good talent at WR, TE, CB, Safety, DT, DE, O-line, QB/Ath, RB, K/P coming in to supplement returning group.

When the new defensive coordinator went to Arkansas from the NFL, in his first year he put together a top ten defense. He has had top ten defenses in the NCAA in 2 of his last four years in college. Taking over a defense that was 21st in the nation last year, expect big things.

He and Fleck made a great hire landing Bryce Paup, former NFL Defensive MVP, who has been sending kids to the NFL out of Northern Iowa. They also stole a db coach out of the SEC and hired a defensive quality control guy who was a former Big Ten def coordinator.

The new offensive coordinator just ran an offense that scored at a rate that was top ten in the nation while also among the tops in the nation in time of possession and limiting turnovers. The oline coach has been offensive coordinator for some of best offenses in the nation at Kansas and Ohio State. The te coach was oline coach of the year last year. The head coach and his protege were sending WRs from WMU to the NFL. The running back coach has in just 14 weeks already more fully developed the running backs, two who are NFL prospects.

Fleck isn't a sit around and analyze, wait patiently guy. He operates at a Prefontaine pace with a nekton mentality. It is not be calm and see what happens. It is HYPPR!
 




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