PJ Fleck on Sports Huddle 5-7-17

short ornery norwegian said:

Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle with Sid, Dave (and max) Sunday morning. Fleck in Church at 10:30 - interview pushed back to 11:00 hour.

(note from Shorty - Fleck talks really fast. did best I could.....Also, look for question on uniforms and prepare for GH to go nuts)

Sid you coached Willie Beavers. What is his future with the Vikings?
PJF: great player for us. matured over time. really good as Junior and Senior. outstanding human being. ceiling hasn't been met yet.

Sid: WMU players drafted by NFL.
PJF: Corey Davis 5th overall. Taylor Moten 2nd round. DE (name) in 7th round. QB went to Ravens as free-agent. Those are the same guys went 1-11 1st year, went to Cotton Bowl senior year. did everything the right way. never in trouble. chose to do the right things. Davis 2* recruit, zero offers. Amazing story of (overcoming) adversity. found a way to be successful. Development in our culture as a WR and a person.

Sid: coaches out recruiting now - reaction to MN?
PJF: people know U of M is making a ton of progress. 13 commits - hope to get more soon. People excited about the vision of our athletic department - Coyle - Kaler. proud of our staff. I'm talking about the next decade - people excited - coaches, players, families.

Sid: what can coaches do now? how far can they go?
PJF: this is evaluation period. can evaluate - can't have contact. talk to coaches, be in high school. not a contact period.

Sid: getting commits down south. did you recruit there at WMU?
PJF: don't recruit whole south - certain areas. (Atlanta, some other place?) Mo Linquist does a great job. we have a lot of guys from all over fired up. focus still on 6-8 hour radius around Mpls/St. Paul. Also a lot of success out east (NJ).

Sid: do you (persoanally) go out and recruit?
PJF: doing fund-raising, speaking clinics. not allowed to be on the road as head coach at this time.

Dave Mona: alludes to comments from Brian Ferentz at Iowa on U of M recruiting methods.
PJF: not going to comment about anything that's not true. been around it before. not comment on other people making false accusations about us. never had a kid offered we wouldn't take commitment from.

Sid: proud of academics?
PJF: one of things we value. earn the right to become an academic all-american. WMU high GPA. continue to take to a different level (at MN). put a different goal in front of young men every day. excited about young men enjoying experience in classroom. (collared shirt, front of class....)

Sid: will players be taking summer school?
PJF: yes. love to see athletes taking class all year long.

Dave Mona: what about Uniforms?
PJF: get feedback from a combination of players, coaches and Nike. I Love to be creative. want our players to be bridge between 60's and now. not a lot of changes this year. Next year, (2018) we will have new uniforms, different uniforms, creative uniforms, throwback uniforms. not going to change school colors. wide variety of uniforms in future. this year, mostly the same with a different spin. reflects how I want University branded. best uniforms in country.

Sid: What can players do FB wise this summer?
PJF: Work out with strength staff. summer incredibly important. players with strength with staff every day. run own types of practices - player-run - players have ability to grow as athletes. bring team closer. get better at fundamentals, scheme. lot of championship teams separate themselves in summer. which group is mature enough to handle as players (without coaches being there).

Mike: weights vs resistance training. lot of different ways to train. (long question shortened because I got bored...SON)
PJF: we want functional strength. it's a strong men's game, but also need to be mentally tough. not just physically. see growth in function - not just how much you can bench press. got to be able to transform that onto FB field. at WMN -our strength coach was innovative, cutting-edge. had a lot of success - guys stay healthy. at WMU very healthy, (avoided injuries) helped us to win championship.

Dave Mona: What do you think about Harbaugh going to Rome?
PJF: I would Love to travel the world. But our budget is a little far off. we'll go to an Italian restaurant. Chinese Restaurant. get the whole world experience in Twin Cities. (laughing) Give him (Harbaugh) a lot of credit - phenomenal. If we could do it, I'd do it. have to find a way (financially).

Sid: $99 season tickets. Murray's certificate.
PJF: RTB. Ski-U-Mah.

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bottlebass said:

"Dave Mona: What do you think about Harbaugh going to Rome?
PJF: I would Love to travel the world. But our budget is a little far off. we'll go to an Italian restaurant. Chinese Restaurant. get the whole world experience in Twin Cities."

Love it.

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