5 first yr HCs under the most pressure to get off to a good start – or else (Fleck)

BleedGopher

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per Rivals:

2. Win early, or else

Everyone loves hot seat talk, but what about when those seats haven’t even been sat in yet? Yes, I’m talking about first-year coaches. What’s the best way to stay off the hot seat? Get off to a good start. Here are, at least to me, the five first-year coaches who are under the most pressure to get off to a good start – or else.

Tom Herman, Texas – Why would Herman, who will clearly get at least four years to turn things around at Texas, be ahead of Ed Orgeron, who wasn’t LSU’s first choice? There are a couple of reasons. First and foremost, expectations in Austin are high for year one after three years of struggle under Charlie Strong. Fans and alumni expect eight or nine wins in a weak Big 12 and the hype surrounding Herman’s hire will put more pressure on him. If he struggles out of the gate, people will go crazy.

Ed Orgeron, LSU – Nick Saban keeps Orgeron behind Herman when it comes to expectations. Few expect the former interim coach to slay the Saban dragon right away and win the SEC West. However, there is a lot of pressure on Orgeron to move things forward from where they were under Les Miles, especially on offense. If LSU finishes third or fourth in the SEC West in year one, many will be thinking this hire was a mistake after only one year.

Willie Taggart, Oregon – The Pacific Northwest is laid back, right? In many ways, but not when it comes to football. Taggart’s start has been a bit off-setting with coaches being dismissed and players being hospitalized, but fans are really focused on whether he can bring back some of the Chip Kelly magic. The Pac-12 North has talent and a few statement games will be needed or else many will wonder if Taggert is the right fit.

Matt Rhule, Baylor – We all know Rhule is going to get years and years to turn things around at Baylor because of all the problems he has inherited. But the Bears need big wins to take the focus off the Art Briles Title IX nightmare that could bring the program down if it continues to get uglier. If Rhule’s team finishes near the bottom of the Big 12 AND allegations continue, things get tougher in Waco in all aspects.

PJ Fleck, Minnesota – Fleck will be a target for Big Ten coaches because of the notoriety he earned at Western Michigan and for his brash style. He’s considered by many as a home run hire for the Gophers, but this isn’t a losing team he inherited. Minnesota won nine games last season and anything less will raise eyebrows.

https://n.rivals.com/news/three-point-stance-acc-snapshot-first-year-coaches-bama-s-slow-start

Go Gophers!!
 

and away we go............

Seriously, I think most people understand there is going to be a transition period when you go to a new coaching staff, new schemes, and a new starting QB.

The question is this: what is the bottom-end expectation for this team? I don't see Fleck getting any serious heat unless the team really falls apart and they wind up winning 3 or 4 games. As long as they win at least 6 games and make it into some kind of a bowl game, I think everything is fine with the vast majority of fans.
 

and away we go............

Seriously, I think most people understand there is going to be a transition period when you go to a new coaching staff, new schemes, and a new starting QB.

The question is this: what is the bottom-end expectation for this team? I don't see Fleck getting any serious heat unless the team really falls apart and they wind up winning 3 or 4 games. As long as they win at least 6 games and make it into some kind of a bowl game, I think everything is fine with the vast majority of fans.

Six games and a bowl seems reasonable to me, five is probably a worse case scenario and nine is probably the best case. I agree if this team goes 3-9 or 4-8 Fleck will get a lot of heat. I can already see the Reusse article: culture change leads to triple the salary and half the wins
 

It's not like if PJ lost games ... we'd fire him. I don't think we have that kind of money to pay out PJ and hire someone new.
 

per Rivals:

2. Win early, or else

Everyone loves hot seat talk, but what about when those seats haven’t even been sat in yet? Yes, I’m talking about first-year coaches. What’s the best way to stay off the hot seat? Get off to a good start. Here are, at least to me, the five first-year coaches who are under the most pressure to get off to a good start – or else.

Tom Herman, Texas – Why would Herman, who will clearly get at least four years to turn things around at Texas, be ahead of Ed Orgeron, who wasn’t LSU’s first choice? There are a couple of reasons. First and foremost, expectations in Austin are high for year one after three years of struggle under Charlie Strong. Fans and alumni expect eight or nine wins in a weak Big 12 and the hype surrounding Herman’s hire will put more pressure on him. If he struggles out of the gate, people will go crazy.

Ed Orgeron, LSU – Nick Saban keeps Orgeron behind Herman when it comes to expectations. Few expect the former interim coach to slay the Saban dragon right away and win the SEC West. However, there is a lot of pressure on Orgeron to move things forward from where they were under Les Miles, especially on offense. If LSU finishes third or fourth in the SEC West in year one, many will be thinking this hire was a mistake after only one year.

Willie Taggart, Oregon – The Pacific Northwest is laid back, right? In many ways, but not when it comes to football. Taggart’s start has been a bit off-setting with coaches being dismissed and players being hospitalized, but fans are really focused on whether he can bring back some of the Chip Kelly magic. The Pac-12 North has talent and a few statement games will be needed or else many will wonder if Taggert is the right fit.

Matt Rhule, Baylor – We all know Rhule is going to get years and years to turn things around at Baylor because of all the problems he has inherited. But the Bears need big wins to take the focus off the Art Briles Title IX nightmare that could bring the program down if it continues to get uglier. If Rhule’s team finishes near the bottom of the Big 12 AND allegations continue, things get tougher in Waco in all aspects.

PJ Fleck, Minnesota – Fleck will be a target for Big Ten coaches because of the notoriety he earned at Western Michigan and for his brash style. He’s considered by many as a home run hire for the Gophers, but this isn’t a losing team he inherited. Minnesota won nine games last season and anything less will raise eyebrows.

https://n.rivals.com/news/three-point-stance-acc-snapshot-first-year-coaches-bama-s-slow-start

Go Gophers!!

I disagree with the "anything less will raise eyebrows" for two reasons:

1. The casual fan has virtually no expectations for Minnesota. If they win 5 games they say "heh, same old Gophers". There is no push from them to get rid of Fleck.
2. The majority of Gopherhole level fans understand this year has a potentially tougher schedule, question marks at key positions, a transition to a new system, etc. I don't think there will be more than a faint whimper if they win 7 or 8 games (maybe even 6 with a trophy win). If they win 6 or fewer, definitely. But he'll get 4 years even if they don't win a game next year. After getting their first choice of coach and a coach that had as much national attention as he did, there is no way they're going to try their luck again anytime soon (unless there's some major scandal).
 


Meh. Fleck is young, good-looking, thin, well-dressed, and well-spoken, so he has no chance of being fired after his first year.
 

Anything less than 8 wins would be a huge disappointment. We have the easiest schedule in Big Ten and return lots of talent on both sides of the ball. No excuses for the truly ELITE!
 

Hopefully more pressure on Coyle than Fleck for a less than par performance...whatever that is for this season.
 

Coyle needs Fleck to succeed. Fleck will get all the time he needs. Again, things would have to absolutely collapse in order for Fleck to get in trouble after his 1st year.

now, if they go 2-12, and have multiple players arrested, that is a different kettle of fish. (maybe lutefisk......)

to quote Jim Rome: have a take; don't suck. That is the unofficial mantra for Gopher FB this season.
 



Six games and a bowl seems reasonable to me, five is probably a worse case scenario and nine is probably the best case. I agree if this team goes 3-9 or 4-8 Fleck will get a lot of heat. I can already see the Reusse article: culture change leads to triple the salary and half the wins

Spot on! Agree with what you said.
 

Anything less than 8 wins would be a huge disappointment. We have the easiest schedule in Big Ten and return lots of talent on both sides of the ball. No excuses for the truly ELITE!

I can agree that BASED ON LAST YEAR the gophers may have an easier schedule than most. But my thing about those predictions is so many teams over/under achieve that it's not worth much to say how strong your schedule is BEFORE the season. After, sure. But we really don't know how good these teams are right now. We don't even know how good WE are for crying out loud! It's a good hypothetical measuring stick only if teams stay at the level of performance of last year, which I'm sure some will, but most won't.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Anything less than 8 wins would be a huge disappointment. We have the easiest schedule in Big Ten and return lots of talent on both sides of the ball. No excuses for the truly ELITE!

Agreed. Less than 8 would be very poor.
 

Anything less than 8 wins would be a huge disappointment. We have the easiest schedule in Big Ten and return lots of talent on both sides of the ball. No excuses for the truly ELITE!

wisconsin has an easier schedule
 






I can agree that BASED ON LAST YEAR the gophers may have an easier schedule than most. But my thing about those predictions is so many teams over/under achieve that it's not worth much to say how strong your schedule is BEFORE the season. After, sure. But we really don't know how good these teams are right now. We don't even know how good WE are for crying out loud! It's a good hypothetical measuring stick only if teams stay at the level of performance of last year, which I'm sure some will, but most won't.


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Don't you know? The Gophers ALWAYS have better players to replace players who leave/graduate but when other teams have players leave/graduate they ALWAYS take a step back. Thus Michigan State can't possibly be a good team this year. Michigan might as well forfeit right now. Wisconsin probably won't win a game...
 

Don't you know? The Gophers ALWAYS have better players to replace players who leave/graduate but when other teams have players leave/graduate they ALWAYS take a step back. Thus Michigan State can't possibly be a good team this year. Michigan might as well forfeit right now. Wisconsin probably won't win a game...

What the hell board have you been reading? Reading this board over the past 4 months you'd think that the Gophers will be lucky to win more than 3-4 games this year because all of last year's good players graduated or were kicked off the team.
 

What the hell board have you been reading? Reading this board over the past 4 months you'd think that the Gophers will be lucky to win more than 3-4 games this year because all of last year's good players graduated or were kicked off the team.

I think everyone sees a lot of what they disagree with... and miss everything else.
 

What the hell board have you been reading? Reading this board over the past 4 months you'd think that the Gophers will be lucky to win more than 3-4 games this year because all of last year's good players graduated or were kicked off the team.

Yet not one person has said that.
 

Don't you know? The Gophers ALWAYS have better players to replace players who leave/graduate but when other teams have players leave/graduate they ALWAYS take a step back. Thus Michigan State can't possibly be a good team this year. Michigan might as well forfeit right now. Wisconsin probably won't win a game...

Please tell me my sarcasm detector is not malfunctioning...
 


What the hell board have you been reading? Reading this board over the past 4 months you'd think that the Gophers will be lucky to win more than 3-4 games this year because all of last year's good players graduated or were kicked off the team.

I think everyone sees a lot of what they disagree with... and miss everything else.

I've seen both extremes. There are a lot of "there is no reason this team shouldn't win at least 8 games" to go with the "this team will be lucky to make a Bowl game" crowd. It seemed like a lot of people commenting on this thread specifically were of the former persuasion so I made my "mildly" sarcastic comment.

Personally, I suppose I'm more toward the doom and gloom crowd, though I expect they'll be at least Bowl eligible. I think there are going to be a couple wins* like Rutgers last year (do those exist outside of Gopherhole?) and they'll drop a game or two they "should" win. I hope I'm wrong and they run the table, but there are so many positions with question marks not to mention a new system some players will not be a great fit for that I am expecting a few hiccups next year...
 

Coyle needs Fleck to succeed. Fleck will get all the time he needs. Again, things would have to absolutely collapse in order for Fleck to get in trouble after his 1st year.

now, if they go 2-12, and have multiple players arrested, that is a different kettle of fish. (maybe lutefisk......)

to quote Jim Rome: have a take; don't suck. That is the unofficial mantra for Gopher FB this season.

I will guarantee Fleck won't go 2-12 this season.
 

I've seen both extremes. There are a lot of "there is no reason this team shouldn't win at least 8 games" to go with the "this team will be lucky to make a Bowl game" crowd. It seemed like a lot of people commenting on this thread specifically were of the former persuasion so I made my "mildly" sarcastic comment.

Personally, I suppose I'm more toward the doom and gloom crowd, though I expect they'll be at least Bowl eligible. I think there are going to be a couple wins* like Rutgers last year (do those exist outside of Gopherhole?) and they'll drop a game or two they "should" win. I hope I'm wrong and they run the table, but there are so many positions with question marks not to mention a new system some players will not be a great fit for that I am expecting a few hiccups next year...

Whew...sarcasm detector A-OK, thanks!

8 wins is not running the table, Gophs have had holes to fill every year and have had no problem filling them in the last 4-5 years. Players improve and some just actually need the opportunity. Winfield Jr is a good example...knew he was good but don't think anyone thought he would be a starter by mid-season before he got into some games. Barber as well.
 




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