Sid Hartman: Fleck not down on Gophers' chances, despite criticism

BleedGopher said:

per Sid:

One of the big story lines regarding P.J. Fleck taking over as Gophers coach has been whether he is downplaying expectations for a Gophers squad that went 9-4 last season and won its bowl game with a depleted roster against Washington State.

The Gophers finished fourth last season in scoring offense in the Big Ten at 29.3 points per game, though their total offense ranked 11th. They ranked fifth in scoring defense (22.1 points per game) and fourth in total defense.

But for Fleck the question isn’t about what the team did last year. Instead he wants the team to realize that last year, no matter the record or success or failures, has nothing to do with this season.

“I’m not saying it’s not possible [to have a better record], I’m just saying last year has nothing to do with this year,” Fleck said. “Whether you go 2-10, 0-12, 1-11, 9-4, 10-2, it has nothing to do with this year. It’s a completely new football team.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...s-chances-despite-criticism-of-him/439543543/

Go Gophers!!

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60's Guy said:

Different message or attitude about the season to team from Harbaugh: excerpt quotes from story...

"And being this young and inexperienced won't be an excuse. That's been proved by the last three College Football Playoff national champions. Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State each had at least 22 true and redshirt freshmen who saw game action in their respective championship seasons."
" The Wolverines also have the fewest returning starters of any FBS team. That means all of those guys Harbaugh went to such lengths for will now have to step up."

"Really excited about it, because historically I have learned that the biggest jump you can make as a player in college, biggest single year, is going from that freshman year to that sophomore year," Harbaugh said. "Those 12 months that you have to train yourself, but also now everything they do from this moment on, the rest of this entire year, they've already done before. I don't have a study to show you, but experience has taught me that that's when you can make your biggest improvement in one year as a football player."

Harbaugh thinks Hudson is one of those who will take a big step. "We're not going to settle for less just because we're young and we don't have a lot of seniors," Hudson said. "We all have confidence, we all have high expectations for each other, and we're all confident we'll have a great year."

"They all have the opportunity to show how good they can be, find out how good of a player they can be," Harbaugh said. "And it all happens on the football field in the most honest manner possible. The truth must be told when you step on the football field.

"You can no longer bullcrap or email somebody. You have to go out there and actually prove it, what your talent is, what your effort is, and how well you've trained yourself up to that point."
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20305034/michigan-wolverines-fully-built-jim-harbaugh-now-what

http://www.espn.com/college-football/recruiting/story/_/id/18554872/visualizing-how-playoff-teams-built-elite-recruiting

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60's Guy said:

Different message or attitude about the season to team from Harbaugh: excerpt quotes from story...

"And being this young and inexperienced won't be an excuse. That's been proved by the last three College Football Playoff national champions. Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State each had at least 22 true and redshirt freshmen who saw game action in their respective championship seasons."
" The Wolverines also have the fewest returning starters of any FBS team. That means all of those guys Harbaugh went to such lengths for will now have to step up."

"Really excited about it, because historically I have learned that the biggest jump you can make as a player in college, biggest single year, is going from that freshman year to that sophomore year," Harbaugh said. "Those 12 months that you have to train yourself, but also now everything they do from this moment on, the rest of this entire year, they've already done before. I don't have a study to show you, but experience has taught me that that's when you can make your biggest improvement in one year as a football player."

Harbaugh thinks Hudson is one of those who will take a big step. "We're not going to settle for less just because we're young and we don't have a lot of seniors," Hudson said. "We all have confidence, we all have high expectations for each other, and we're all confident we'll have a great year."

"They all have the opportunity to show how good they can be, find out how good of a player they can be," Harbaugh said. "And it all happens on the football field in the most honest manner possible. The truth must be told when you step on the football field.

"You can no longer bullcrap or email somebody. You have to go out there and actually prove it, what your talent is, what your effort is, and how well you've trained yourself up to that point."
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20305034/michigan-wolverines-fully-built-jim-harbaugh-now-what

http://www.espn.com/college-football/recruiting/story/_/id/18554872/visualizing-how-playoff-teams-built-elite-recruiting

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PMWinSTP said:

Spot-on message even if you can't stand the messenger.

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caliGopher said:

At the same time, this is year three of the Harbaugh era. He knows the players, he's installed his system, he's made it clear what the expectations are. Based on that, his message is spot on.

Fleck is in the first year, he doesn't really know what he has, besides what's on film. The team and coaching staff have not been through adversity together. He's doing and saying everything he should do and say on this front, like just about every other football coach taking over a program in year one.

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60's Guy said:

It seems to me you and some others on here are saying you can't expect a coach to win in year one? I totally disagree with and don't understand that sentiment. In the case of PJ, he's had an entire spring football session. He's had time to breakdown film on all the players in the program. He's got 30 summer practices before the first game. They are spending something like 15 and half hours per day in the month of August with these guys learning in the classroom, lifting, eating, bonding, motivating, installing his culture and practicing. How much more time do you need?

It's an entirely different situation if you have no players, lousy talent or a bankrupt culture but PJ more than most coaches taking over a program has inherited returning players with talent and an elite culture of academic excellence. Only his own inability to lead would be the reason not to expect at least recent past results of 7 or 8 wins. The Gopher program is on an upward arc, not descending. The team won 9 games and did not lose anyone who isn't reasonably easily replaced. PJ hired a great coaching staff. Why would you expect him to achieve less than what has been established?

So in 45 practices and 30 fifteen hour days to captively concentrate on football a coach can't evaluate his players and install a system? But a high school coach gets two weeks and maybe ten to fourteen four hour days and parents expect flawless transition or transformation. There are high school coaches who get it done with 10% of the time in hours and 20% of the practice time. It can't be a time problem for PJ.

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60's Guy said:

It seems to me you and some others on here are saying you can't expect a coach to win in year one? I totally disagree with and don't understand that sentiment. In the case of PJ, he's had an entire spring football session. He's had time to breakdown film on all the players in the program. He's got 30 summer practices before the first game. They are spending something like 15 and half hours per day in the month of August with these guys learning in the classroom, lifting, eating, bonding, motivating, installing his culture and practicing. How much more time do you need?

It's an entirely different situation if you have no players, lousy talent or a bankrupt culture but PJ more than most coaches taking over a program has inherited returning players with talent and an elite culture of academic excellence. Only his own inability to lead would be the reason not to expect at least recent past results of 7 or 8 wins. The Gopher program is on an upward arc, not descending. The team won 9 games and did not lose anyone who isn't reasonably easily replaced. PJ hired a great coaching staff. Why would you expect him to achieve less than what has been established?

So in 45 practices and 30 fifteen hour days to captively concentrate on football a coach can't evaluate his players and install a system? But a high school coach gets two weeks and maybe ten to fourteen four hour days and parents expect flawless transition or transformation. There are high school coaches who get it done with 10% of the time in hours and 20% of the practice time. It can't be a time problem for PJ.

Click to expand...