Coach's Game Management

watertown 1987 guy n

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
1,156
Reaction score
367
Points
83
At this points, anyone that is critical of Fleck can only be critical because they have an issue with his personality - that's fine just be real about it. Certainly tighter games will reveal more.

As for his coaching, I've been pretty impressed so far on two fronts:
1st - I'm seeing good fundamental football play from the players. I'd like to see the secondary on defense be in better position some times but I think that may be a function of athleticism and not teaching and the reality is WR are going to at times get open. Anyone that remembers back to the Brewster years and Gutekunst years can remember when some players on the field were seriously clueless about tackling, blocking and position. This improved significantly under Kill and it seem to be continuing under Fleck.
2nd - the play calling and game management by Fleck has been very good. Now time will tell and tight game situations will be a better reflection of this coaching skill but so far so good. I really like Kill but there were at times some serious issues with his clock management and play calls near the end of the first half and end of the game with the game on the line. Recall that there was some discussion about the U hiring an assistant whose job was to focus on play calls and game time management during tight games. At this point, I see Fleck as a pretty decent game management coach. Now the last two blow out games didn't show too much beyond run and control the clock when you're ahead but the first game at home I think gave some insight into how Fleck may be a good game manager.
 

At this points, anyone that is critical of Fleck can only be critical because they have an issue with his personality - that's fine just be real about it. Certainly tighter games will reveal more.

As for his coaching, I've been pretty impressed so far on two fronts:
1st - I'm seeing good fundamental football play from the players. I'd like to see the secondary on defense be in better position some times but I think that may be a function of athleticism and not teaching and the reality is WR are going to at times get open. Anyone that remembers back to the Brewster years and Gutekunst years can remember when some players on the field were seriously clueless about tackling, blocking and position. This improved significantly under Kill and it seem to be continuing under Fleck.
2nd - the play calling and game management by Fleck has been very good. Now time will tell and tight game situations will be a better reflection of this coaching skill but so far so good. I really like Kill but there were at times some serious issues with his clock management and play calls near the end of the first half and end of the game with the game on the line. Recall that there was some discussion about the U hiring an assistant whose job was to focus on play calls and game time management during tight games. At this point, I see Fleck as a pretty decent game management coach. Now the last two blow out games didn't show too much beyond run and control the clock when you're ahead but the first game at home I think gave some insight into how Fleck may be a good game manager.

He forgot to the decline the delay of game penalty and almost got us pinned within the 1 in the second quarter of the last game, but other than that, yes.
 

Haven't got to see as much as I've wanted, but I generally agree. An argument can be made that he should have given Green a few more snaps and the chance to throw the ball on Saturday, but Fleck seems to adhere to substance over style on the field (say what you want about his style off the field). He saw the McCrary was wearing them down on Saturday so he just went with it.
 

I could use a little more tight end passing and less running up the gut. But maybe thats by design during these early games to chew up time.
 

At some point we'll hopefully be playing a top-tier B1G-West team with a first down with the ball on the opponent's 1 foot line 18 seconds to go on the clock in the 4th Quarter where punching...passing...sneaking...or something...into the endzone wins the game.

We've already got this scenario from before to compare to.

To be fair PJ already has his system fully in place so the comparison wouldn't really match.

Still, I think we'd have decent confidence as fans in the play call and clock management in this hypothetical situation.

This too bodes well for the future.
 


Outside the good players I thought I saw some stinky tackles (or attempted) the first two games....

We'll see when the B1G schedule hits. Then it is a game of "oh man why didn't they do X" when we don't even know if they have the guys to do X.
 

Peel away the slogans, gimmicks, and life philosophy; and I'm thinking we have ourselves a solid football guy.
 

What about at the end of the first half. We are up 20-3 and pinned fairly deep in our own end. We are clearly just going to run the clock out! We run the ball with Smith and he gets hurt. Why not just take a knee there and go into the half with a 17 point lead?
 

Don't feel he's really been tested in that respect, but so far so good.
 



What about at the end of the first half. We are up 20-3 and pinned fairly deep in our own end. We are clearly just going to run the clock out! We run the ball with Smith and he gets hurt. Why not just take a knee there and go into the half with a 17 point lead?

That type of injury could happen on any play of the game. I have my issues with Fleck - (more based on personality than the on-field coaching), but I have no problem with the play call. In the same situation, if Kill or Claeys took a knee, I guarantee someone would be on this board complaining about being too conservative. It's a no-win situation for the coach, because people are criticizing the call after the fact because someone got injured. If no one got injured on the play, nobody is going to question the play call.

But - just to quibble - it's my understanding that the coordinators do the play-calling. So crediting Fleck for play-calling may be a little off-target. As I understand it, on game days Fleck is more of the overall game manager and motivator. Kirk C. is calling the offensive plays. Obviously, Fleck has input into the game plan, but he's not calling individual plays. Now, maybe in a key situation, he might make a call - but I don't know that for a fact.
 

That type of injury could happen on any play of the game. I have my issues with Fleck - (more based on personality than the on-field coaching), but I have no problem with the play call. In the same situation, if Kill or Claeys took a knee, I guarantee someone would be on this board complaining about being too conservative. It's a no-win situation for the coach, because people are criticizing the call after the fact because someone got injured. If no one got injured on the play, nobody is going to question the play call.

But - just to quibble - it's my understanding that the coordinators do the play-calling. So crediting Fleck for play-calling may be a little off-target. As I understand it, on game days Fleck is more of the overall game manager and motivator. Kirk C. is calling the offensive plays. Obviously, Fleck has input into the game plan, but he's not calling individual plays. Now, maybe in a key situation, he might make a call - but I don't know that for a fact.

They did on many occasions and many users complained. Agreed on the no-win situation.
 

What about at the end of the first half. We are up 20-3 and pinned fairly deep in our own end. We are clearly just going to run the clock out! We run the ball with Smith and he gets hurt. Why not just take a knee there and go into the half with a 17 point lead?

I've thought about this a lot and still not sure where I stand. With a back like Smith, it's certainly possible he could break a 20 yard run, then you go into hurry up mode because there's plenty of time to try to get a FG (and the offense could use the work in that situation). Other hand, RB gets tackled for short gain about 90% of the time in that situation, so some coaches figure you might as well take a knee. Risk of fumbling or getting injured probably equal or greater than chance of RB breaking one.

At the time, I thought he was just going to have Rhoda kneel it.
 

There are two mortal sins in football play calling.
Wasting drives and punting in plus territory.
You don't kneel down because you're afraid of injury.
You run a play on the off chance that you catch their safety sleeping.
 



There are two mortal sins in football play calling.
Wasting drives and punting in plus territory.
You don't kneel down because you're afraid of injury.
You run a play on the off chance that you catch their safety sleeping.

I agree if the game was close. However, when you have a 17 point lead and have dominated the 2nd quarter then I think taking a knee and going into the half on the high note is the way to go. Like wanderinggopher said - the odds of something negative outweigh the odds of something positive happening at that point. That is just my opinion - I can absolutely see the other side of the argument as well.
 

I've been pleasantly pleased with Fleck's coaching through the first 3 games. I wasn't sold on him and will always think Claeys got the shaft but so far he's exceeding my expectations. Row the boat!
 

He's certainly the anti-Brewster in that he's playing the hand he's dealt. I doubt he wants to run anywhere near this much. 2007 Brew insisted on jamming a square peg in a round hole on offense and took a 4-5 win team and made it a 1 win team.
 

He's certainly the anti-Brewster in that he's playing the hand he's dealt. I doubt he wants to run anywhere near this much. 2007 Brew insisted on jamming a square peg in a round hole on offense and took a 4-5 win team and made it a 1 win team.

In Brewster's defense, he was a really bad coach so having expectations of him being a good coach were unfair to him.
 

In Brewster's defense, he was a really bad coach so having expectations of him being a good coach were unfair to him.

That may be. But the OC (whose name I have erased from memory) was no spring chicken and should have known better.
 

That may be. But the OC (whose name I have erased from memory) was no spring chicken and should have known better.

which one? He had like 4 OC's during his tenure with MN
 

There are two mortal sins in football play calling.
Wasting drives and punting in plus territory.
You don't kneel down because you're afraid of injury.
You run a play on the off chance that you catch their safety sleeping.

If Denny had kneeled it at the end of the first half in the '98 NFC championship, there'd be a super bowl banner hanging in US Bank.
 

I could use a little more tight end passing and less running up the gut. But maybe thats by design during these early games to chew up time.

Agree with this (our top two guys are already injured) and with everything Watertown noted. Remember all those motion penalties? Also, for old-timers, the Gophers were inept on pass defense for decades. Kill changed that and the improvement is being continued. PJ's teams show discipline and emotion - like that a lot.
 

I see clear evidence of competence. Put aside the wins or losses.

We're getting lined up; we're getting personel in and out of the game; we're not taking too many penalties.

These are the important early indicators.
 

To be critical of the coaching staff to this point, one would really have to be trying. They have done a pretty good job in all areas, but most stark to me is they seem to make solid adjustments at the half and come out strong. We'll see if that is a result of competition or just good coaching as the year goes.

I still continue to worry that we can't get contributions from more than 1 (maybe 2) WRs.
 

That may be. But the OC (whose name I have erased from memory) was no spring chicken and should have known better.

Mike Dunbar. Who passed away in 2013. OC at Northwestern and Cal before Gophers.
 

Dunbar had success at both Northwestern and Cal and he was available when Brewster was hired three weeks before signing day in 2007. He had about one week to put together his coaching staff before they hit the recruiting trail for two weeks. Brewster played the hand he was dealt with no whining at all. He never complained even when he had to start 3 true freshman in the defensive backfield against Michigan that year.

Contrast that with Kill who whined every chance he got during his first two years at the U about not being able to win with Brewster's players. And Brewster's players hated Kill for it, too. Oh, and by the way, the academic standing of Brewster's teams were significantly higher than Mason's teams. They only went downhill after Brewster was fired and nobody was minding the store. That has been proven to be true many times before in GopherHole. Unfortunately, facts don't matter to many people anymore.
 

Running a play at the end of the first half was just plain stupid. If any of you can find a post of someone whining about kneeling with a 17-point halftime lead in a game we were favored to win by double digits, I'll eat my hat. Kneeling on the ball with a big halftime lead in a game we were expected to lose is a different story - you need to take chances to maximize your chance of winning as an underdog. In a game like this where it was already well in hand, there is very little to be gained and a lot to potentially lose, as evidenced by what actually transpired.
 

From John T. Reed's Football Clock Management Book (289 pages).

Common mistake made by coaches:

-Waiting until the last two minutes of a half to manage the clock. You manage the game clock whenever it is running, including on the first play of the game. Generally, you should be in a slow-down whenever you are likely to win the game and in a hurry-up whenever you are likely to lose. In other words, with a few exceptions, you should be in either a slow-down or a hurry-up on every play of the game.
 

To be critical of the coaching staff to this point, one would really have to be trying. They have done a pretty good job in all areas, but most stark to me is they seem to make solid adjustments at the half and come out strong. We'll see if that is a result of competition or just good coaching as the year goes.

I still continue to worry that we can't get contributions from more than 1 (maybe 2) WRs.

The offense has been super vanilla. Also, I guess I'd widen the pass catching to RBs and TEs and I think we'll see more of that...especially to the RBs...starting with MD.
 

The offense has been super vanilla. Also, I guess I'd widen the pass catching to RBs and TEs and I think we'll see more of that...especially to the RBs...starting with MD.

Agreed.

As the OC, I'd know everyone would be suspecting us to run it immediately, so I'd call passes for at least the first 2 or 3 downs just to get them a bit more honest.
 

From John T. Reed's Football Clock Management Book (289 pages).

Common mistake made by coaches:

-Waiting until the last two minutes of a half to manage the clock. You manage the game clock whenever it is running, including on the first play of the game. Generally, you should be in a slow-down whenever you are likely to win the game and in a hurry-up whenever you are likely to lose. In other words, with a few exceptions, you should be in either a slow-down or a hurry-up on every play of the game.

Fascinating. I'd argue a decent number of HCs seem to have trouble with managing the clock when stopped...coming out of T/Os.
 




Top Bottom