Which first-year coaches did the best job in 2017? (#16. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota, C)

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Athlon:

16. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota (5-7)

Similar to his stint at Western Michigan, Fleck’s debut at Minnesota is off to a slow start. The Golden Gophers finished 5-7 and only won two Big Ten games. However, Fleck’s team wasn’t far from making a bowl appearance. Minnesota lost three games by seven points or less, including a 30-27 defeat to Michigan State in mid-October. In order for the Golden Gophers to have a winning mark in 2018, the offense needs to improve. Minnesota was shut out in each of its last two games and averaged 18.4 points in Big Ten contests last year. However, help is on the way. Fleck is regarded as an outstanding recruiter and is poised to ink a standout class.

Final Grade: C

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/grading-college-footballs-first-year-coaching-hires-2017

Go Gophers!!
 

Coach gets to prove head-to-head that Tedford, Brohm and Allen, all ranked ahead of him in this piece, are not doing a better job in their year two than he is.

Also gets a go at year zero guy Frost, who is taking over a dumpster fire. Lovie in year 2.75. Durkin in year 3.

These rankings are tough because they give Tedford, Brohm, Kiffin, Taggart, Butch credit for improving bad situations. PJ inheirited a good situation, so tough to improve on that.
 

swingman said:
Coach gets to prove head-to-head that Tedford, Brohm and Allen, all ranked ahead of him in this piece, are not doing a better job in their year two than he is.

Also gets a go at year zero guy Frost, who is taking over a dumpster fire. Lovie in year 2.75. Durkin in year 3.

These rankings are tough because they give Tedford, Brohm, Kiffin, Taggart, Butch credit for improving bad situations. PJ inheirited a good situation, so tough to improve on that.
Click to expand...

Brohm has done a nice job, but he’s gone after 2019. He was the #4 pick in the XFL and a first team all star. He’s got the XFL pedigree and doesn’t need college football.
 

swingman said:
Coach gets to prove head-to-head that Tedford, Brohm and Allen, all ranked ahead of him in this piece, are not doing a better job in their year two than he is.

Also gets a go at year zero guy Frost, who is taking over a dumpster fire. Lovie in year 2.75. Durkin in year 3.

These rankings are tough because they give Tedford, Brohm, Kiffin, Taggart, Butch credit for improving bad situations. PJ inheirited a good situation, so tough to improve on that.
Click to expand...

Frost maybe had a fire but they already have skyrocketed recruiting wise.
 

God said:
Brohm has done a nice job, but he’s gone after 2019. He was the #4 pick in the XFL and a first team all star. He’s got the XFL pedigree and doesn’t need college football.
Click to expand...

XFL? Wat?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


BleedGopher said:
per Athlon:

16. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota (5-7)

Similar to his stint at Western Michigan, Fleck’s debut at Minnesota is off to a slow start. The Golden Gophers finished 5-7 and only won two Big Ten games. However, Fleck’s team wasn’t far from making a bowl appearance. Minnesota lost three games by seven points or less, including a 30-27 defeat to Michigan State in mid-October. In order for the Golden Gophers to have a winning mark in 2018, the offense needs to improve. Minnesota was shut out in each of its last two games and averaged 18.4 points in Big Ten contests last year. However, help is on the way. Fleck is regarded as an outstanding recruiter and is poised to ink a standout class.

Final Grade: C

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/grading-college-footballs-first-year-coaching-hires-2017

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

I'd probably have us a couple spots higher on the list, but otherwise hard to argue with it.
 

PJ has a script from WMU and he’s sticking to it. Some people on that list saw lemons and made lemonade. PJ saw lemons, threw them out and went to the store for oranges. He’s going to break the team down and then build it up in his desired image with his type of guys in a 4-5 year project. Will it work out? Considering the caliber of players he’s recruiting if he can outperform the talent level like the great coaches do we’re in great shape for top 20 teams down the road. If he underperforms like this year and recruiting tails off then we’re in trouble. Way too soon to draw any definitive conclusions.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
PJ has a script from WMU and he’s sticking to it. Some people on that list saw lemons and made lemonade. PJ saw lemons, threw them out and went to the store for oranges. He’s going to break the team down and then build it up in his desired image with his type of guys in a 4-5 year project. Will it work out? Considering the caliber of players he’s recruiting if he can outperform the talent level like the great coaches do we’re in great shape for top 20 teams down the road. If he underperforms like this year and recruiting tails off then we’re in trouble. Way too soon to draw any definitive conclusions.
Click to expand...

You sure it wasn't avocados, not oranges?
 

Pompous Elitist said:
PJ has a script from WMU and he’s sticking to it. Some people on that list saw lemons and made lemonade. PJ saw lemons, threw them out and went to the store for oranges. He’s going to break the team down and then build it up in his desired image with his type of guys in a 4-5 year project. Will it work out? Considering the caliber of players he’s recruiting if he can outperform the talent level like the great coaches do we’re in great shape for top 20 teams down the road. If he underperforms like this year and recruiting tails off then we’re in trouble. Way too soon to draw any definitive conclusions.
Click to expand...

Very fair assessment of PJs outlook beyond 2017.

However, the article targets 2017 on-field performance specifically. IMO, he did a pretty poor job, and it wasn't on purpose as some like to spin it. Is it that big of a deal that the team didn't get a bowl game in Detroit? Absolutely not. But, there is no doubt in my mind that a high level Xs and Os guy could've gotten the team bowl eligible.

He's answered all of my question marks related to recruiting. There has never been a doubt he's a great salesman and marketing guy. But, when it comes to actually playing the games on Saturday, I still have questions. The B1G is a different animal than the MAC, so I'm not relying on those results in my assessment at all. He still needs to prove he can do it on the field at this level.
 




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