Fleck Spreading Energy, Excitement Across Gopher Athletic Department

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BleedGopher

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per GopherSports:

Spring football is in full force and recruiting is constant, but that hasn’t stopped head coach P.J. Fleck from making his way around campus to show support for the entire Gopher athletic department.

From day one, Fleck made it clear that he wants to be visible and connect Minnesota like no coach has ever done.

“I think all of our coaches are in it for the same reasons,” Fleck said. “We all want to educate young people and develop our own cultures but also develop the culture of our entire athletic department. I think connectivity is really big in championships. Not just in individual sports but as an athletic department. We all have our specific roles, but we are all connected because we are all Gophers.”

Other teams have noticed Fleck’s presence. He showed up to multiple women’s basketball games throughout the season and voiced his support of the program throughout the year. He spoke to them late in the season and the football staff – led by Fleck – high-fived players before they left for the Big Ten tournament.

“He brings such tremendous energy and excitement to our football program, but I think what he is exceptionally good at is sharing that enthusiasm for our entire athletic department,” head women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings said. “For him and Heather to give time and come to our game and speak to our team really sets the tone for what we are about on the larger scale. We are at an elite level competing and it’s elite, to use his word, of him to give his time and energy to spend time with our team. We are extremely grateful for it.”

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/031318aae.html

Go Gophers!!
 

I swear there's a clone of him. He's everywhere.
 

It's cool to see the football coach reach out and support other aspects of the university.

I imagine life at the athletic department when PJ is in town is sort of a lot of spontaneous stuff like:


 

Sure, but when Maturi supported the non revenue sports....
I kid I kid. I love seeing this support and have to think it will make all programs more supported. That energy, plus the athletes all hanging out together in the same building will do wonders towards friendship building and supporting each other as athletes and friends. Sure there is a larger impact when 40+ football players show up to your gymnastics meet than when 10+ gymnasts show up to your football game, but the support is what’s important.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I always thought it'd be cool to see whole rosters of teams supporting each other. Women's Hockey has a home game when no-one else is playing? Get the whole football team, and basketball teams, and the men's hockey team, etc, to go a support them! Especially because they rarely get the size of audience they deserve! Give the same treatment to Men's hockey, and Men's basketball, and Women's basketball, and soccer, and baseball, and softball, etc. Maybe not every game. Maybe its only 1 game for each team out of the season, but I think it would be cool to see!
 


Taji34 said:
I always thought it'd be cool to see whole rosters of teams supporting each other. Women's Hockey has a home game when no-one else is playing? Get the whole football team, and basketball teams, and the men's hockey team, etc, to go a support them! Especially because they rarely get the size of audience they deserve! Give the same treatment to Men's hockey, and Men's basketball, and Women's basketball, and soccer, and baseball, and softball, etc. Maybe not every game. Maybe its only 1 game for each team out of the season, but I think it would be cool to see!
Click to expand...

Would be nice to see that extend to the rest of the school too, try to break some of the athletes vs other departments attitudes that sadly exist.
 

Taji34 said:
I always thought it'd be cool to see whole rosters of teams supporting each other. Women's Hockey has a home game when no-one else is playing? Get the whole football team, and basketball teams, and the men's hockey team, etc, to go a support them! Especially because they rarely get the size of audience they deserve! Give the same treatment to Men's hockey, and Men's basketball, and Women's basketball, and soccer, and baseball, and softball, etc. Maybe not every game. Maybe its only 1 game for each team out of the season, but I think it would be cool to see!
Click to expand...

This goes on probably more than you realize. Maybe not the whole team per se, but I've seen many athletes as fans of other sports over my 30+ years of attending gopher games of various types.
 

Isiah Washington tweeted that this is true as well.

This is why I think Fleck will succeed. I can't stand his jargon/hype whatever, but he clearly is a really good guy with a TON of energy. If they can get through the next year, I could see Pitino/ Fleck growing old together at the U. Success and stability would be nice.
 

No question that Fleck is more out front than any recent Gopher football coach, and that's fine.

But, in the end, he has to win. that's it. He can go to every Gopher sporting event that takes place, but in the end, he has to win.

I know I'm in the minority with my feelings about Fleck - and maybe that is coloring my viewpoint - but I see Fleck as someone who could wear out his welcome very quickly if he doesn't win. Now, if he wins, he can own the campus. But, if he doesn't win, I will not be the only critic out there.

Old saying - don't promise more than you can deliver. the more visible Fleck is - the louder he is - the more he puts himself on the spot.

Again, if he wins, he's golden. (excuse the pun). But, if he doesn't win, there will be a backlash.
 



Does Mark Coyle and athletic staff make frequent appearances in all the Gopher sports games?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
No question that Fleck is more out front than any recent Gopher football coach, and that's fine.

But, in the end, he has to win. that's it. He can go to every Gopher sporting event that takes place, but in the end, he has to win.

I know I'm in the minority with my feelings about Fleck - and maybe that is coloring my viewpoint - but I see Fleck as someone who could wear out his welcome very quickly if he doesn't win. Now, if he wins, he can own the campus. But, if he doesn't win, I will not be the only critic out there.

Old saying - don't promise more than you can deliver. the more visible Fleck is - the louder he is - the more he puts himself on the spot.

Again, if he wins, he's golden. (excuse the pun). But, if he doesn't win, there will be a backlash.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your writing the Huddle recap....but every time I read your responses they are always so dour in tone. This is sports not geopolitical head bashing. Have some fun my Norge friend.
 

Halsey Hall said:
I appreciate your writing the Huddle recap....but every time I read your responses they are always so dour in tone. This is sports not geopolitical head bashing. Have some fun my Norge friend.
Click to expand...

So, you want me to change my personality to suit you? I write the way I think. That is who I am. You say dour - I say realistic. Shoot, I'm actually a lot more cynical and ticked-off than most of my posts on here indicate.

or I guess I could just post PJ IS GREAT. WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE ROSE BOWL!!!!!!!!!! there, now are you happy?
 

It’s weird that a forum about an activity that is at least in part a socially acceptable (sort of) proxy for our repressed tribal instincts and/or violent altar egos is supposed to be all about about unicorns and rainbows.

I would wager a large percentage of readers come for the news but stay for the spats. Put 3+ people in a room long enough and people will find ways to disagree and fight about anything. Some people are perma-optimists, some are more balanced, and some are perma-Scrooge’s. Some of us waver into all phases at various times depending on circumstances.
 




Pompous Elitist said:
It’s weird that a forum about an activity that is at least in part a socially acceptable (sort of) proxy for our repressed tribal instincts and/or violent altar egos is supposed to be all about about unicorns and rainbows.

I would wager a large percentage of readers come for the news but stay for the spats. Put 3+ people in a room long enough and people will find ways to disagree and fight about anything. Some people are perma-optimists, some are more balanced, and some are perma-Scrooge’s. Some of us waver into all phases at various times depending on circumstances.
Click to expand...

I could see a lot of these "debates" going on with friends or the guy at the bar stool next to you. I think the only difference is when it's online people tend to push their points further than if it was in person. If someone made these same arguments in-person I don't think most of us would have a big deal with it. People take opposing viewpoints so personally on here.
 

Word said:
This goes on probably more than you realize. Maybe not the whole team per se, but I've seen many athletes as fans of other sports over my 30+ years of attending gopher games of various types.
Click to expand...

I have seen it too, but never more than 3 or 4 players at a time. And it never seemed to be at the non-revenue sports.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
No question that Fleck is more out front than any recent Gopher football coach, and that's fine.

But, in the end, he has to win. that's it. He can go to every Gopher sporting event that takes place, but in the end, he has to win.

I know I'm in the minority with my feelings about Fleck - and maybe that is coloring my viewpoint - but I see Fleck as someone who could wear out his welcome very quickly if he doesn't win. Now, if he wins, he can own the campus. But, if he doesn't win, I will not be the only critic out there.

Old saying - don't promise more than you can deliver. the more visible Fleck is - the louder he is - the more he puts himself on the spot.

Again, if he wins, he's golden. (excuse the pun). But, if he doesn't win, there will be a backlash.
Click to expand...

I'm in the minority as well and a charter member of the "I may not be for everyone" crowd.

Fleck seems to be on a mission to create excitement about the program and his brand. And other Gopher athletes are benefiting from his presence. Good move as the UM marketing department has been rather inept at creating excitement about the program for years.

In spite of his efforts and those by the press to prop up Fleck, the general public is holding back. Season ticket sales are still well below capacity and there were many empty seats for each game last Fall. This must change and change quickly.

Being the HC at Minnesota has been and still is a very difficult gig. But I hope Fleck and his culture will result in the Gophers winning big and often. Its been a very long time.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
So, you want me to change my personality to suit you? I write the way I think. That is who I am. You say dour - I say realistic. Shoot, I'm actually a lot more cynical and ticked-off than most of my posts on here indicate.

or I guess I could just post PJ IS GREAT. WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE ROSE BOWL!!!!!!!!!! there, now are you happy?
Click to expand...

I agree with HH. You don’t have to change your personality for anyone, but could you be a little more open minded. Every time PJ does ANYTHING you always remind us of the obvious that it doesn’t matter if they don’t win. We all know that, but can’t you step back and appreciate the effort or see the building blocks that it takes to build a program and change the negative attitude of the fan base? It is like criticizing every homework assignment that your kid accomplishes with the old “well, it does matter unless you pass the class”.
Life is about enjoying the journey, not the final destination! Enjoy and make the best of the journey!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
I'm in the minority as well and a charter member of the "I may not be for everyone" crowd.

Fleck seems to be on a mission to create excitement about the program and his brand. And other Gopher athletes are benefiting from his presence. Good move as the UM marketing department has been rather inept at creating excitement about the program for years.

In spite of his efforts and those by the press to prop up Fleck, the general public is holding back. Season ticket sales are still well below capacity and there were many empty seats for each game last Fall. This must change and change quickly.

Being the HC at Minnesota has been and still is a very difficult gig. But I hope Fleck and his culture will result in the Gophers winning big and often. Its been a very long time.
Click to expand...

Negativity like this is so obnoxious. Get over yourselves.
 


All Motherhood and Apple Pie. What a fun site this would be.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

It's all about connecting the teams to create relationships and a good gene pool for legacy Gophers!
 

A culture that has not produced a Big Ten title in over 50 years is probably in need of change, radical change. Too many have grown comfortable with losing and that's a big problem. Administrators and faculty can distance themselves from programs of failure. Alabama chose to re-establish itself as a football power and the quality of students wanting to attend jumped. Minnesota can chose to re-establish itself as a football power. Does it have the will? It seems the resources are available and Fleck might be the answer. Does he need to win? Certainly. Greatness comes through vision and purpose but those qualities might take longer than 2 years to be realized. For those of you who will judge a program's success or failure after year 2 might be a tad short sighted. Well, actually more than a tad.
 

BroncoRedux said:
A culture that has not produced a Big Ten title in over 50 years is probably in need of change, radical change. Too many have grown comfortable with losing and that's a big problem. Administrators and faculty can distance themselves from programs of failure. Alabama chose to re-establish itself as a football power and the quality of students wanting to attend jumped. Minnesota can chose to re-establish itself as a football power. Does it have the will? It seems the resources are available and Fleck might be the answer. Does he need to win? Certainly. Greatness comes through vision and purpose but those qualities might take longer than 2 years to be realized. For those of you who will judge a program's success or failure after year 2 might be a tad short sighted. Well, actually more than a tad.
Click to expand...

Who is doing that?
 

BroncoRedux said:
A culture that has not produced a Big Ten title in over 50 years is probably in need of change, radical change. Too many have grown comfortable with losing and that's a big problem. Administrators and faculty can distance themselves from programs of failure. Alabama chose to re-establish itself as a football power and the quality of students wanting to attend jumped. Minnesota can chose to re-establish itself as a football power. Does it have the will? It seems the resources are available and Fleck might be the answer. Does he need to win? Certainly. Greatness comes through vision and purpose but those qualities might take longer than 2 years to be realized. For those of you who will judge a program's success or failure after year 2 might be a tad short sighted. Well, actually more than a tad.
Click to expand...

So expecting the Gophs to win 8-9 games a season in 2017 and this year is being short sighted, even though they'd done exactly that in three of the previous four seasons?
 

I think Fleck is doing a great job.
Almost all signs are pointing in a positive direction so far.
 

alchemy2u said:
I agree with HH. You don’t have to change your personality for anyone, but could you be a little more open minded. Every time PJ does ANYTHING you always remind us of the obvious that it doesn’t matter if they don’t win. We all know that, but can’t you step back and appreciate the effort or see the building blocks that it takes to build a program and change the negative attitude of the fan base? It is like criticizing every homework assignment that your kid accomplishes with the old “well, it does matter unless you pass the class”.
Life is about enjoying the journey, not the final destination! Enjoy and make the best of the journey!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Ha! Says the guy in his early 20's to the guy in his 60's. Life is a trip!
 

Face The Facts said:
I think Fleck is doing a great job.
Almost all signs are pointing in a positive direction so far.
Click to expand...

I don't have any proof that he is doing a great job. So far he has just changed quite a few things. I certainly hope that this all adds up to doing great things. I would like to see it sooner than later but it's not like we upset an elite apple cart. I have never witnessed a conference title in my life.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Ha! Says the guy in his early 20's to the guy in his 60's. Life is a trip!
Click to expand...

Attitude is a mindset and not directly related to age. By the way, I haven’t been asked for my ID at a bar in over 40 years....


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Fleck would make an outstanding Athletic Director whenever he is done with coaching. Would love if it if we can keep him long enough to have a Barry Alvarez type situation.
 

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