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Gopher Football Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the WCCO Sports Huddle.
Sid: are all (2018) recruits in camp with you. What can they do?
PJ: All FR have reported. allowed to work out with strength coach. have players-only practices, 7-on-7. we're (coaches) allowed only a very small amount of time with the players. they're going to summer school, doing the right things. it's an adaptation process. lot of kids are leaving home for 1st time.
Sid: what does weight guy tell you about players?
PJ: have weekly reports on all the players. too early to tell. athletic class, fast class. speed testing high. will help us a lot - maybe not right away with experience, but with numbers. athletic at all positions. Mariano Sori-Martin, MLB 4.51 240 pounds. 4.0 student, incredible kid from Chicago. Missed his JR year in HS. has opportunity to compete for spot. works hard. look forward to big things.
Sid: 2019 group. when can you talk to them again?
PJ: We're in a dead period. I can talk to them, but players are not allowed to visit campus. 2019 class looking very strong for us, and for the whole conference. we're getting guys who want to be Gophers. have 21 commits already on July 1. that's a compliment to coaching staff, boosters, fans, donors - everyone who's part of U of MN who helped with Athletes Village. we want our fans to celebrate the process of becoming a champion. that means winning at recruiting, facilities, academics, winning at doing the right thing, serving off the field, culture. celebrate process. 9 seniors, 14-15 juniors on scholarship. very young and inexperienced. future is so bright. people want to be here. look at the amount of commits by July 1.
Mona: new red-shirt rule. play 4 games. when do you play them?
PJ: one of most significant rule changes last 10-15 years in college FB. so much strategy. when do you play them. who do you play. who do they play against. NCAA got it right. 9-10 games into the season, guys get beat up. this will give you a chance to take a few hits off other players, and give them to someone else. get their feet wet. who you're allowed to travel hasn't changed. so I think more guys will play at home games because of travel rule. will think about it during the entire year. haven't finished plan yet. be interesting to see how much we use it and who with.
Max: what are the other camps you go to?
PJ: got to pair up with another university. for example, we might pair up with a Div II School in Texas - they run the camp, but we're there. more players will come if they know the U of MN is going to be there. we get people in that area to come out. we travel as a whole staff to different camps. I can evaluate kids with my own eyes. Live evaluation is incredibly important. want the coaches to be on same page about recruits. find places we recruit heavily to hold camps.
Sid: is the facility helping in recruiting?
PJ: gives people no excuse to say "we're not coming to MN because of facilities." takes that excuse out. we have some of the greatest facilities in country. top 10, top 15 in America. have a "Wow" factor now. there's the old Stereotype - too cold in the North. They come here and they're wowed. They see I can have everything here. Strive to become top 10 program, back that up with facilities. game-changer for us. doesn't necessarily mean instant change. gives you ability to do things at a high level. players on campus love it. need to take care of it every single day. treat it as their own place.
Mona: (mentions woman who spoke to FB players about job opportunities.) She said the players were respectful and polite.
PJ: we have 120 guys on team. train them to become elite men. not saying they're all going to be perfect. Teach them How to lead change. want them to be an example. doesn't mean one of our kids won't screw up. but our culture will be strong enough to handle that quickly. need to be a player-led culture, player-led team. proud of progress out players have made. making progress to be better men, husbands, fathers. that means success to me, not just the number of wins. people always want more. If you get to 9 wins, people want 10. wins are important, but we want them to win in their lives, carry over for next 40 years. our programs are working -you can see the difference in our student-athletes.
Sid: how good are the non-conf opponents?
PJ: very talented. New Mexico State is an up and coming team. Fresno State - lot of polls have them as a top 25 team. Tedford incredible coach. very talented. Miami of OH - one of teams we recruited against (in the MAC). they have a stacked roster. expecting huge things this year. 3 very difficult opponents - especially in terms of our inexperience. we have take it one game at a time.
Sid: Murray's certificate. Great ticket packages for Gophers.
PJ: great concert last night with Eagles and Jimmy Buffet. Elite Concert. Ski-U-Mah, RTB.
Sid: are all (2018) recruits in camp with you. What can they do?
PJ: All FR have reported. allowed to work out with strength coach. have players-only practices, 7-on-7. we're (coaches) allowed only a very small amount of time with the players. they're going to summer school, doing the right things. it's an adaptation process. lot of kids are leaving home for 1st time.
Sid: what does weight guy tell you about players?
PJ: have weekly reports on all the players. too early to tell. athletic class, fast class. speed testing high. will help us a lot - maybe not right away with experience, but with numbers. athletic at all positions. Mariano Sori-Martin, MLB 4.51 240 pounds. 4.0 student, incredible kid from Chicago. Missed his JR year in HS. has opportunity to compete for spot. works hard. look forward to big things.
Sid: 2019 group. when can you talk to them again?
PJ: We're in a dead period. I can talk to them, but players are not allowed to visit campus. 2019 class looking very strong for us, and for the whole conference. we're getting guys who want to be Gophers. have 21 commits already on July 1. that's a compliment to coaching staff, boosters, fans, donors - everyone who's part of U of MN who helped with Athletes Village. we want our fans to celebrate the process of becoming a champion. that means winning at recruiting, facilities, academics, winning at doing the right thing, serving off the field, culture. celebrate process. 9 seniors, 14-15 juniors on scholarship. very young and inexperienced. future is so bright. people want to be here. look at the amount of commits by July 1.
Mona: new red-shirt rule. play 4 games. when do you play them?
PJ: one of most significant rule changes last 10-15 years in college FB. so much strategy. when do you play them. who do you play. who do they play against. NCAA got it right. 9-10 games into the season, guys get beat up. this will give you a chance to take a few hits off other players, and give them to someone else. get their feet wet. who you're allowed to travel hasn't changed. so I think more guys will play at home games because of travel rule. will think about it during the entire year. haven't finished plan yet. be interesting to see how much we use it and who with.
Max: what are the other camps you go to?
PJ: got to pair up with another university. for example, we might pair up with a Div II School in Texas - they run the camp, but we're there. more players will come if they know the U of MN is going to be there. we get people in that area to come out. we travel as a whole staff to different camps. I can evaluate kids with my own eyes. Live evaluation is incredibly important. want the coaches to be on same page about recruits. find places we recruit heavily to hold camps.
Sid: is the facility helping in recruiting?
PJ: gives people no excuse to say "we're not coming to MN because of facilities." takes that excuse out. we have some of the greatest facilities in country. top 10, top 15 in America. have a "Wow" factor now. there's the old Stereotype - too cold in the North. They come here and they're wowed. They see I can have everything here. Strive to become top 10 program, back that up with facilities. game-changer for us. doesn't necessarily mean instant change. gives you ability to do things at a high level. players on campus love it. need to take care of it every single day. treat it as their own place.
Mona: (mentions woman who spoke to FB players about job opportunities.) She said the players were respectful and polite.
PJ: we have 120 guys on team. train them to become elite men. not saying they're all going to be perfect. Teach them How to lead change. want them to be an example. doesn't mean one of our kids won't screw up. but our culture will be strong enough to handle that quickly. need to be a player-led culture, player-led team. proud of progress out players have made. making progress to be better men, husbands, fathers. that means success to me, not just the number of wins. people always want more. If you get to 9 wins, people want 10. wins are important, but we want them to win in their lives, carry over for next 40 years. our programs are working -you can see the difference in our student-athletes.
Sid: how good are the non-conf opponents?
PJ: very talented. New Mexico State is an up and coming team. Fresno State - lot of polls have them as a top 25 team. Tedford incredible coach. very talented. Miami of OH - one of teams we recruited against (in the MAC). they have a stacked roster. expecting huge things this year. 3 very difficult opponents - especially in terms of our inexperience. we have take it one game at a time.
Sid: Murray's certificate. Great ticket packages for Gophers.
PJ: great concert last night with Eagles and Jimmy Buffet. Elite Concert. Ski-U-Mah, RTB.
