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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the WCCO Sports Huddle with Sid, Dave and Max.
(shorty's note - either I'm slowing down, or PJ is talking faster. almost impossible to keep up with. wish I could take shorthand, or was a court reporter.....)
Sid: Media day. what's that all about?
PJ: excited. get to represent the U of MN. Kick off the season. FB is right around the corner. bringing some incredible players and incredible people to represent our state.
Sid: when can you meet with players?
PJ: it's very limited in summer, due to NCAA rules. Training camp - report date July 31. that's when we kick it and go. the coaches are in the office getting training camp prepared.
Sid: when can you meet with QBs. Have you got some idea what you think about QB's. will they be adequate?
PJ: Zach and Tanner are both better. Tanner is definitely better that he was a year ago. Zach is better than when he first arrived on campus. We have a very young FB team. Just like Phil Steele said. We're 128 out of 130 teams. that's all teams - Group of 5 and Power 5. we're the 3rd-youngest team in America. It's like I said when I was hired - in year 2, we'd be younger. still rely on JRs and SR's to lead. this year, fans will see what the future holds. it's going to be a lot of fun. it's a journey. exciting. fans will get to see new players. need older players to lead.
Sid: when can you talk to 2019 recruits again?
PJ: big weekend coming up. "hyprr hangout." get players who have committed to us on campus. we've got another camp coming up before our training camp. lot of recruiting still to do. a few more spots to fill. we may hold onto those. really dive into who we need. we feel good about where we're at. going to be a very strong class. add to the guys who are already on the team.
Mona: what about Sapp's health?
PJ: hope he's healthy. if he stays healthy, he can be a special FB player.
Max: I saw him at Eden Prairie. he looked good
PJ: he's got to put the work in to stay healthy. proud of his progress. he's got that never-quit attitude. he's a guy who really rows the boat - keeps an oar in the water.
Mona: Dunlap and Faalele - will they play on the same side of the line?
PJ: That will be a strategy (on red-shirting) based on who we want to play. With the new Red-shirt rule, we could dip into that a lot this year. it's a big rule change. we have so many RS FR, so many young players. have to make decision (about players) if I want to RS this year. last year took 7 OL recruits. got to revamp our OL for the future. those players are connecting at a high level. Coach Callahan is doing a great job. some decisions I'm going to make (about red-shirting) will affect us for the long-term and also for this season. what I decide may be not popular right now, but may be down the road.
Sid: will last year's redshirts help you this year?
PJ: there are a lot of guys who RS last year that I'm excited about, and some true FR I'm excited about. with the 9 to 11 SR's we have, we're going to rely on them for leadership.
Mona: can Femi-Cole be your short-yardage back?
PJ: Rodney Smith will play. We can count on him. Shannon won't be healthy until the end of the year. we might be able to use the RS rule for him. Then we have Edmonds - Ibrahim - Williams - Femi-Cole. we'll see how that all pans out. we're very youthful at RB, very youthful up front. very youthful at QB. but youth doesn't last. eventually they get older.
Sid: what about some of the transfers on this team?
PJ: We don't have a lot of them. everyone has the opportunity to play.
Max: what is the most difficult position to learn for a young player?
PJ: definitely OL. it's difficult to go up there and play. last year with Blaise Andries, we could have used him. But we have to think long term. now we have him for 4 seasons. It's a young crew -take the guys we have in the program now, and we'll add to that with the '19 class. we'll have a really good line down the road. It's difficult for FR or RS FR to walk in there and play. there's a strength factor. when you have young players on the OL or DL, they lack "grown man" strength. that's the difference between someone at age 19 and at 21. it's a race to maturity. we need our young players to play the best they can. we know the strength factor is not going to be there yet
Sid: ever had a squad with so few Seniors?
PJ: it's similar to our 2nd year at WMU. But, playing so many young players in the MAC is different than doing that in the B1G. different strength and size of league we're in, in the B1G. it's similar to how we rebuilt WMU. played young players, but still need SR and JR to lead the way. players will grow up with time.
Mona: Bateman. what do you like?
PJ: He's one of the best people you'll ever meet. his personality is infectious. talented. a true WR. (at WMU) Corey Davis played as true FR. With Bateman, you're going to be excited about the type of person he is. he's a connector - he brings people together. explosive - can really run. had 3 B1G basketball offers. still, we haven't watched him play FB with us, yet. Once training camp starts, then coaches can get their hands on players full time
Sid: Winfield, Cashman, Barber healthy. how much difference does that make?
PJ: Like to be able to clone every one of them. we don't have enough depth. we do have some depth. it's year 2. we didn't have much depth last year. we've got to fill the roster with prospects to create multiple Winfields, Barbers, etc. we started completely over. whether people agree with that or not. we started over. we do it our way. the way I know how to do it.
Sid: great ticket packages. Murray's Certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah.
(shorty's note - either I'm slowing down, or PJ is talking faster. almost impossible to keep up with. wish I could take shorthand, or was a court reporter.....)
Sid: Media day. what's that all about?
PJ: excited. get to represent the U of MN. Kick off the season. FB is right around the corner. bringing some incredible players and incredible people to represent our state.
Sid: when can you meet with players?
PJ: it's very limited in summer, due to NCAA rules. Training camp - report date July 31. that's when we kick it and go. the coaches are in the office getting training camp prepared.
Sid: when can you meet with QBs. Have you got some idea what you think about QB's. will they be adequate?
PJ: Zach and Tanner are both better. Tanner is definitely better that he was a year ago. Zach is better than when he first arrived on campus. We have a very young FB team. Just like Phil Steele said. We're 128 out of 130 teams. that's all teams - Group of 5 and Power 5. we're the 3rd-youngest team in America. It's like I said when I was hired - in year 2, we'd be younger. still rely on JRs and SR's to lead. this year, fans will see what the future holds. it's going to be a lot of fun. it's a journey. exciting. fans will get to see new players. need older players to lead.
Sid: when can you talk to 2019 recruits again?
PJ: big weekend coming up. "hyprr hangout." get players who have committed to us on campus. we've got another camp coming up before our training camp. lot of recruiting still to do. a few more spots to fill. we may hold onto those. really dive into who we need. we feel good about where we're at. going to be a very strong class. add to the guys who are already on the team.
Mona: what about Sapp's health?
PJ: hope he's healthy. if he stays healthy, he can be a special FB player.
Max: I saw him at Eden Prairie. he looked good
PJ: he's got to put the work in to stay healthy. proud of his progress. he's got that never-quit attitude. he's a guy who really rows the boat - keeps an oar in the water.
Mona: Dunlap and Faalele - will they play on the same side of the line?
PJ: That will be a strategy (on red-shirting) based on who we want to play. With the new Red-shirt rule, we could dip into that a lot this year. it's a big rule change. we have so many RS FR, so many young players. have to make decision (about players) if I want to RS this year. last year took 7 OL recruits. got to revamp our OL for the future. those players are connecting at a high level. Coach Callahan is doing a great job. some decisions I'm going to make (about red-shirting) will affect us for the long-term and also for this season. what I decide may be not popular right now, but may be down the road.
Sid: will last year's redshirts help you this year?
PJ: there are a lot of guys who RS last year that I'm excited about, and some true FR I'm excited about. with the 9 to 11 SR's we have, we're going to rely on them for leadership.
Mona: can Femi-Cole be your short-yardage back?
PJ: Rodney Smith will play. We can count on him. Shannon won't be healthy until the end of the year. we might be able to use the RS rule for him. Then we have Edmonds - Ibrahim - Williams - Femi-Cole. we'll see how that all pans out. we're very youthful at RB, very youthful up front. very youthful at QB. but youth doesn't last. eventually they get older.
Sid: what about some of the transfers on this team?
PJ: We don't have a lot of them. everyone has the opportunity to play.
Max: what is the most difficult position to learn for a young player?
PJ: definitely OL. it's difficult to go up there and play. last year with Blaise Andries, we could have used him. But we have to think long term. now we have him for 4 seasons. It's a young crew -take the guys we have in the program now, and we'll add to that with the '19 class. we'll have a really good line down the road. It's difficult for FR or RS FR to walk in there and play. there's a strength factor. when you have young players on the OL or DL, they lack "grown man" strength. that's the difference between someone at age 19 and at 21. it's a race to maturity. we need our young players to play the best they can. we know the strength factor is not going to be there yet
Sid: ever had a squad with so few Seniors?
PJ: it's similar to our 2nd year at WMU. But, playing so many young players in the MAC is different than doing that in the B1G. different strength and size of league we're in, in the B1G. it's similar to how we rebuilt WMU. played young players, but still need SR and JR to lead the way. players will grow up with time.
Mona: Bateman. what do you like?
PJ: He's one of the best people you'll ever meet. his personality is infectious. talented. a true WR. (at WMU) Corey Davis played as true FR. With Bateman, you're going to be excited about the type of person he is. he's a connector - he brings people together. explosive - can really run. had 3 B1G basketball offers. still, we haven't watched him play FB with us, yet. Once training camp starts, then coaches can get their hands on players full time
Sid: Winfield, Cashman, Barber healthy. how much difference does that make?
PJ: Like to be able to clone every one of them. we don't have enough depth. we do have some depth. it's year 2. we didn't have much depth last year. we've got to fill the roster with prospects to create multiple Winfields, Barbers, etc. we started completely over. whether people agree with that or not. we started over. we do it our way. the way I know how to do it.
Sid: great ticket packages. Murray's Certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah.
