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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO radio with Sid, Dave and Max.
(PJ was outside with his kids - 1st part of the interview, the hosts couldn't hear his answers, so they had to start interview over.....)
Sid: did you learn anything in Chicago?
PJ: not necessarily. we're there to represent the U of MN FB program - talk about the upcoming season. we're going to be very young and inexperienced. Our 9 scholarship seniors on offense & defense will have to lead. the young team will have to mature quickly. doesn't mean we can't win. there's still a lot of opportunity for this young team.
Sid: how many 2019 recruits do you have now?
PJ: right around 21 now. that's great going into the end of July. tremendous job by out staff. the coaches do a great job. hope to have back to back some of the greatest classes in MN history. the '18 & '19 class - by the time they're juniors and seniors, they will be very experienced, and will have been through a lot together.
Sid: can you contact them (recruits) now?
PJ: we're coming off a dead period. going to be another dead period in August. Come August, we'll keep in touch. just had a big weekend. 70% of our commits were here, along with some other guys we're looking at for 2020, and a few guys we're still looking at for 2019. it was a great weekend to finish up out summer recruiting.
Sid: Great to see athletes get awards (i.e. - be on pre-season award lists)
PJ: as we continue to go through the years, we want to make sure those lists grow. we want to have a lot of our players on those lists. but, those are still team awards. you need to play well as a team in order to have individual accolades. At Chicago, our players (Barber, Smith, Coughlin) did a tremendous job representing our team. Jared Weyler is really excited about his opportunity. He's never been really healthy the last 3 years. he looks great, strong.
Sid: will everyone be healthy for practice?
PJ: one of 1st reporting days is July 31. won't do much that day, just get everyone in a room. the next day will be a rookie practice. that's something new for this year. just the newcomers. first practice for our Upperclassmen will be on Aug 2nd. we've got so many young guys, newcomers. got to get them out there and get their feet wet. make sure they know how we practice.
Mona: you talked about chance of Brooks available last 4 games? are the coaches talking about new RS rules?
PJ: we talk about it all the time. but it's another thing acting on it. there are so many factors we can't control. it's one of the best new rules, but it's making coaches really think about who you're going to use the RS rule with. could be forced to play someone due to injuries. you say, we're going to play these guys for 4 games, but come week 2, there's an injury, and you could be forced into playing someone every game for the rest of the year. just like building a house - you start with a blueprint, and you make changes as you go.
Max: coaches will be going nuts
PJ: it's similar to the new rule on official visits. everyone has their own strategy. try it this year, and then next year, you say we'll do this or we won't do this. it's very intense, complicated. what types of strategy are you going to use? it's a whole new start. next year, you'll be able to evaluate how it worked. it's a process for everyone feeling out. see how the plan takes shape
Sid: what position will Cashman and Winfield play?
PJ: Cashman will be our starting Will (LB). will lean on him for leadership. he's biting at the bit to get out there. with Winfield, we can do a lot of things. Our Secondary is going to be extremely young. a lot of true FR are going to have to play. we'll do game-planning depending on how good the FR are and what they can do - and how they play depends on how we move Winfield around. depending on what the rest of the Secondary can handle, that determines how we can move him around. he's going to have a huge role for us. the better the FR play, the more we can move him (Winfield) around.
Sid: great ticket plans right now. great schedule. Murray's certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah.
(PJ was outside with his kids - 1st part of the interview, the hosts couldn't hear his answers, so they had to start interview over.....)
Sid: did you learn anything in Chicago?
PJ: not necessarily. we're there to represent the U of MN FB program - talk about the upcoming season. we're going to be very young and inexperienced. Our 9 scholarship seniors on offense & defense will have to lead. the young team will have to mature quickly. doesn't mean we can't win. there's still a lot of opportunity for this young team.
Sid: how many 2019 recruits do you have now?
PJ: right around 21 now. that's great going into the end of July. tremendous job by out staff. the coaches do a great job. hope to have back to back some of the greatest classes in MN history. the '18 & '19 class - by the time they're juniors and seniors, they will be very experienced, and will have been through a lot together.
Sid: can you contact them (recruits) now?
PJ: we're coming off a dead period. going to be another dead period in August. Come August, we'll keep in touch. just had a big weekend. 70% of our commits were here, along with some other guys we're looking at for 2020, and a few guys we're still looking at for 2019. it was a great weekend to finish up out summer recruiting.
Sid: Great to see athletes get awards (i.e. - be on pre-season award lists)
PJ: as we continue to go through the years, we want to make sure those lists grow. we want to have a lot of our players on those lists. but, those are still team awards. you need to play well as a team in order to have individual accolades. At Chicago, our players (Barber, Smith, Coughlin) did a tremendous job representing our team. Jared Weyler is really excited about his opportunity. He's never been really healthy the last 3 years. he looks great, strong.
Sid: will everyone be healthy for practice?
PJ: one of 1st reporting days is July 31. won't do much that day, just get everyone in a room. the next day will be a rookie practice. that's something new for this year. just the newcomers. first practice for our Upperclassmen will be on Aug 2nd. we've got so many young guys, newcomers. got to get them out there and get their feet wet. make sure they know how we practice.
Mona: you talked about chance of Brooks available last 4 games? are the coaches talking about new RS rules?
PJ: we talk about it all the time. but it's another thing acting on it. there are so many factors we can't control. it's one of the best new rules, but it's making coaches really think about who you're going to use the RS rule with. could be forced to play someone due to injuries. you say, we're going to play these guys for 4 games, but come week 2, there's an injury, and you could be forced into playing someone every game for the rest of the year. just like building a house - you start with a blueprint, and you make changes as you go.
Max: coaches will be going nuts
PJ: it's similar to the new rule on official visits. everyone has their own strategy. try it this year, and then next year, you say we'll do this or we won't do this. it's very intense, complicated. what types of strategy are you going to use? it's a whole new start. next year, you'll be able to evaluate how it worked. it's a process for everyone feeling out. see how the plan takes shape
Sid: what position will Cashman and Winfield play?
PJ: Cashman will be our starting Will (LB). will lean on him for leadership. he's biting at the bit to get out there. with Winfield, we can do a lot of things. Our Secondary is going to be extremely young. a lot of true FR are going to have to play. we'll do game-planning depending on how good the FR are and what they can do - and how they play depends on how we move Winfield around. depending on what the rest of the Secondary can handle, that determines how we can move him around. he's going to have a huge role for us. the better the FR play, the more we can move him (Winfield) around.
Sid: great ticket plans right now. great schedule. Murray's certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah.
