PJ Fleck on Sports Huddle 8-12-18

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Gopher Football Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO Sunday morning with Sid, Dave and Mike Max.

Mona: unique ways for awarding scholarships to walk-ons?
PJ: very well deserved. in our program, we try to create a memory for a kid. make it a first-class experience. it's all about the memories we're creating while these young men are here. Bailey is a young man who is passionate about the military. tried to get into Army, but he was denied because he wants to be in special forces and he has a slight hearing issue. Talked about what we wanted to do - bring in Navy Seals. called a friend, he came by, talked to team, had two paratroopers who were former navy seals. They gave the scholarship to Ko Kieft, who's Bailey's best friend, and he gave it to Bailey. I'm Passionate about scholarships for walk-ons, because I was almost a walk-on. they don't get a signing day. they never get those parties. we have to create that for them.

Sid: you're amazing. never heard of a coach taking players to a concert, or bringing Seals in. how do you do those things?
PJ: it's a teaching mindset. trying to find new ways to reach kids and young people. when you teach 6th grade social studies, and have 35 kids in the class, you've got to find a way to teach 1 lesson 35 ways. we took kids to the Jay Z and Beyonce concert. It's all legal (people asked), we go through compliance. there are different ways you have to do it. wasn't just to have fun - it was for them to understand a fan's perspective. Millenials want to know why. when I was growing up, you were told something, you did it. these days that's not the case, they want to know why. When Jay Z and Beyonce are performing, the fans expect their best. the fans expect to be entertained. they expect a performance to go beyond their expectations. the players need to understand that. when our fans show up for games, they want to see us play our best FB. After the fact, the players got a perspective on the fans' perspective when they go to games.

Sid: it's your 2nd year. how long will it take to win?
PJ: winning is an opinion. last year we won 5 games - I believe the most by a 1st year staff in over 50 years. some day it will be a number that's not good enough. but that one day is down the road. our expectations are not based on that. this is a talented team - but a very young and inexperienced team. they are going to make mistakes. when you're dealing with kids - they don't make same mistakes at age 18 as they did when they were 5 or 8 years old. they grow up and mature. players going to make mistakes. 60% of the team is close to being a FR or RS FR. that's not an excuse - it's reality. it's year two. - I call it year one. we've got our first big recruiting class in here. we'll add to the team with the 2019 class. those are the classes, along with the players who are already here, that will take us through the journey. we're still in the very early stages. it's going to be a process. we have a chance to be good at some point this year. Is that going to be game 5 - game 7 - game 12? that depends on how fast we mature. we need to understand each other - become a really connected team. I will never measure success based just on a number.

Mona: will Shannon Brooks be available to play this year?
PJ: he's on pace to be available. that will be our choice, depending on how far along he is. what types of games could he play in? will it be 4 in a row? I give a lot of credit to our new nutritionist. She came from the Philadelphia Eagles. we're seeing a huge difference in our players. we don't have lot of guys on the injury report. that's also a complement to our strength program, and our head trainer. everybody works together for the health of our student-athletes. everything we do inside the program is for them. we've got some bumps and bruises. that might change. proud of the progress we're making.

Sid: defense has to improve on stopping the run
PJ: there's a lot of reasons for that. when you take over a program, you have different systems. different personnel that might not fit schemes - have to have the right people in schemes. last year we had some people playing out of position, or playing a position they shouldn't be playing. it's about schematics. maybe the scheme calls for a 280lb DE - and you're playing a 230 pound DE. have to be able to recruit to fit the schemes. that will happen as we grow with recruiting and development. players are getting bigger and stronger. we're a littler deeper than last year. last year had a lot of people who had to play the whole game. this year we'll be able to rotate people in.

Sid: any big surprises in practice?
PJ: no. proud of the progress we're making. when you get into training camp, it's 4 weeks before the first game. watch players fail - watch them come back from adversity and grow. it's fun to watch the maturation.

Sid: see great FB, buy some season tickets. great plans. Murray's
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
 


PJ: winning is an opinion. last year we won 5 games - I believe the most by a 1st year staff in over 50 years.
An interesting spin...
 

I like how he made the Beyonce concert a teaching moment. (Granted, it's a little different being given tickets than if you had been working odd jobs saving up to buy tickets to your favorite event. Though, their hard work in practice and at school does count, I s'pose.)
 

What a way to build a cohesive team! It is all about the kids. With his teaching background, he sure can relate well.

Now, let's see it translate into wins.
 
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All of this adds up to building his “Culture” that everyone ridiculed and assumed he was just bashing the old coaches. It is not a criticism of the old culture, but it is a different culture that takes a while to develop and it takes more of a commitment from the players. You can label it hype if you want, but it is designed to mold and shape players into productive members of society. Think of it akin to the culture molding and team building that is done in various branches of the service.


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Hopefully, this will get around to new recruits and I hope it will be the one that seals the deal on a recruit on the fence.
 

All of this adds up to building his “Culture” that everyone ridiculed and assumed he was just bashing the old coaches. It is not a criticism of the old culture, but it is a different culture that takes a while to develop and it takes more of a commitment from the players. You can label it hype if you want, but it is designed to mold and shape players into productive members of society. Think of it akin to the culture molding and team building that is done in various branches of the service.


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Oh, what branch were you in?
 




All of this adds up to building his “Culture” that everyone ridiculed and assumed he was just bashing the old coaches. It is not a criticism of the old culture, but it is a different culture that takes a while to develop and it takes more of a commitment from the players. You can label it hype if you want, but it is designed to mold and shape players into productive members of society. Think of it akin to the culture molding and team building that is done in various branches of the service.


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+1, you got it. This is exactly what special forces and other elite performing small organizations do. It will be fun to see how far his beliefs can move the needle here.
 






+1, you got it. This is exactly what special forces and other elite performing small organizations do. It will be fun to see how far his beliefs can move the needle here.

I would disagree with this. It is how Fleck is doing it, not Special Ops. The SEALs were brought in because Special Operations were key to Bailey's former dream. The presentation of the scholarship was special and one of the things we should deeply appreciate about Fleck. Very good for the whole team to see this kind of respect from the coach.
 

I would disagree with this. It is how Fleck is doing it, not Special Ops. The SEALs were brought in because Special Operations were key to Bailey's former dream. The presentation of the scholarship was special and one of the things we should deeply appreciate about Fleck. Very good for the whole team to see this kind of respect from the coach.

No one was claiming that the use of former Seals showed that PJ was running a special ops program. The point was that PJ is trying to change players perspective on the world, something that is done very well in the service. Band of brothers. It is in no way trying to diminish what is accomplished by our armed forces, just using them as an example of where it is done very successfully.


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Well done Son! Very nice to read this report after being gone all day! Was looking forward to it. Thanks again for doing this.
 




It's a number Gopher football Twitter has put out before...."most wins by Gopher head coach in first season."

Gutey gets excluded because he coached 1985 bowl game, making his 1986 year outside of the parameters.

It's a game every one in coaching and PR plays to put a positive spin on things.

Always reminds of Little Big League movie... "Last year though, he was 6th in the American League in hitting right-handers he was facing for the first time, after the seventh inning, at home."
 

+1, you got it. This is exactly what special forces and other elite performing small organizations do. It will be fun to see how far his beliefs can move the needle here.

Jerry Kill did the same thing in his own way. Tear them down--build them up--reward them. The tearing down and the rewarding might be different, but the basic blueprint is still the same. Not a new concept. Hell, I know for a fact it was used by the marines in 1969.
 

It's a number Gopher football Twitter has put out before...."most wins by Gopher head coach in first season."

Gutey gets excluded because he coached 1985 bowl game, making his 1986 year outside of the parameters.

It's a game every one in coaching and PR plays to put a positive spin on things.

Always reminds of Little Big League movie... "Last year though, he was 6th in the American League in hitting right-handers he was facing for the first time, after the seventh inning, at home."

They used "new to the program" as the qualifier when it was first used to give him a "first".
 

Jerry Kill did the same thing in his own way. Tear them down--build them up--reward them. The tearing down and the rewarding might be different, but the basic blueprint is still the same. Not a new concept. Hell, I know for a fact it was used by the marines in 1969.

I've seen the tear down part on Gopher Hole but not the build the poster up however on Gopher Hole. Am I missing something?
 

What a way to build a cohesive team! It is all about the kids. With his teaching background, he sure can relate well.

Now, let's see it translate into wins.

Except he was never a teacher.


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Except he was never a teacher.


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Good grief. You don't have to be a teacher as to occupation to be an educator of sort. I'm hoping you were being sarcastic.
 

Good grief. You don't have to be a teacher as to occupation to be an educator of sort. I'm hoping you were being sarcastic.

No, I’m not. It’s just another of his lies, like the most wins in a first season. He was never a sixth grade teacher, yet he continues to say that. He has no idea what it’s like to be a sixth grade teacher.


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