Coach Fleck Post game press conference Maryland


I love the Gophers and actually like Fleck and think he'll do a good job, but the Fleckster cult on here is just scary. It is getting weird.
I was thinking about this. He is a funny combination of authentic and irritating. Would be all irritating if I was not pretty convinced that he is authentic.

Endless repitition of the 5 areas of life, Nekton, acronyms etc used to make me roll my eyes, but now I just filter them. He is wearing on me much better than I expected.

I don't understand the worship or the visceral dislike. But then again, I don't understand the hatred leveled at Reusse either.


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Both sides are at least partially correct. GPA is important. values are important. players staying out of trouble is important.

But, in the end, you don't keep a $3.5 million/yr job for GPA, values and behavior. You keep the job by winning more games than you lose. Preferably conference games and rivalry games.

If Fleck's team is winning 8, 9, 10 games in 3 or 4 years, it's a moot point.

But if Fleck's team is winning 5, 6, 7 games in 3 or 4 years with no rivalry wins, and a losing conference record, then it's a very different situation.

No D1 team in history has ever given a losing coach a contract extension because of grades, values and behavior. In the world of D1 FB - at the major conference level - grades, values and behavior are the condiments. Winning is the main course.

No. I’m right. Nothing else matters, but winning. If we still have not sniffed a bowl game in 4 years and even if we have the highest GPA in the history of college FB and the players are such model citizens that they should be running the country, Fleck is gone.

No one is paying money to attend football games to watch smart and responsible men lose football games.

Now, I can understand how some gopher holders may be confused since we did fire a 9 win coach. And maybe at Minnesota winning doesn’t matter. Wait. Now, I’m confused.

Forget it SON, I’ll go with what you said.


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I know it is nuanced, so it may be difficult for you to understand.


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Here's the nuance. I'm a dickhead and I think being a dickhead is the way to get a winning team.
 

The recap of the game is generic coach speech. At the 9:50 mark, when a reporter asks about Connelly, you see the heartbroken coach who reveals the grieving of his team. The last 4 minutes are deeply personal and reveal how much Nick Connelly's death affected the players. When Fleck says "They never got to say goodbye" it is all he can do to keep from weeping.
After watching those last 4 minutes, I forgive whatever happened on the field yesterday. The game is secondary to the sorrow this team is dealing with. There will be better days ahead, but yesterday was a day when grieving teammates struggled to play a game. If you don't get that, you probably have never played a game while grieving the loss of a good friend. I have. I know how hard it is and how much it sucks when you lose that game. My heart goes out to every kid who is on the Gophers football team. Grieve well. Football is just a game.
 


I was thinking about this. He is a funny combination of authentic and irritating. Would be all irritating if I was not pretty convinced that he is authentic.

Endless repitition of the 5 areas of life, Nekton, acronyms etc used to make me roll my eyes, but now I just filter them. He is wearing on me much better than I expected.

I don't understand the worship or the visceral dislike. But then again, I don't understand the hatred leveled at Reusse either.


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I think unfortunately this is part of why he is so polarizing. You aren't allowed to be in the middle on your opinion on him. For some reason there is a faction of our fandom that says that the only way to really support the guy is to say bad things about any previous coach or player who Fleck didn't recruit and yell at anyone who has doubts or complaints. Being a Gopher fan is not enough, you have to be just be a Fleck fan. It is strange.
 






What is the Fleckster cult?

Seems to me that taking a positive view of Coach Fleck's approach to running a P5 program makes one appear to be a dolt of some sort.... to some. And versa.... Sort of like a political liberal vs. conservative diatribe.
 


Seems to me that taking a positive view of Coach Fleck's approach to running a P5 program makes one appear to be a dolt of some sort.... to some.

Thank you for making my point
 

Thank you for making my point

It goes both ways and serves no purpose. Sort of like uber liberal vs conservative debate. There is no winner and the argument is pointless.
 



It goes both ways and serves no purpose. Sort of like uber liberal vs conservative debate. There is no winner and the argument is pointless.

That is entirely my point. Not that Fleck is bad or the wrong guy. There can be middle ground on the guy. But not on here.
 


The anti Fleckster cult on here is just weird. It is getting scary.

See I can do it too but it doesn’t make it so.
 

I was thinking about this. He is a funny combination of authentic and irritating. Would be all irritating if I was not pretty convinced that he is authentic.

Endless repitition of the 5 areas of life, Nekton, acronyms etc used to make me roll my eyes, but now I just filter them. He is wearing on me much better than I expected.

I don't understand the worship or the visceral dislike. But then again, I don't understand the hatred leveled at Reusse either.


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If you don't understand the hatred leveled at Reusse you either haven't been paying attention or in the state the past 20+ years. Nothing but a petulant negative dink towards the gophers for many years. I've grown accustomed and immune to his antics over the years but that doesn't change who he is.


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The anti Fleckster cult on here is just weird. It is getting scary.

See I can do it too but it doesn’t make it so.

I could post all day on this and I will never make the case as well as you guys are doing it for me. I didn't say anything bad about Fleck, I like him, but I am now anti-Fleck. Fleck isn't the scary part, it is you guys.
 

I could post all day on this and I will never make the case as well as you guys are doing it for me. I didn't say anything bad about Fleck, I like him, but I am now anti-Fleck. Fleck isn't the scary part, it is you guys.

I never said you were anti Fleck, not once.
 

I never said you were anti Fleck, not once.

Maybe your post wasn't directed at me, but it seemed to imply that I was part of the anti-Fleckster cult. If not, sorry.
 

Really? Just say something negative about PJ and you will quickly find out.

Oh..I think you know.

Oh boy....

It's not that hard. Some criticize the coach and staff, and rightfully so after yesterday. But some criticize the coach with an obvious agenda; those are the ones that are easily dismissed as irrelevant, but are still annoying.
 


If you don't understand the hatred leveled at Reusse you either haven't been paying attention or in the state the past 20+ years. Nothing but a petulant negative dink towards the gophers for many years. I've grown accustomed and immune to his antics over the years but that doesn't change who he is.


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Nope, sorry. I still don't get it. He is a guy with opinions that has made a rare living out of sharing his opinions. He has no obligation to agree with my opinions, and I have no obligation to take his seriously. I certainly respect that some may disagree with him strongly or believe he is lazy in his writing or that he just is taking shots at an easy target. But really, he is not that important.

I reserve loathing for those who do actual harm in the world. Sandusky and those who enabled him come to mind. To hate Reusse is to trivialize hate.

Just my opinion, hope no one hates me for it. ;)


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Ok, way to many posts to quote and reply to all at once but I will say a few things.
I really liked the previous staff, Kill and Claey's were great. I think we have to look at Claey's first season a little differently than Fleck because he basically was a continuation of Kill.
Fleck is going to take some time to win here...just like Kill did.
There are no guarantees that Fleck will win here, but if he runs a clean program I think that's the best you can do while he tries (and I certainly believe he's trying).
Despite me liking both coaches, Claey's is not here. It's Fleck's program now and I'll support him (until he's not coaching here or loses too much as he enters his 4,5, and 6th year) as he seems to be doing it the right way by all accounts.
I'll reserve judgement on the season until later in the season. If they bounce back and get some W's with a young squad and beat a rival to the East I'm happy with the progress with a young team.
I guess we will see.
 

Here's a thought:

Choose one option: (assuming no other major off-the-field issues)

Team wins 6 or 7 games with a 3.5 GPA.

Team wins 9 or 10 games with a 2.5 GPA.

If I'm being honest, I'll take the 2nd option.

Most D1 Power 5 FB players are not at school to be scholars - they're at school to play football. If they can play football and get a meaningful degree at the same time, great. More power to them. But, I suspect the majority of D1 FB players are just trying to stay academically eligible, especially during the season. We hear about the guys who are pre-med, or on an MBA track, because they are the exceptions - not the rule.

Teams that win 6 or 7 games brag about the GPA because they don't have 9 or 10 wins to talk about. That may seem harsh, or cynical - but I think it's pretty close to the truth.

(and FWIW, D1 FB players have access to tutors, academic advisors, and lots of other advantages that "regular" students don't receive.)
 

Here's a thought:

Choose one option: (assuming no other major off-the-field issues)

Team wins 6 or 7 games with a 3.5 GPA.

Team wins 9 or 10 games with a 2.5 GPA.

If I'm being honest, I'll take the 2nd option.

Most D1 Power 5 FB players are not at school to be scholars - they're at school to play football. If they can play football and get a meaningful degree at the same time, great. More power to them. But, I suspect the majority of D1 FB players are just trying to stay academically eligible, especially during the season. We hear about the guys who are pre-med, or on an MBA track, because they are the exceptions - not the rule.

Teams that win 6 or 7 games brag about the GPA because they don't have 9 or 10 wins to talk about. That may seem harsh, or cynical - but I think it's pretty close to the truth.

(and FWIW, D1 FB players have access to tutors, academic advisors, and lots of other advantages that "regular" students don't receive.)

Q the holier than thou crowd........
 

Here's a thought:

Choose one option: (assuming no other major off-the-field issues)

Team wins 6 or 7 games with a 3.5 GPA.

Team wins 9 or 10 games with a 2.5 GPA.

If I'm being honest, I'll take the 2nd option.

Most D1 Power 5 FB players are not at school to be scholars - they're at school to play football. If they can play football and get a meaningful degree at the same time, great. More power to them. But, I suspect the majority of D1 FB players are just trying to stay academically eligible, especially during the season. We hear about the guys who are pre-med, or on an MBA track, because they are the exceptions - not the rule.

Teams that win 6 or 7 games brag about the GPA because they don't have 9 or 10 wins to talk about. That may seem harsh, or cynical - but I think it's pretty close to the truth.

(and FWIW, D1 FB players have access to tutors, academic advisors, and lots of other advantages that "regular" students don't receive.)

I am wondering if a 2.5 GPA would be compatible with an acceptable APR, but I still get your point.

I also believe that APR is an example of the NCAA, for all its faults, trying to enforce the idea that the vast majority of athletes that do not get a pro career have a real opportunity to get an education.

Not sure it is true that teams that win 9 or 10 games don’t brag about high GPA if they have one. Certainly seems to me that any institution would have a strong motivation to say, “Not only are we winning but we are doing it the right way.” But I suspect neither of our opinions are based on any real data.

Yes, athletes get a high level of academic support, but they also have demands on their time that are far beyond those on a typical student. And in the big sports, they make a lot of money for the Athletic Department. They should get support.

Setting GPA aside, if the university compromised admission standards, academic standards, commitment to a code of conduct, etc. in order to win, I would rather lose. (Not saying you are saying they should.) The University is much bigger then athletics.

As always, I enjoy your thoughtful posts SON. Wish I could write as well as you.
 

The recap of the game is generic coach speech. At the 9:50 mark, when a reporter asks about Connelly, you see the heartbroken coach who reveals the grieving of his team. The last 4 minutes are deeply personal and reveal how much Nick Connelly's death affected the players. When Fleck says "They never got to say goodbye" it is all he can do to keep from weeping.
After watching those last 4 minutes, I forgive whatever happened on the field yesterday. The game is secondary to the sorrow this team is dealing with. There will be better days ahead, but yesterday was a day when grieving teammates struggled to play a game. If you don't get that, you probably have never played a game while grieving the loss of a good friend. I have. I know how hard it is and how much it sucks when you lose that game. My heart goes out to every kid who is on the Gophers football team. Grieve well. Football is just a game.

Thank you MennoSota and PJ for providing the background to what we witnessed. It was obvious that the Gophers who had been playing with such incredible energy and spirit had none. It was not just a problem of youth and inexperience in a new environment. On one play our Sr left tackle Greene was pushed backwards and then used by the MD D-lineman as a human bowling ball to knock Annexstad around.

My thoughts watching the game had been that 1) MD was on "uppers" and 2) MN was on "downers". Now we know the extent to which the tragic passing of their friend effected the latter. Regarding the former, too bad they don't perform urine tests on D1 FB winners.
 





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