What grade do you give PJ Fleck for coaching in the Iowa game?

What grade do you give PJ Fleck for coaching in the Iowa game?


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Dano564

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What grade do you give PJ Fleck for coaching in the Iowa game?
 


Before y'all tear into PJ I'd like to point out that he is fairly hands-off on defense, which was the main issue tonight.

I know, I know... "but he hired Robb Smith and he is the head coach". Obviously if the defense plays like this moving forward the team will go 4-8 or 5-7, and thus PJ will have a bad year as head coach. But for just one game I don't think PJ should shoulder much of the blame for how the defense played today.
 


Before y'all tear into PJ I'd like to point out that he is fairly hands-off on defense, which was the main issue tonight.

I know, I know... "but he hired Robb Smith and he is the head coach". Obviously if the defense plays like this moving forward the team will go 4-8 or 5-7, and thus PJ will have a bad year as head coach. But for just one game I don't think PJ should shoulder much of the blame for how the defense played today.

Thank you for your input, Heather.
 


Before y'all tear into PJ I'd like to point out that he is fairly hands-off on defense, which was the main issue tonight.

I know, I know... "but he hired Robb Smith and he is the head coach". Obviously if the defense plays like this moving forward the team will go 4-8 or 5-7, and thus PJ will have a bad year as head coach. But for just one game I don't think PJ should shoulder much of the blame for how the defense played today.
If the DC isn't performing isn't it on the head coach to correct that during the game? Ultimately the buck stops with Fleck on every facet of the team.
 

C- He had his team ready to play, but made some poor decisions. Particularly panicking in the 4th quarter.


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F because of the fake punt, Wildcat call on third down, waiting to long to bench Right tackle.

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Seth Green Bomb. The Randy Moss throws from ZA. The horrid special teams. Terrible defense on fake field goal. List goes on. Coaches did us no favors today.
 

C- He had his team ready to play, but made some poor decisions. Particularly panicking in the 4th quarter.


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A loss by 17 points garners a C-? What garners an A? A tie game? This was an F game. We were clearly out coached. This coaching staff has a way to go to compete in the Big 10. They are still coaching like they are in the MAC.
 



Gotta love that we always go to "how would you grade the coaches today" instead of, well, how the PLAYERS actually played.
 


Saw only half of the 3rd and all of 4th. Chose not to respond.
 
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Interesting to note that every time the Gophers have a good game, LesBolstad gives Fleck an F. When it comes to poor game he gives him an A. Guys like him clearly have issues.
 



D

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Gotta love that we always go to "how would you grade the coaches today" instead of, well, how the PLAYERS actually played.

I do the poll weakly to track results. Same poll every week for 7 days. With PJ being a key topic on this board, I thought it would be interesting to see how fans gain or lose appreciation for him on a game by game basis.

I think the loss today had more to do with a talent issue, although coaching is always a part of it.
 

D. It was better than Maryland, but still unacceptably awful. Two games in a row the team wasn't ready to start the game.
 

Seth Green Bomb. The Randy Moss throws from ZA. The horrid special teams. Terrible defense on fake field goal. List goes on. Coaches did us no favors today.


The way the game started down 7-0 we called that bubble screen and I was worried we were going into protect mode of kill the clock and try to lose a 28-0 game.
But I thought the offense was improving as the game went on outside of the horrible interceptions.

Faalele, and the WR's are all bright spots on the offense. On the radio they said the line was playing better in this game. I didn't see enough to really evaluate much further.
I gave him a C. I didn't like the big loss, but the players looked ready to play and just weren't as good as Iowa.
 

He made several bad coaching decisions. We gave up 7 after a loss of downs. We sacrificed 3 for a loss of downs. Those two decisions alone would have had us in a 34-34 game come on-side kick time. There were half a dozen other bad calls, including poor use of timeouts that others will surely point out. The players may not have done well as a whole, but the coaches certainly didn’t help put them into a position to win.
 
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I went with C. I expected a closer, but much lower scoring loss. Our lines are not there yet. And with so many injuries to our key players, I can’t totally blame Fleck for the outcome. With everyone healthy, this performance would have garnered a D minus. I can see the potential of this team. If we aren’t capitalizing on that in 2 years, then it’s a problem.
 

I usually think coaches get too much credit after a win and too much criticism after a loss. But not today. Thought the coaches were terrible. Fleck likes to use his timeouts but doesn’t call one when IA unexpectedly lines up for a trick play? Then throws a bomb on a fake punt? Those were two huge plays that really changed momentum.
 

Here's the thing, he coached to win today. Witness fake punt, heavy use of wildcat, the Green pass. Going for it on 4th downs. Jerry Kill coaches this game they lose 31-24. But still lose. Fleck, perhaps for the first time, went for the win. It didn't work out but it is preferable to a moral victory.
 

Losing Smith and Winfield hurting a lot. They covered deficiency's on the field. This team still lacks depth to make up for significant talent losses l. I didn't dislike going for It on 4th down, but I Hated Wildcat on third down before to obvious from formation. For me fake punt from near midfield with 4th and 5, if the punter throws that deep the defender can interfere and tackle the guy practically he can grab and pull receiver down and they will not penalize for interference. Should have taken timeout on Iowa trick play from field goal look. On that formation by Iowa, QB cannot throw forward pass, he can only run or lateral because of where lineman lined up. That and none of lineman can touch the ball. Defense was clearly confused on that one, but should have known rule. Zach needs to stop dropping further back on sacks, step up or roll to side not drop deeper. He got away with it once and keeps doing that.
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I usually think coaches get too much credit after a win and too much criticism after a loss. But not today. Thought the coaches were terrible. Fleck likes to use his timeouts but doesn’t call one when IA unexpectedly lines up for a trick play? Then throws a bomb on a fake punt? Those were two huge plays that really changed momentum.

I can't criticize the fake punt because I was thinking to myself it would be a great idea at that point in the game.
It didn't work out.
 

Here's the thing, he coached to win today. Witness fake punt, heavy use of wildcat, the Green pass. Going for it on 4th downs. Jerry Kill coaches this game they lose 31-24. But still lose. Fleck, perhaps for the first time, went for the win. It didn't work out but it is preferable to a moral victory.

That's why I went C instead of D or F.
Last year games like this we saw RUTM and incomplete pass for 7 series and the game was over. 31-0 or 38-3.
You're players don't get better playing it safe, so playing wide open was the better option so the WR's gain more experience.
 

I still have loads of faith in PJ, and the talent he's bringing in. He's only had one full recruiting class, and he has a lot of those guys being big contributors already. There was some questionable play calling, specifically late in the game, but being down two scores basically all 4th quarter, I can understand the aggressiveness.
 

Went with a D, although I still contend it's tough to grade a head coach from the outside. I consider my grade more of a team performance evaluation.

It was a fairly entertaining game. I didn't go into it expecting to win, but wanted to see a better effort than the Maryland game. For the most part, we got that. Run defense was fairly stout. Pass protection left much to be desired. I can only assume that our QBs are being told it's OK to toss long passes that are completely up for grabs, because we keep doing it. Iowa had two interceptions today that just as easily could have been long completions if our WRs had come down with the ball. The coaching staff must have a lot of faith in our WRs.

The fake punt turned out badly, and it hurt us. I wouldn't have made that call from that point on the field. It didn't work, so PJ gets the demerit. If it had worked, he'd be considered a genius. This one play was enough to drop my grade from a C to a D. Unfair, I know, but that's the way it goes.

All in all, I consider it a small step in the right direction. Let's get through the OSU game without any more injuries, then the following five games will show us where this team is really at.

JTG
 

I went with an F today. The "ready to play" argument is a strange one to make when the team was down 14-0 and I believe hadn't even achieved a first down yet. At home. In a rivalry game. On homecoming. I particularly didn't care for some of the strategy today. I didn't like going with the fake punt down 11 with over 2 minutes left in the half and 2 timeouts in his back pocket. I didn't like not calling a timeout before Iowa went for it on 4th down with the weird formation. PJ claimed in his post game presser that they were aligned correctly, but I can't believe that was the case go back and look at how they were outnumbered on the right side of the field. I didn't like the decision to go for it down 14 in FG range on 4th and 4 as the 3rd Quarter ran down. I especially hated calling a timeout to make that decision. Even worse, the play on 4th down ended up being the quick slant to Tyler Johnson which certainly wasn't a surprise. I also didn't like the call for the first down fade pass from Seth Green than ended up in an interception. It just seemed like PJ tried to force things too much when there was still plenty of game left. Obviously a big part of my grade is also the complete meltdown of both the defense and the special teams today. When 2/3rd's of your team are absolutely atrocious coming off a bye week there isn't much positive to say about the coaching.

I still believe in PJ, but I also believe he's not above criticism for performances like this. He took over a bad situation, but I can't believe this roster was in worse shape than a perennial doormat like Iowa State's was when Matt Campbell took over. Campbell had some nice wins in year 2 and just beat a ranked Ok State team on the road with his backup quarterback today.
 

Before y'all tear into PJ I'd like to point out that he is fairly hands-off on defense, which was the main issue tonight.

I know, I know... "but he hired Robb Smith and he is the head coach". Obviously if the defense plays like this moving forward the team will go 4-8 or 5-7, and thus PJ will have a bad year as head coach. But for just one game I don't think PJ should shoulder much of the blame for how the defense played today.

He's the HC, face, and "brand" of Gophs FB, so he shoulders most if not all the blame. Period.
 

I do the poll weakly to track results. Same poll every week for 7 days. With PJ being a key topic on this board, I thought it would be interesting to see how fans gain or lose appreciation for him on a game by game basis.

I think the loss today had more to do with a talent issue, although coaching is always a part of it.

Sorry, coaching was most of it. Talent was there to win this game, without question.
 




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