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

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


  • Total voters
    129
  • Poll closed .
Source? I see them at 8th just behind Wisconsin according to 24/7

Going by the Rivals average recruit ranking we are 12th. We are ranked higher in their "standard" ranking system because we have 23 recruits (more recruits is higher ranking for some reason).
 

Going by the Rivals average recruit ranking we are 12th. We are ranked higher in their "standard" ranking system because we have 23 recruits (more recruits is higher ranking for some reason).

What recruit did we lose according to Rivals?
 







Why are some posters hung up on someone size? Is this the new culture in the United States to body sham someone?

The are satirizing fans who they believe give Fleck the benefit of the doubt that they would have never given Claeys because Fleck is younger, skinnier, more attractive, and better at PR.

Specifically, fans who are convinced that Claeys would not have been successful as a head coach, but now say things like "you can't evaluate a head coach until he has had 4-5 years to implement his system."
 
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The are satirizing fans who they believe give Fleck the benefit of the doubt that they would have never given Claeys because Fleck is younger, skinnier, more attractive, and better at PR.

Specifically, fans who are convinced that Claeys would not have been successful as a head coach, but now say things like "you can't evaluate a head coach until he has had 4-5 years to implement his system."

That's true, look at Brohm...
 



There comes a point where you say either the schemes are terrible or the talent is terrible. And either way, those are both on the head coach. He'll get next year, but they better find a defense or his schtick will be gone.

Most complete thought in three sentences. Agreed.
 

Gave him credit for replacing an injured QB. After watching Croft play 2-3 games on a bag leg last year and Zach play 2-3 games with a bad ankle, it was good to see Morgan trot onto the field.

Even better to see him "light it up" right away.
 

F. We are regressing not progressing. The product on the field is regressing as is the recruiting (albeit the recruiting isn't finished). I truly believe Coyle needs to have a tough talk with Fleck. Sometimes a guy needs to be called out on the carpet from his boss
 

F. We are regressing not progressing. The product on the field is regressing as is the recruiting (albeit the recruiting isn't finished). I truly believe Coyle needs to have a tough talk with Fleck. Sometimes a guy needs to be called out on the carpet from his boss
You really think the Snake [emoji216] is going to do anything? The dude just had a salary increase railroaded through the board of regents. He has no reason to pressure Fleck. He can sit back and take his money to the bank.
 



Gave him credit for replacing an injured QB. After watching Croft play 2-3 games on a bag leg last year and Zach play 2-3 games with a bad ankle, it was good to see Morgan trot onto the field.

Even better to see him "light it up" right away.

Wasn't it lighting it up that went the nimble foot packing?
 


Wasn't it lighting it up that went the nimble foot packing?

You're saying that Zach was smoking dope to kill the pain of playing on a bad ankle?

Didn't know that.

Sending a player out there to face Big Ten defenses on one good leg is a bad coaching decision. Fleck and Company have done it for two years straight now.
 

F. We are regressing not progressing. The product on the field is regressing as is the recruiting (albeit the recruiting isn't finished). I truly believe Coyle needs to have a tough talk with Fleck. Sometimes a guy needs to be called out on the carpet from his boss

True. Also, where are all these 4 and 5 Star recruits for us that the Elite programs get (assuming we are “Elite” since PJ self proclaimed so)? So, if the big thing here is “sure, we stink now, but this is planned regressing - because we’re going to have all these high end athletes here in 2020”, where is the evidence for this?? A bunch of 3 star recruits are a bunch of 3 Star recruits. Everybody has them. This is looking like a real con job in terms of coaching preparation and the quality of athlete on the field, with the attempt to smooth it over with empty, juvenile rhetoric. No wonder there is consistent talk about attendance issues. “The Great Pumpkin is going to arrive on Halloween” lines being used here, while there is obvious team regression, is resulting in more and more people becoming apathetic to PJ’s blather. It’s like we’ve already pencilled ourselves in as “2020 National Champs” with this constant “just you wait until 2020” rhetoric . . . Based on what exactly? And btw, the 2020 schedule is not exactly a cake walk. This team is usually horribly underprepared in Big 10 games;how does that magically change in 2020 - there’s not a shred of evidence for it.
 

True. Also, where are all these 4 and 5 Star recruits for us that the Elite programs get (assuming we are “Elite” since PJ self proclaimed so)? So, if the big thing here is “sure, we stink now, but this is planned regressing - because we’re going to have all these high end athletes here in 2020”, where is the evidence for this?? A bunch of 3 star recruits are a bunch of 3 Star recruits. Everybody has them. This is looking like a real con job in terms of coaching preparation and the quality of athlete on the field, with the attempt to smooth it over with empty, juvenile rhetoric. No wonder there is consistent talk about attendance issues. “The Great Pumpkin is going to arrive on Halloween” lines being used here, while there is obvious team regression, is resulting in more and more people becoming apathetic to PJ’s blather. It’s like we’ve already pencilled ourselves in as “2020 National Champs” with this constant “just you wait until 2020” rhetoric . . . Based on what exactly? And btw, the 2020 schedule is not exactly a cake walk. This team is usually horribly underprepared in Big 10 games;how does that magically change in 2020 - there’s not a shred of evidence for it.

Anyone that said our recruiting classes were going to be filled with 4 and 5 star guys had unrealistic expectations. There's been an increase in athleticism and talent on the offensive side in my opinion. We beat out a Georgia recruit that had an offer from Georgia. That's impressive. The offense should be very good in a year or two, my concern is with the defense.
 

Anyone that said our recruiting classes were going to be filled with 4 and 5 star guys had unrealistic expectations. There's been an increase in athleticism and talent on the offensive side in my opinion. We beat out a Georgia recruit that had an offer from Georgia. That's impressive. The offense should be very good in a year or two, my concern is with the defense.

Good points. Agreed. It should never have been an expectation. It appears we have very good WR's now (and for some reason we're incredible in punting stats, LOL), but honestly, much appears shambolic. Shooting for respectability is a good start. But, we had a respectable record before PJ, then he came in like a bull in china shop and talked, talked, talked. We are hardly elite, and now he's walking things back. There's a lot concerning about blowout after blowout in the Big 10. It's not mysterious why this guy gets under people's skin. The main point is that this mantra that 2020 is some kind of magic year is far, far, from certain. Because you have a "lot of Freshman on offense", doesn't mean you MUST field a team that's utterly in over their head every Big 10 game. I grant a Freshman can be mistake prone, but let's be honest . . . look around - it's also true that talented Freshman actually are often the best players on the field at times. It's also apparent Freshman on other teams don't seem to have any real issues kicking us around. The "Freshman/wait til 2020" thing only goes so far.
 

I'll be honest, I tend to like Fleck (maybe because I'm younger, so his personality is geared towards those close to my age), and I think in a few years we'll have a offense that is more productive than we've seen in the past 5-10 years. However, he's going to live and die by his defense in the Big 10, so he needs to hold those responsible for it accountable. If something doesn't change on defense in the last 5 games, he needs to make a change in the defensive staff. My fear is that he isn't going to do so and its going to wreck the 2019 season. Fleck has to realize that it's his first shot at convincing a lot of people that his way can work. If he doesn't make it to 8 wins next year, its not going to be pretty in the years that follow.

Bottom line, pull the entire defensive staff in the room and go over every defensive play during the Nebraska game and figure out what went wrong. Figure out how the scheme was supposed to work in that scenario, ask hard questions about it, determine if it was just execution vs scheme. Get the position coaches input as well, the staff is as much of a team as the players, so if you feel like you can't have contradicting opinions and talk about them, something is off. Another exercise would be to look at all big 10 play, find the players that have played in most/all and find the plays they failed on. Any plays/scheme positioning they fail on more than 50% of the time is a scheme issue, not and execution issue. Talk about how to put them in a better position to execute well.

I think Fleck is trying to be supportive of his staff to promote a good working environment, but unless he's doing something behind the scenes that we aren't seeing, it seems like he might be given too much blind trust to some of the staff. You can still have a supportive work environment while identifying whats going wrong and holding people accountable to fix it. But, who am I to judge, I've never been a coach at that level, maybe I think all of this stuff is way easier than it actually is.
 

I went with a C; was more of a C- to me, but felt like rounding up. I will give credit for a little bit of bite back in the offense & not giving up & getting back into the game. The fact that it was a one possession game halfway through the 3rd quarter after the 1st half was pretty amazing.

But the lousy defense was truly something amazing. Nebraska really could do anything they wanted, whether it be on the ground or through the air. And players seemed to just be out of place often.

I've never been a big advocate of getting rid of a coach during a season, but I may be changing that attitude with our current defensive coordinator.....
 

I'll be honest, I tend to like Fleck (maybe because I'm younger, so his personality is geared towards those close to my age), and I think in a few years we'll have a offense that is more productive than we've seen in the past 5-10 years. However, he's going to live and die by his defense in the Big 10, so he needs to hold those responsible for it accountable. If something doesn't change on defense in the last 5 games, he needs to make a change in the defensive staff. My fear is that he isn't going to do so and its going to wreck the 2019 season. Fleck has to realize that it's his first shot at convincing a lot of people that his way can work. If he doesn't make it to 8 wins next year, its not going to be pretty in the years that follow.

Bottom line, pull the entire defensive staff in the room and go over every defensive play during the Nebraska game and figure out what went wrong. Figure out how the scheme was supposed to work in that scenario, ask hard questions about it, determine if it was just execution vs scheme. Get the position coaches input as well, the staff is as much of a team as the players, so if you feel like you can't have contradicting opinions and talk about them, something is off. Another exercise would be to look at all big 10 play, find the players that have played in most/all and find the plays they failed on. Any plays/scheme positioning they fail on more than 50% of the time is a scheme issue, not and execution issue. Talk about how to put them in a better position to execute well.

I think Fleck is trying to be supportive of his staff to promote a good working environment, but unless he's doing something behind the scenes that we aren't seeing, it seems like he might be given too much blind trust to some of the staff. You can still have a supportive work environment while identifying whats going wrong and holding people accountable to fix it. But, who am I to judge, I've never been a coach at that level, maybe I think all of this stuff is way easier than it actually is.

I think there are two problems with the D right now that aren't necessarily coaching related:

1. They are playing a lot of people either out of position or that aren't ready to play out of necessity.

2. When plays are made they are made by the upperclassmen. With as many younger kids that are playing, you aren't seeing any of them really making plays (credit to my buddy for pointing that out to me).

The second point is the one that worries me more than the first. I get they are young, but shouldn't we see flashes? Like Tyler Johnson on offense. He makes mistakes, but then makes big plays. You don't see that from the younger players on defense. What happens in 2-3 years when they are the older players?

I voted F on coaching for the first time this year. I thought they were completely unprepared for what Nebraska was going to do.
 

Fleck's GPA by game:


NMSU: 3.11
Fresno 3.52
Miami 3.07
Maryland 0.95
Iowa 1.48
OSU 3.15
NEB 1.38


Overall: 2.38
 


A 53.97%
A_Slab_of_Bacon, iowa, jamalo, justthefacts, LesBolstad
B 10.79%
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C 107.94%
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D 3225.40%
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F 7559.52%
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Prefer not to respond 32.38%
homermn, Iceland12, Johnny Olson
 

F. We are regressing not progressing. The product on the field is regressing as is the recruiting (albeit the recruiting isn't finished). I truly believe Coyle needs to have a tough talk with Fleck. Sometimes a guy needs to be called out on the carpet from his boss

They had a two hour conversation today. Given Coyle's smooth conversation style and ability to clearly get his point across, Fleck think's he's getting another 2 year extension.
 




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