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Head coach P.J. Fleck had the future in mind when he made the decision to relieve defensive coordinator Robb Smith of his duties on Sunday. After allowing 646 yards in a 55-31 loss to Illinois, Fleck decided it was time to make a change. Defensive line coach Joe Rossi will serve as the interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of this season.
“There was a lot of blame to go around. It all starts with me, first and foremost. It’s the toughest part of the job,” Fleck said. “Whether it’s popular, unpopular, easy, or hard, you get put in a position to make decisions that you feel need to be made not only for now, but for the future. It’s very difficult to make, but that’s why you’re the head football coach…as you continue to move forward, you either see that you want this to continue to happen and you believe in that, or you make that change.”
Under the direction of defensive coordinator Robb Smith, opponents scored 509 total points in 15 total Big Ten games (33.9 points per game). In terms of total yardage, Big Ten opponents averaged 426.5 yards per game against Smith’s defenses. Fleck said there are a variety of issues relating to scheme, personnel and coaching. Those are the three tiers he uses to evaluate his team on a daily basis.
“I felt that was necessary for a lot of reasons. I won’t necessarily get into every single thing, but you know how I work in terms of schematics, and the coaching and personnel,” Fleck said. “There’s a lot of blame to go around in all three of those categories, but again, I’m in charge of everything, so the blame starts with me.”
This weekend, Fleck informed Robb Smith and the staff of his decision and then went right to his players. He met with the team and even set up individualized sessions with a few others to communicate the decision clearly. Fleck felt this was extra important considering the amount of change that has occurred in Minnesota recently.
“I wanted our team to hear it from me…this team has been through a lot of change. If you’ve been here five years, you’ve seen a ton of change. I felt that was necessary for a lot of reasons,” Fleck said. “This was not because of our players, this was for our players. I made sure that message was very loud and clear to our players when I met with every single one of them.”
Minnesota has suffered six key injuries this season, so the team’s depth has already taken a serious hit. P.J. Fleck said there may be some personnel changes this week, but many will be related to injuries.
“There is some competition at some other positions to be able to get some other guys on the field. You’ll see that,” Fleck said. “We’ve got to continue to create that competition even within the defense, offense and special teams. We’ve always had that, but this year, with as many young guys as we have, they’re forced into playing instead of maybe having to just earn that spot. They’re forced into some role that maybe they shouldn’t be in yet.”
Defensive line coach Joe Rossi will serve as the interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of the season. Rossi has taken over for Robb Smith three times during past stops and is familiar with handling these type of situations. Most recently, Rossi was the defensive coordinator for Rutgers from 2014-15.
With just three games remaining, Fleck said it will be difficult to make too many drastic scheme changes. However, fans will likely notice a few style changes associated with his beliefs as a coach.
“They’ll be some things that change, they’ll be some things that don’t change, they’ll be some things that [Rossi] does that just personality wise, that when there’s a new coordinator, a new personality calling different things, that can change that up as well,” Fleck said. “Very difficult to change so much schematics in three weeks, that’s not what this is about, this is about moving forward into the future.”
Moving forward, Fleck said he wants his defense to be built around eliminating big plays and creating more takeaways. Teams are currently averaging more than 35 yards per scoring play against the Gophers. Minnesota has also posted just 15 takeaways this season, including eight interceptions.
“We have to eliminate big plays. Our conference, our west side, is getting way better and most offenses are built on these explosive plays. Our game is changing, which is good. We’re changing, we’re evolving. We always have,” Fleck said. “It’s the explosive plays and the turnovers. We have to get way more takeaways and we have to eliminate the explosive plays and I think that’s what I want it to look like as we keep going forward and keep getting better.”
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“There was a lot of blame to go around. It all starts with me, first and foremost. It’s the toughest part of the job,” Fleck said. “Whether it’s popular, unpopular, easy, or hard, you get put in a position to make decisions that you feel need to be made not only for now, but for the future. It’s very difficult to make, but that’s why you’re the head football coach…as you continue to move forward, you either see that you want this to continue to happen and you believe in that, or you make that change.”
Under the direction of defensive coordinator Robb Smith, opponents scored 509 total points in 15 total Big Ten games (33.9 points per game). In terms of total yardage, Big Ten opponents averaged 426.5 yards per game against Smith’s defenses. Fleck said there are a variety of issues relating to scheme, personnel and coaching. Those are the three tiers he uses to evaluate his team on a daily basis.
“I felt that was necessary for a lot of reasons. I won’t necessarily get into every single thing, but you know how I work in terms of schematics, and the coaching and personnel,” Fleck said. “There’s a lot of blame to go around in all three of those categories, but again, I’m in charge of everything, so the blame starts with me.”
This weekend, Fleck informed Robb Smith and the staff of his decision and then went right to his players. He met with the team and even set up individualized sessions with a few others to communicate the decision clearly. Fleck felt this was extra important considering the amount of change that has occurred in Minnesota recently.
“I wanted our team to hear it from me…this team has been through a lot of change. If you’ve been here five years, you’ve seen a ton of change. I felt that was necessary for a lot of reasons,” Fleck said. “This was not because of our players, this was for our players. I made sure that message was very loud and clear to our players when I met with every single one of them.”
Minnesota has suffered six key injuries this season, so the team’s depth has already taken a serious hit. P.J. Fleck said there may be some personnel changes this week, but many will be related to injuries.
“There is some competition at some other positions to be able to get some other guys on the field. You’ll see that,” Fleck said. “We’ve got to continue to create that competition even within the defense, offense and special teams. We’ve always had that, but this year, with as many young guys as we have, they’re forced into playing instead of maybe having to just earn that spot. They’re forced into some role that maybe they shouldn’t be in yet.”
Defensive line coach Joe Rossi will serve as the interim defensive coordinator for the remainder of the season. Rossi has taken over for Robb Smith three times during past stops and is familiar with handling these type of situations. Most recently, Rossi was the defensive coordinator for Rutgers from 2014-15.
With just three games remaining, Fleck said it will be difficult to make too many drastic scheme changes. However, fans will likely notice a few style changes associated with his beliefs as a coach.
“They’ll be some things that change, they’ll be some things that don’t change, they’ll be some things that [Rossi] does that just personality wise, that when there’s a new coordinator, a new personality calling different things, that can change that up as well,” Fleck said. “Very difficult to change so much schematics in three weeks, that’s not what this is about, this is about moving forward into the future.”
Moving forward, Fleck said he wants his defense to be built around eliminating big plays and creating more takeaways. Teams are currently averaging more than 35 yards per scoring play against the Gophers. Minnesota has also posted just 15 takeaways this season, including eight interceptions.
“We have to eliminate big plays. Our conference, our west side, is getting way better and most offenses are built on these explosive plays. Our game is changing, which is good. We’re changing, we’re evolving. We always have,” Fleck said. “It’s the explosive plays and the turnovers. We have to get way more takeaways and we have to eliminate the explosive plays and I think that’s what I want it to look like as we keep going forward and keep getting better.”
VIDEO:
