STrib: Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck realizes redshirt plans don't always last

BleedGopher

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per Randy:

When the new NCAA football rule regarding redshirts went into effect this season — with players able to participate in up to four games without using a year of eligibility — coaches suddenly became jugglers. They had to figure out which players, usually true freshmen, to use for four games or fewer and which ones they’d need for more, if not the full season.

As the Gophers (4-5 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) begin the final one-fourth of the season with Saturday’s home game against Purdue (5-4, 4-2), coach P.J. Fleck is honing those juggling skills with a pair of true freshmen, Jamaal Teague and Brevyn Spann-Ford.

Teague, a 6-3, 305-pound defensive tackle from Chicago, has played in four games, mainly because of need. He received nonconference experience against New Mexico State and Miami (Ohio), sat for the first four Big Ten games before playing the past two because of starter O.J. Smith’s head injury. Teague is listed as a co-starter with junior Royal Silver on the depth chart released Tuesday.

“I’m probably going to have to break the [redshirt] year. That’s the reality of it,” Fleck said of Teague, who has four tackles, including two for loss and one sack. “He’s not ready to play, but he’s going to play. … He does a lot of things that we don’t have right now.”

Fleck said he met with Teague on Tuesday morning to discuss the situation.

“First, I ask, ‘Is it OK if I do this?’ ” Fleck said. “He’s like, ‘Anything I can do for the team, Coach.’ ”

Teague would become the 11th Gophers true freshman this year to play in five games or more.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...s-redshirt-plans-don-t-always-last/499895981/

Go Gophers!!
 


Why did he play vs NMSU and Ohio?

Yeah, I think that if a guy is good enough to play they might want to stash him until later until A.) Injury B.) Special situation that the player could really help (suspensions, rivalry game, behind in a game but a specific player has the skill set to potentially make a difference as the game goes on, etc.)

Playing them in non-conference games to get them experience didn't work out too well. May not have mattered though given the timing of the injury to OJ Smith but might be good to wait just in case like this.
 

Yeah, I think that if a guy is good enough to play they might want to stash him until later until A.) Injury B.) Special situation that the player could really help (suspensions, rivalry game, behind in a game but a specific player has the skill set to potentially make a difference as the game goes on, etc.)

Playing them in non-conference games to get them experience didn't work out too well. May not have mattered though given the timing of the injury to OJ Smith but might be good to wait just in case like this.

If he's good enough to play he should be in the rotation from the get go. Don't like the lets hold them out because we might be better in the future talk.

It's a tough decision to make because if you hold a kid out of some of those early season blow outs and then late in the season all your games are close, it would be hard throwing them in at that point.
 






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