No Fleck Interview today (Sunday, Dec 9th) - notes from Mark Coyle interview

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No PJ Fleck Interview today on the WCCO Sports Huddle.

Dave Mona said Fleck is busy with recruits.

Gopher AD Mark Coyle was the 1st guest, so here are some notes from that. (Eric Eskola was a guest host - Mike Max on way to Seattle for Vikes)

Mona: Volleyball loss
Coyle: Oregon a battle. 41-39 set took a lot of energy. the loss took focus away from a great year. Thankful to Hugh and his staff. Oregon great team. Will continue goal of winning National Championship.

Eskola: better to have 5,000 VB fans in pavilion, or draw more in Williams?
Coyle: we work with coaches. Hugh and I have had conversations. like positive home-court advantage in Pavilion. will call that home.

Mona: new additions for athletics. Volleyball not involved.
Coyle: been working on fundraising. in process of developing Volleyball performance center. have pieces of puzzle in place with Athlete's Village. Performance center will help VB continue to grow.

Eskola: NCAA investigation into college basketball
Coyle: had FBI developments. trial of coaches coming up. case in California. look at pay-for-play model for student athletes. lot of factors in changing face of athletics.

Eskola: New President of U of M? expectations?
Coyle: recognize president Kaler. look forward to meet candidate. on campus this week. want to make sure continue to be strong advocate for student-athletes. top 20 in directors cup. doing positive things. hope new president is supportive.

Mona: will you get to talk to her?
Coyle: She will meet with different stake-holders. I'll have opportunity to visit with her. learn more about her vision for Gopher athletics.

Eskola: What do you need from the President?
Coyle: Support. we have 25 programs, 700 student-athletes. big-time operation. #1 thing we look for is support. great partnership with faculty and staff.

Mona: more Gopher women's BB games on TV? feedback on recruiting?
Coyle: Women have got a huge match-up today on ACC network. we don't control rights as visiting team. with home games, lot of games on BTN or BTN2go.
Recruiting - huge time of year. hired PJ - want to create sense of urgency. they've created that. get really talented young men. grateful for hard work. big weekend. key to successful programs. bring in talented student-athletes who can compete at high level.

Eskola: Any way to get BTN to accomodate fans. odd game times?
Coyle: TV is a partnership. give Delaney credit. huge impact. BTN provides our teams phenomenal exposure. grateful for that. do have to make some alterations. 11am Football, 8pm basketball. TV wants live programming. got to be a balance. revenue from BTN helps us provide experience to athletes.

Mona: advice to Lindsay Wahlen?
Coyle: great to see start they've had. Hope to keep her for a long time.
 

Good to see Coyle took a break from his year round hibernation. I wish WCCO would have asked a challenging question or two, re: attendance at football, hockey and men's basketball.

Thanks for the recap.

Go Gophers!!
 


Did he have anything to say about his performance as it pertains to selling football tickets?
 

Did he have anything to say about his performance as it pertains to selling football tickets?

Yes. This should have been question #1: "Any plans to address the substantial decrease in football attendance; including reducing or even eliminating donation seating to get people back in seats?
 


like it or not, the 'CCO gang almost never asks "tough" questions of its guests - because they want the guests to keep coming back. And, I suspect, guests agree to come on CCO because they know they are not going to have to deal with "difficult" questions. it's a quid pro quo. (plus, the free steak ain't a bad perk)

I don't listen to a lot of the other sports shows in the Cities, but I have heard Barriero pose some more pointed questions - but generally to guests he has a prior relationship with, like Mason or Pat Kessler. From what I've heard, the pattern tends to be - rip or question people if they're not on the show, but if you're actually talking to them in person, show a lot more deference.
 




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