PJ Fleck Interview new - Sunday 3-3-19

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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO on Sunday.

Sid: changes in coaching staff. better deals?
PJ: some of these guys have been on staff for a long time. Matt Simon will be the passing game coordinator. he's been with Kirk a long time. ready to take next step. help Kirk with game plan. feel comfortable he's earned the opportunity. Kenni Burns has interviewed for head coaching jobs. he will probably be a head coach soon. good chance for him to see what the role is all about. help on administrative side. Callahan has been with me since WMU. He helps Kirk put run game together. necessary to take next step in development. Kirk is the OC. he has the most power on offense. he cares about development of staff. help young guys move up. really important for staff.

Sid: 2 RB's back healthy. Winfield. will they be in Spring practice?
PJ: Winfield is 100% Rodney and Shannon will not go through Spring ball. want to be careful. they had surgery at different times, and they're at at different times in their recovery. timetable will be different for both of them. take it day by day. get stronger, get better.

Sid: talk about transfers you signed. (Sid called them 'free agents....')
PJ: Treadway. from Notre Dame. he's enrolled. with OJ Smith going pro and Silver leaving for medical reasons, unfortunate. got to be able to replace guys quickly. Treadway is big, long and strong. fans will be excited to see him. wonderful young man. great student. big-time asset to program. mature. already leading young guys on DL. stepped into leadership role. 1st open practice March 15th - Sid's 99th birthday.

Sid: lot of starters from last year back?
PJ: 77% of team still FR and SO. won't be youngest team in America. still young, but do have some experience. got a lot of young guys with experience. got a lot of guys back. got some newcomers who will help us. guys who red-shirted last year.

Mona: kids came in early. QB's?
PJ: QB's came in early. Clark - really important to do that. Cole Kramer came in early. last year had 1 Scholarship QB. now we have 4. still young guys, but starting to build that room up. really important. the more practice time they have, the better. Kirk is doing great job developing those guys.

Sid: how much different will this Spring be?
PJ: last year had to find out what type of team we had. now we have an idea of what we can do. need to find out how good are the new-comers? how they combine with other players? there will be competition at every position. some of the new guys could come in and surprise us.

Max: can you get all 3 RB's reps in game?
PJ: one thing that will help us in terms of depth. help guys stay healthier. not have to have one guy run the ball 35 times a game. get guys a break. get enough reps to get in rhythm. have ability to get fresh guys in there. long way to go before we play. we'll see how that all comes together. could have multiple RB's on field at same time, or rotate. it's really coming together in that room.

Mona: TE as pass-catchers?
PJ: we're mainly an 11 personnel team. 1 back, 1 TE, 3 WR. last year with a young OL, wanted to give the most protection. have ability for play-action, RPO with TE in run game. we have to develop a pass-catching TE. we've recruited for that. we'll get ball to the best players we have. the scheme is the same for the last 7 years. there's been years we've gotten ball to the TE a lot. there's been years we haven't. we've got more experience at tight end - getting closer.

Sid: recruit more for defense. will any of the FR play?
PJ: two years ago, our first big recruiting class, went offense-heavy. the numbers with OL were really short. needed more numbers there. defense was more experienced when we got here. had some numbers. with this last recruiting class, needed to be defense heavy. brought in 7 DL. we have our own plan, time frame to build this. can't fix every problem in one year. feel good about the balance we're forming on this team.

Sid: new different ticket plans. Murray's certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers. Show support for Gopher Basketball team at the Barn on Tuesday.
 

Thanks SON.

I thought the TE discussion was the most direct Coach has been on their lack of use in the passing game to date.

Pass (and lesser run) protection is their top priority. Having TEs catch balls can be a part of his FB philosophy, but hasn't been in the cards so far. Open to it in the future.
 

Thanks SON.

So Fleck was asked about tight ends and didn't mention Spann-Ford? Usually he does.

Glad to hear Winfield is 100%.

No longer the youngest team. But still young!
 

The regular use of a TE as a passing weapon isn't required or even needed when you have depth and play-making availability at RB and WR. This team can have 20-30 TE receptions for the whole season and be remarkably successful on offense.

There are only 11 players on the field at a time. Teams that use the RB more on passing plays take receptions from the TE. Teams that use a TE regularly take receptions away from the RB. There are only so many plays in a game and in a season. It's a math problem more than an offensive issue.
 

What 3 RBs being referenced? I think Bryce may become the best of the bunch, but would be ecstatic if we could somehow red shirt him this year so he can put on more weight.
 


Thanks SON.

So Fleck was asked about tight ends and didn't mention Spann-Ford? Usually he does.

Glad to hear Winfield is 100%.

No longer the youngest team. But still young!

Wouldn't look to deep on the lack of reference. Really asked and answered at a high level...did not get to specific personnel.
 

What 3 RBs being referenced? I think Bryce may become the best of the bunch, but would be ecstatic if we could somehow red shirt him this year so he can put on more weight.

I would assume Brooks, Smith, and Ibrahim.
 

Wouldn't look to deep on the lack of reference. Really asked and answered at a high level...did not get to specific personnel.

It seemed like the question was pretty specific, though. He was asked about tight ends (specifically) and tight ends in the passing game (even more specifically).

Seemed (to me) to be a perfect spot for Fleck to mention Spann-Ford.

Then again, I didn't actually hear the interview. And you're right; I shouldn't read too much into it. Over-thinking it.
 




Diminutive One -

Thanks for committing to this. I read your summary every week (live in FL - can't listen) and have never expressed gratitude. Please know your efforts reach many, me included. Thank you.

Ok. Time to resume the ordinary course of ripping SON at every opportunity. Whew. It's good to be back to normal.
 


Thanks, shorty. I guess I could stream it, but then I'd have to listen to Sid. I appreciate you doing that for me and the hundreds and hundreds of your fans. Really you do have a lot of fans.
 

Thanks Son. (Now get out there and get some of that snow off your roof!)

Knew Sid was at least mid 90's. 99?! Man oh man. More power to him.
 



Forgive me if I missed it, but is Randal Grimes no longer coming here? No mention of him in the transfers question and I don’t think he was added to the roster when the walk ons were. Or is he still at USC for second semester and enrolling in the summer?
 

Never a moment to rip SON at every opportunity on this thread, but rather to thank SON for his weekly contributions. You and DL65 are on equal plane in my estimation. Thanks again!
 

Forgive me if I missed it, but is Randal Grimes no longer coming here? No mention of him in the transfers question and I don’t think he was added to the roster when the walk ons were. Or is he still at USC for second semester and enrolling in the summer?

He won't be here till fall.. I believe I read somewhere he has applied for a waiver but it isn't expected for him to be granted. 3 to play 3 guy
 

If this isn't a redshirt year for Bryce Williams, something really strange will have happened.
 

Forgive me if I missed it, but is Randal Grimes no longer coming here? No mention of him in the transfers question and I don’t think he was added to the roster when the walk ons were. Or is he still at USC for second semester and enrolling in the summer?

Grimes has not signed and therefore cannot be discussed publicly. He's not slated to be on campus until this summer.

*EDIT - Sorry. I didn't see the response before I answered.
 

Can’t comment on a transfer who isn’t enrolled yet, I believe. Guessing it was too late to enroll at Minn for the spring semester by the time he decided to come here. He could enroll for summer class though. I think that’s what Howden did last year.
 

If this isn't a redshirt year for Bryce Williams, something really strange will have happened.

If Nolan Edmonds and a couple of the RS RB's are super impressive, do we still RS Williams?

I would say yes. But it'll be interesting to see what happens with Williams next season.
 


If Nolan Edmonds and a couple of the RS RB's are super impressive, do we still RS Williams?

I would say yes. But it'll be interesting to see what happens with Williams next season.

If I am Fleck (and I'm not), I got in with a 40-40-20 split between RS, SB, and MI.
If RS, SB, and MI get hurt, I got 50-50 with the remaining 2.
Hopefully this works through 8/9 games. By game 9 you can go back to a 40-40-20 split between your top two backs.
Nolan Edmonds would be my #4 above Bryce for the first 8/9 game seasons.

If two of the top starters are hurt, you could still go 70/30 with one of your top 3 and Nolan. If Nolan isn't impressing, you could go to the freshman a 4 game patch to help get you to Bryce Williams during the final 4 games.

(or depending on injuries and timing, maybe Bryce's games are sprinkled throughout the year, but we should have plenty of options to play him a max of 4).

If he plays more it's either because of many injuries, or Bryce becomes so dominant it's clear he earns the #1 spot by a large margin. (which seems unlikely).
 




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