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Top O' the morning to yah.
Gopher FB Coach PJ O'Fleck joined the Sports Huddle with Sid, Mona and Max on WCCO.
Sid: Thank you for what you did at practice (Fleck had team sing "Happy Birthday" to Sid for his 99th birthday)
PJ: Happy birthday, We know you love the Gophers.
Sid: What did you accomplish at practice this week?
PJ: Getting better. had 2 practices without pads, 1 with pads on Friday. Installed 1st and 2nd down plays, some 3rd-down plays. throwing a lot at players quickly. Still have to install green zone area, 2-minute drill. we're close to having everything in. force-feeding a lot of areas. returning players know our system better. also trying to get newcomers reps. help them adapt to college FB
Sid: any surprises?
PJ: players working hard. FR getting reps. Mafe had tremendous winter. he's a different player than last year. maybe ahead of what he's supposed to play. off the charts in testing numbers. going to be good for DL. (with new DL coach) can already see changes in how they play.
Sid: what about transfers, changes?
PJ: Treadway on DL. done great job adapting to what we do - great job leading our DL. he's an older guy, played a lot of FB. we need him to come in and play, replacing OJ.
Sid: have all players reported?
PJ: everyone's here. excited about next 12 practices. spring break right now, lets players get away. 1st major break since Jan from school. come back, get into FB.
Max: what's the hardest thing to teach a team?
PJ: everything has challenges. situational FB in general. not just about running plays. maybe in HS, you're better than other teams, and you don't understand how 3rd downs contribute to changing game, how important passing game is. it's about learning game situationally. not just a bunch of plays you call. certain situations call for certain calls. that's one of the biggest changes from HS to college. (at practice) we installed 3rd downs. showed team the top 4 NFL teams in converting 3rd downs, and the bottom 4 teams. the top 4 teams all made playoffs. same in college FB - best teams on 3rd downs won 9-10 games; bottom teams won 1-2 games. best way to bring evidence to that - show how important situational FB is.
Mona: Sid Hartman wearing #99 at practice. What position does he play? // kicking game?
PJ: OJ Leaves. no one better to replace him than Sid. // Kicking game - have some challenges with Carpenter leaving. Our Punter is back. he's grown into his own. kicking position is wide open. don't have some of the other guys here yet. getting a transfer from a certain school. we have a scholarship player coming in. Brady Weeks is our new LS. Jordahl will be very difficult to replace. one of best human beings you'll ever meet. Weeks needs to be really good. kicking game, in terms of Kicks, FG will be determined through training camp. Grant Ryerse might have to kick off for us. might have multiple kids doing things instead of having one kicker do everything like Carpenter.
Sid: Position changes
PJ: Howard moved to CB. People asked, is that permanent? he's tremendous there. I think he's found his home - has a chance to be an impact player, help us win games.
Max: will you change the way you format Spring Game?
PJ: lot of things go into it. we do everything we can to stay healthy. got to get ready to play games. make sure fans enjoy a true game. same as last year, but a little different. the older guys are going to play, but maybe not as much as last year. got a lot of young guys. got to continue to play in games, have that experience. we'll run a scrimmage during spring ball, one more for spring game. simulate as best we can in practice. with as many situational things in practice. just don't tackle. run some controlled environment tackling drills. be beneficial for our team, our fans. hope we get beautiful weather. hope to move outside.
Sid: will the New recruits help?
PJ: lot of guys taking reps. Chaney taking reps. need some of these kids to get in there and get after it. New WR (I missed name) is getting reps. Guedet getting reps. we have a few periods in practice just for the young guys; continue to develop them as best we can.
Sid: new tickets good seats for less money. Murray's
PJ: look forward to having you at nose guard next practice. RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
Gopher FB Coach PJ O'Fleck joined the Sports Huddle with Sid, Mona and Max on WCCO.
Sid: Thank you for what you did at practice (Fleck had team sing "Happy Birthday" to Sid for his 99th birthday)
PJ: Happy birthday, We know you love the Gophers.
Sid: What did you accomplish at practice this week?
PJ: Getting better. had 2 practices without pads, 1 with pads on Friday. Installed 1st and 2nd down plays, some 3rd-down plays. throwing a lot at players quickly. Still have to install green zone area, 2-minute drill. we're close to having everything in. force-feeding a lot of areas. returning players know our system better. also trying to get newcomers reps. help them adapt to college FB
Sid: any surprises?
PJ: players working hard. FR getting reps. Mafe had tremendous winter. he's a different player than last year. maybe ahead of what he's supposed to play. off the charts in testing numbers. going to be good for DL. (with new DL coach) can already see changes in how they play.
Sid: what about transfers, changes?
PJ: Treadway on DL. done great job adapting to what we do - great job leading our DL. he's an older guy, played a lot of FB. we need him to come in and play, replacing OJ.
Sid: have all players reported?
PJ: everyone's here. excited about next 12 practices. spring break right now, lets players get away. 1st major break since Jan from school. come back, get into FB.
Max: what's the hardest thing to teach a team?
PJ: everything has challenges. situational FB in general. not just about running plays. maybe in HS, you're better than other teams, and you don't understand how 3rd downs contribute to changing game, how important passing game is. it's about learning game situationally. not just a bunch of plays you call. certain situations call for certain calls. that's one of the biggest changes from HS to college. (at practice) we installed 3rd downs. showed team the top 4 NFL teams in converting 3rd downs, and the bottom 4 teams. the top 4 teams all made playoffs. same in college FB - best teams on 3rd downs won 9-10 games; bottom teams won 1-2 games. best way to bring evidence to that - show how important situational FB is.
Mona: Sid Hartman wearing #99 at practice. What position does he play? // kicking game?
PJ: OJ Leaves. no one better to replace him than Sid. // Kicking game - have some challenges with Carpenter leaving. Our Punter is back. he's grown into his own. kicking position is wide open. don't have some of the other guys here yet. getting a transfer from a certain school. we have a scholarship player coming in. Brady Weeks is our new LS. Jordahl will be very difficult to replace. one of best human beings you'll ever meet. Weeks needs to be really good. kicking game, in terms of Kicks, FG will be determined through training camp. Grant Ryerse might have to kick off for us. might have multiple kids doing things instead of having one kicker do everything like Carpenter.
Sid: Position changes
PJ: Howard moved to CB. People asked, is that permanent? he's tremendous there. I think he's found his home - has a chance to be an impact player, help us win games.
Max: will you change the way you format Spring Game?
PJ: lot of things go into it. we do everything we can to stay healthy. got to get ready to play games. make sure fans enjoy a true game. same as last year, but a little different. the older guys are going to play, but maybe not as much as last year. got a lot of young guys. got to continue to play in games, have that experience. we'll run a scrimmage during spring ball, one more for spring game. simulate as best we can in practice. with as many situational things in practice. just don't tackle. run some controlled environment tackling drills. be beneficial for our team, our fans. hope we get beautiful weather. hope to move outside.
Sid: will the New recruits help?
PJ: lot of guys taking reps. Chaney taking reps. need some of these kids to get in there and get after it. New WR (I missed name) is getting reps. Guedet getting reps. we have a few periods in practice just for the young guys; continue to develop them as best we can.
Sid: new tickets good seats for less money. Murray's
PJ: look forward to having you at nose guard next practice. RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
