Shama: Fleck said win over uw last year set tone for next 2-3 decades for program

BleedGopher

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per Shama:

Paul Bunyan’s Axe was on display at the fan event held at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. The Gopher football team defeated Wisconsin to win the rivalry trophy last fall for the first time since 2003. It was also Minnesota’s first victory in Madison since 1994.

The Badgers have been among the elite programs in the Big Ten for years and when Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck spoke to the crowd at the Arboretum he made a bold statement about the surprise win in Madison. “Because that game, in my opinion, set the entire tone for the next two, three decades of Gopher football,” said the 38-year-old coach whose team beat the Badgers 37-15 and then defeated Georgia Tech 34-10 in the Quick Lane Bowl.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!
 

7ienzSY.gif
 


Alternate hot take:

PJ Fleck already planning his exit from Minnesota, planning on leaving sometime between 2040 and 2050!
 

I see no arguing or bickering in this thread moving forward.
 




What if I told you he really was elite?
 




Give me a break. Setting the tone would be a win in the Rose bowl followed by a great recruiting class. Then and maybe then you can set a tone for the future. Won't matter to him though, we win the Rose bowl and he will be history before the plane returns from Pasadena.
 

Give me a break. Setting the tone would be a win in the Rose bowl followed by a great recruiting class. Then and maybe then you can set a tone for the future. Won't matter to him though, we win the Rose bowl and he will be history before the plane returns from Pasadena.

If the Gophers win their first Rose Bowl since 1962, I don't care if the entire coaching staff quits on the spot and we have to hire the Eden Prairie staff to finish out the recruiting season.
 

per Shama:

Paul Bunyan’s Axe was on display at the fan event held at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. The Gopher football team defeated Wisconsin to win the rivalry trophy last fall for the first time since 2003. It was also Minnesota’s first victory in Madison since 1994.

The Badgers have been among the elite programs in the Big Ten for years and when Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck spoke to the crowd at the Arboretum he made a bold statement about the surprise win in Madison. “Because that game, in my opinion, set the entire tone for the next two, three decades of Gopher football,” said the 38-year-old coach whose team beat the Badgers 37-15 and then defeated Georgia Tech 34-10 in the Quick Lane Bowl.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Go Gophers!!


Fleck- "Because that game, in my opinion, set the entire tone for the next two, three decades of Gopher football"


My post is in no way a flame or trash talk.

HC Fleck is a young coach. He may lead the Gophers to the top. GSU in its 1aa days use to beat the heck out of its FCS opponents & won 6 National Championships with a 16 team playoff system, under the right coaching staffs. Even when GSU moved to FBS our 1st Head coach did a great job. Then 2 successive coaches buried our success from 2016-2017.

If Fleck stays for 10 - 30 years, with the Gophers, then maybe so, but if he leaves and your AD changes you could see a lot of different Head Coaches & their staffs comming in and changing your offensive & defensive schemes and last only 2-3 years. I HOPE NOT

TALON
 

Won't matter to him though, we win the Rose bowl and he will be history before the plane returns from Pasadena.

Spoken like a true Minnesotan.

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Seems reasonable.


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This is Fleck in a nutshell.

Whatever you might think about him, he does not play it safe. He says things that - shall we say - open him up to scrutiny - and I suspect he doesn't give a rat's butt what people think.

It is also why there are such differing opinions about him.

Some people look at Fleck and see a visionary - a leader - the perfect coach for today's athletes.

And some people look at Fleck and they see a guy who throws s**t at the wall to see if it sticks - the Professor Harold Hill of football coaches.

I admit I still cringe at a lot of his statements. I will grit my teeth and live with it as long as the team wins. But, when you put yourself out there the way Fleck does, you'd better win - or the critics will really descend.
 

This is Fleck in a nutshell.

Whatever you might think about him, he does not play it safe. He says things that - shall we say - open him up to scrutiny - and I suspect he doesn't give a rat's butt what people think.

It is also why there are such differing opinions about him.

Some people look at Fleck and see a visionary - a leader - the perfect coach for today's athletes.

And some people look at Fleck and they see a guy who throws s**t at the wall to see if it sticks - the Professor Harold Hill of football coaches.

I admit I still cringe at a lot of his statements. I will grit my teeth and live with it as long as the team wins. But, when you put yourself out there the way Fleck does, you'd better win - or the critics will really descend.

Played it painfully safe on the field in 2017...just sayin'.
 

No risk, no reward. Playing it safe (the Minnesota Way) has worked sooooo well for the last 52 years. Geezus.
 

Give me a break. Setting the tone would be a win in the Rose bowl followed by a great recruiting class. Then and maybe then you can set a tone for the future. Won't matter to him though, we win the Rose bowl and he will be history before the plane returns from Pasadena.

This is a typical Gopher attitude, we don't want a coach to succeed because then he'll leave. I absolutely HATE that type of thinking. I ran into a buddy last year who said the same thing...he said Fleck succeeds then he splits like all our other coaches. I said, name me a coach who left on his own accord for a better coaching position. The answer, only Lou Holtz...all others were fired or resigned for health reasons. We had BETTER have a coach who will win and who will be on every other team's "wish list" when they have an opening, and then we'd better be ready to do what is necessary to keep him. Otherwise we will be mired in mediocrity for another 3 generations or so until somebody wakes up.will
 

This is a typical Gopher attitude, we don't want a coach to succeed because then he'll leave. I absolutely HATE that type of thinking. I ran into a buddy last year who said the same thing...he said Fleck succeeds then he splits like all our other coaches. I said, name me a coach who left on his own accord for a better coaching position. The answer, only Lou Holtz...all others were fired or resigned for health reasons. We had BETTER have a coach who will win and who will be on every other team's "wish list" when they have an opening, and then we'd better be ready to do what is necessary to keep him. Otherwise we will be mired in mediocrity for another 3 generations or so until somebody wakes up.will

Well said!

The "all our other coaches" quote from your friend is so typical, true-blue Minnesotan. ONE coach left for a better job, and suddenly it's "all" our coaches. The hard truth: if we don't think we deserve success, it's pretty unlikely we'll ever achieve it.

The last (bolded) part of your post is concise and spot-on:

STEP 1) Hire a top-notch coach, and then...

STEP 2) Do whatever is necessary to retain him.
 

With all the concern around here about coach's leaving ... you'd think we would have some sort of top program or something....
 

With all the concern around here about coach's leaving ... you'd think we would have some sort of top program or something....

Well, yes. The cart sometimes gets placed before the horse.

That being said, I think this team has a chance to be very good. And if that does indeed happen, it will be really interesting to see how Minnesota sports fans react. We Minnesotans are a unique group.
 

I think the win against Wisconsin could set the tone for the current off season and upcoming season, but for a couple decades? I don't know about that. Now, it could be the first in a series of quality wins that set a tone for a longer period of time, but I don't think the single win is a long-term program changer.
 

I think the win against Wisconsin could set the tone for the current off season and upcoming season, but for a couple decades? I don't know about that. Now, it could be the first in a series of quality wins that set a tone for a longer period of time, but I don't think the single win is a long-term program changer.

I assume the quote is more about "set the tone" and then that is the tone you have and you carry it on / keep it up.
 

I don't mind the quote. He's being optimistic but nothing wrong with that.

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I think the win against Wisconsin could set the tone for the current off season and upcoming season, but for a couple decades? I don't know about that. Now, it could be the first in a series of quality wins that set a tone for a longer period of time, but I don't think the single win is a long-term program changer.

I hear what you're saying.

But the Wisconsin win was sandwiched between the stomping of Purdue and the dismantling of Georgia Tech. Those are three decent opponents, and the Gophers truly dominated all three. There could be some 'tone-setting' going on here. Success breeds success.

I think Fleck is setting the expectations pretty high. I like that.
 

I hear what you're saying.

But the Wisconsin win was sandwiched between the stomping of Purdue and the dismantling of Georgia Tech. Those are three decent opponents, and the Gophers truly dominated all three. There could be some 'tone-setting' going on here. Success breeds success.

I think Fleck is setting the expectations pretty high. I like that.

Agree it sets the tone, I have no problem with that. It's the time frame of decades that seems weird to me.
 

Agree it sets the tone, I have no problem with that. It's the time frame of decades that seems weird to me.

Lots of teams have been good for decades with just a random blips on the radar here or there.
 

I hear what you're saying.

But the Wisconsin win was sandwiched between the stomping of Purdue and the dismantling of Georgia Tech. Those are three decent opponents, and the Gophers truly dominated all three. There could be some 'tone-setting' going on here. Success breeds success.

I think Fleck is setting the expectations pretty high. I like that.

Purdue finished 6-7 with a 63-14 loss in their bowl game. Wisconsin was 8-5. Georgia Tech finished 7-6. Define decent for me?
 

You know. . . I don't totally disagree with what he said.

Let's just assume PJ turns the program around and we are eventually going to win the Big 10 West and eventually Big 10 Championships, etc., etc. Let's just assume that all happens within the next 7 years, I think we will all look back at that WI game as a really important part of the process. That WI game is just symbolic of the growth of the team (in attitude, athleticism, etc.).

Let's say we become the next WI and we are good for 20-30 years. I think that game is part of that history and an important part of it symbolically. I think that's true even though no one on the 2047 Gopher squad will have any idea about that game (except maybe Carter Coughlin Jr. or Antoine Winfield III).

I don't think many of the current Badger players (maybe even some of the coaches) remember their 1993 win over Michigan, but it is, at least symbolically, a big part of why WI is where they are now.
 

While I like the attitude reality says if we get beat this year or next and it's all for nothing. We've been here before. Not to poo poo the win or the thought that we are doing something special here though.


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