PJ Fleck Interview new - Sunday 6-23-19

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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO with Sid, Dave and Max.

Sid: How many camps do you run and go to? Do you find good players at camps?
PJ: I put a lot of value, a lot of stock in camps. June has become the busiest month of the year with the rules changes about summer visits. You need to see players at camp. get to verify what you see on film. get to see them live. our donors, supporters help provide opportunities for us to attend camps. sometimes we'll hit 3 in a day. we've got 11 commits for next year, working on #12.

Sid: did you find players at camps last year?
PJ: we find players every year. our staff has found players at every camp we've been to. we get to areas we feel comfortable about. got to go around to find them. all over the country. like to go places where we know our brand is big. rules on summer visits have changed the game. like to get kids to come to MN, experience our climate -the lakes, the environment, the cities, see what MN is all about. like to tell them it's always like this (laughs). people in MN love the 4 seasons. MN loves their weather. we're Midwest people. it's nice to show off. show kids the beautiful times of the year

Sid: are you finding a lot of recruits for 2020, 2021?
PJ: 2020 is taking shape. actually, we're almost done. we've got 3 commits for '21. our players have done a great job hosting recruits. Look at Rashod Bateman - he started out as a 3-star player, and look where he's at now. we are a developmental program. want to get guys we've seen live- guys we know will eventually be 4-star players, NFL draft picks. bring them in and develop them.

Sid: who gets invited to camps?
PJ: camps are beneficial. they benefit both parties. benefits players - they don't have to leave the city to go to a camp, be looked at by coaches from as many as 50 schools. incredible for parents - saves money. you get so many eyes on each person. we can do same thing with our own camps. you can see 1000 kids at a camp. especially if they have separate morning and afternoon sessions. we might only be looking at 10 or 20 of them. lots of players to evaluate. we also have camps on our campus - it's important to get kids who we're interested in onto our campus

Mona: how do you evaluate recruits from Europe?
PJ: there are services these young people connect with. they bring them over to the U.S., do a camp circuit. Penn State had players from Germany at their camp. A lot of players come down from Canada. some international players are very talented and may get overlooked. some of these services, we've gotten to know them. we want to find the best ones. We will have some international students, possibly. very excited about that.

Sid: only 12 seniors on this team
PJ: next year, we're only going to have 11 seniors. this team is still 80% FR and SO. excited about the future, but the future is now. they're working hard on and off the field. team has a record GPA. 3.17 of the whole deal. 3.20 fall semester. 3.17 spring semester, and that's when they tend to take harder classes. I like the leadership of the team. excited for future.

Max: what is the most important thing to do in off-season - advice for HS players?
PJ: lot of people -when it's camp time - they compare themselves to everyone they go against. I think that's one of the worst things you can do. you need to compare you to yourself - what you did yesterday versus what you do today. work on your skill set, footwork, academics. try to be a little bit better today than you were yesterday. too many kids are working on getting scholarships. you need to compare to yourself -not other people. Also, try to do a lot with your team. don't isolate yourself. go to team camps, 7 on 7 tournaments. get together with your teammates, and go to the pool, the lake. connect to your team. doesn't matter how good you are as an individual - matters how good you are as a team.

Mona: do you ever get kids off unsolicited video?
PJ: absolutely. happens more than you think. we get a lot of video. get videos from twitter, facebook, instant messaging. we'll look into it, and if it looks promising - give it to recruiting department. next thing, the kid is at camp. 90% of the players we already know about. the others come from areas we don't recruit heavily. we might get a tape from Denver, CO. we'll say, let's look at this. now we might have someone recruiting Denver.

Sid: are there RS FR who got into 4 games last year and will help this year?
PJ: Braelin Oliver ready to step in. Spann-Ford. excited about him - now 270, 6'7". one of biggest athletes we have. Dunlap - excited about. I could go on and on. also, some of new incoming FR will be getting your attention. James Gordon from FLA. LB - really like him. Tyler Nubin - CB from Illinois. Cam Wiley - RB from Vegas. very impressive young man. 6'2", 200 lb true FR. I know a lot of people will be excited about this class.

Sid: lot of great ticket plans. cheaper than last year. going to have great year. Murray's
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah. (puts son Harper on phone, and he says "Row the boat." everybody laughs)
 


Sid: are there RS FR who got into 4 games last year and will help this year?
PJ: Braelin Oliver ready to step in. Spann-Ford. excited about him - now 270, 6'7". one of biggest athletes we have. Dunlap - excited about. I could go on and on. also, some of new incoming FR will be getting your attention. James Gordon from FLA. LB - really like him. Tyler Nubin - CB from Illinois. Cam Wiley - RB from Vegas. very impressive young man. 6'2", 200 lb true FR. I know a lot of people will be excited about this class.

You know, if this TE thing doesn't work out, he might make a heckuva DE at that size!
 


You know, if this TE thing doesn't work out, he might make a heckuva DE at that size!

Agree - in his high school tape he looked really good at DE.

That said, I think he can be in the same category as Maxx eventually as a TE.
 



Sid: only 12 seniors on this team
PJ: next year, we're only going to have 11 seniors. this team is still 80% FR and SO

Somebody help me with the Fleck-math. For this fall I count 33 of 99 roster players as seniors or juniors. If it was really 80%, may be unprecedented in college football. There are 13 seniors listed and I didn’t count Dew-Treadway and his special situation. If we subtract out the only walk on, punter Melvin we have 12 scholarship seniors so who is on the way out?
 

Just being honest here --- these posts are maybe one of the single most, actually valuable pieces of content that this board provides.

Quite a service you provide. Hope you know that! Thank you!
 

Just being honest here --- these posts are maybe one of the single most, actually valuable pieces of content that this board provides.

Quite a service you provide. Hope you know that! Thank you!

:clap:

This did make me laugh. Well done.
 



Somebody help me with the Fleck-math. For this fall I count 33 of 99 roster players as seniors or juniors. If it was really 80%, may be unprecedented in college football. There are 13 seniors listed and I didn’t count Dew-Treadway and his special situation. If we subtract out the only walk on, punter Melvin we have 12 scholarship seniors so who is on the way out?

13 guys listed as RS seniors or seniors, and one is a new transfer (kicker from UConn).

19 guys listed as RS juniors or juniors, plus MDT who has two years of eligibility.


So I agree with you 33 guys. Out of 85 scholarship players that's 61% FR/SO. Out of 105 total roster players (I think that's maximum for fall camp) that's 68% FR/SO.


Who knows
 

Somebody help me with the Fleck-math. For this fall I count 33 of 99 roster players as seniors or juniors. If it was really 80%, may be unprecedented in college football. There are 13 seniors listed and I didn’t count Dew-Treadway and his special situation. If we subtract out the only walk on, punter Melvin we have 12 scholarship seniors so who is on the way out?

Only one person understands Fleck Math. What I have learned tho is that any mistakes are unintentional, honest mixups, or “marketing speak”. Why should anyone care that the 80% statement is just flat out false?
Par for the course with PJ.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Well, even if he intentionally meant to mislead the listening audience on that particular stat .... meh. I guess I don’t really care if he tells people we have 95% underclassmen, if he then wins games.
 

Thanks, shorty. Keep rowing the boat and take care of that ticker.
 



Somebody help me with the Fleck-math. For this fall I count 33 of 99 roster players as seniors or juniors. If it was really 80%, may be unprecedented in college football. There are 13 seniors listed and I didn’t count Dew-Treadway and his special situation. If we subtract out the only walk on, punter Melvin we have 12 scholarship seniors so who is on the way out?

No love for the punter?
 

So who do you reckon is the 12th player PJ eluded to that they were working on who could commit very soon?


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Only one person understands Fleck Math. What I have learned tho is that any mistakes are unintentional, honest mixups, or “marketing speak”. Why should anyone care that the 80% statement is just flat out false?
Par for the course with PJ.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Face it, you don’t know that the 80% is inaccurate. Perhaps there are some upper class men leaving, that neither you or I know about. Wait till we see the fall roster before calling PJ a liar.
 

Face it, you don’t know that the 80% is inaccurate. Perhaps there are some upper class men leaving, that neither you or I know about. Wait till we see the fall roster before calling PJ a liar.

I miss the days when Spoofin (aka Pat Reusse from the Star Trib) was gone and not constantly posting his rips on Fleck.
 


Face it, you don’t know that the 80% is inaccurate. Perhaps there are some upper class men leaving, that neither you or I know about. Wait till we see the fall roster before calling PJ a liar.

It’s inaccurate. The roster would need to be trimmed to 17 seniors and juniors (33 now) to make it a true statement. I don’t even want to calculate how many walk ons would be necessary - a lot is sufficient.

We’re going to keep ridiculing statements like this because a) dumb b) insulting c) totally unnecessary.
 

Guys, I'm at a point now where I really, truly don't care what Fleck says. I care about the team's record. If the team wins, Fleck can say the sky is green and grass is blue. I may not like it, but it's secondary to the team's performance. Fleck is not being paid $3+ million to talk. He's being paid to coach.

And - for the record - I reserve the right to question or criticize coaching decisions. That matters. Fleck saying "elite" 210 times a day doesn't really matter. It may bug me, but a lot of things bug me. My boss not being willing to fix broken computers bugs the sh*t out of me. And my boss is a Nebraska fan. I think the two things are connected.
 

If Fleck sticks around, these next few years of Gopher football will be the most exciting people around these parts have seen since the 60’s (if not more exciting).


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If Fleck sticks around, these next few years of Gopher football will be the most exciting people around these parts have seen since the 60’s (if not more exciting).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's been exciting teams since then...how about most successful?
 

I miss the days when Spoofin (aka Pat Reusse from the Star Trib) was gone and not constantly posting his rips on Fleck.

Why- because in this (and many) situation he’s completely correct. It would be a national story for us to be 80% underclassmen this fall. Even if PJ means 80% of roster players we would have to have an exodus of 12 upperclassmen to reach that level. I like PJ for what he does for the kids from a personal growth as well as player improvement standpoint but only those who have the most pj-tinted glasses can believe everything that he states.


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Face it, you don’t know that the 80% is inaccurate. Perhaps there are some upper class men leaving, that neither you or I know about. Wait till we see the fall roster before calling PJ a liar.

You’re really not a smart individual.


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I miss the days when Spoofin (aka Pat Reusse from the Star Trib) was gone and not constantly posting his rips on Fleck.

You should be bothered by the nonsense and falsehoods your coach & AD uses frequently rather than being bothered by someone telling the truth because you don’t like what you hear.


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It’s inaccurate. The roster would need to be trimmed to 17 seniors and juniors (33 now) to make it a true statement. I don’t even want to calculate how many walk ons would be necessary - a lot is sufficient.

We’re going to keep ridiculing statements like this because a) dumb b) insulting c) totally unnecessary.

Oh no a college football coached said something completely meaningless.

The PJ Fleck is Liar Club won’t stand for this type of insulting behavior.
 
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Oh no a college football coached said something completely meaningless.

The PJ Fleck is Liar Club won’t stand for this type of insulting behavior.

Everyone including yours truly uses “social smoothing” fibs, ie “best day of my life”, you look great”, “happy to see you” and coaches everywhere talk up their opponents “well coached”, “very talented” among many, many others designed to further sportsmanship and graciousness but what is far less common or socially acceptable is to make factual fibs presumedly to further an agenda or sell a product. Would it be ok to say we gained 800 yards if it was only 450, or scored 12 touchdowns instead of 5? Won 13 out of 12 games? I don’t know, I guess.
 

You should be bothered by the nonsense and falsehoods your coach & AD uses frequently rather than being bothered by someone telling the truth because you don’t like what you hear.


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I miss the days when Spoofin (aka Pat Reusse from the Star Trib) was gone and not constantly preaching to everyone about what they should thnk and do.
 

Fleck was a social studies teacher I believe. Not a math teacher.
 

You’re really not a smart individual.


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I am a lot of things but dumb is not one used. I am certain that a) I have far more experience than you when it comes to all phases of coaching football and b) more common sense.
 




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