short ornery norwegian
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2011
- Messages
- 19,709
- Reaction score
- 13,438
- Points
- 113
Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO Radio with Sid, Dave and Max.
Sid: what can players do right now?
PJ: working out with the strength coach. they check in with position coach once a week. they're in the summer program. a lot of them have internships and are going to summer school. there's a lot going on.
Sid: 20 some players for 2020 recruiting class
PJ: we're not done yet. I hope we add some more soon. it's evolving. more people are excited about U of MN. recruiting is the lifeblood of any program. we want kids who believe MN is the best place for them. Want to get the best student athletes from the HS level. Not done yet - still a long way to go to February.
Sid: talk about some of the FR and Redshirts you think will help
PJ: it's really too hard to tell. some of the RS - Dunlap, Spann-Ford. newcomers - Gordon a LB, Nubin is a good athlete. lot of young players are very talented. we're getting a higher-caliber type of player to come to MN. in 2020 class, 2019 class as well. excited to see what they can do.
(Mona - Sid asks that question every week. laughs)
Mona: you mention Spann-Ford a lot. How do you see the role of TE?
PJ: in a perfect world, the TE is part of the horsepower. want to disperse more of the catches. get catches for WR, RB's TE. be more consistent. at TE, want to be able to bring in, develop those types of players. not equal, but getting closer. at WMU, the TE was more involved. now, with Paulson, Spann-Ford, Kieft, it gives us options. that's what you want to have. got to have depth. that's why our WR position is strong - we have depth there. got to have that from TE position.
Max: looking at recruits. do you have minimum standards? height, weight, 40 time?
PJ: I was always one of those guys who was under the threshold. there are always things you look for that fit your system, fit your league. One thing I learned about the B1G, you have to be big up front. have to be big and strong. nothing can compromise that - the number varies depending on the players' skill set. I don't put a number on it. If you're going to take a chance, in general you're going to look at the bigger person, taller person. it's all a hypothesis. recruiting is about organized guesses. nobody's 100% in recruiting. with the players, you have to see - are they going to get the most out of themselves?
Sid: will the FR QB's be in competition to start?
PJ: everyone is in competition. the 2 guys with the most experience - Tanner - he got into his role. Zach at the beginning of the season. the other two guys will be in the mix. they'll get a lot of reps in Training camp. it's an open competition. they all know that.
Mona: chance of seeing Faalele at RB?
PJ: probably pretty high. he's already done it. it's not something you'd use all the time. just never know when you might have a certain package. we're open to anything. it's not a joke. we look for different ways to use people -different personnel groupings, in order to give us an advantage.
Max: the FB - how is it used in your system?
PJ: everyone has 11 players on Offense. lot of people run the same concepts, just with different terminology. we've gone away from the FB. we did a little more at WMU at the start, but we got away from it. we'd rather find a TE who can put his hand on the ground, split out wide, be a little more athletic. we need to find ways to get them on field. does not mean that the FB is not valuable. in some packages, we can use the TE as a FB. but a true FB, we don't use much anymore
Sid: will the Defense be stronger?
PJ: we've got some guys on defense with more experience. Barber, Martin, Coughlin -they bring a lot of experience. they've got to be able to play their best football. need the younger guys to follow suit. still need to find some additions in secondary, and up front, to make sure those other guys can play the best football they can play.
Sid: lot of new ticket plans. they cut prices. be very cheap. get tickets early. good football team. Murray's.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
Sid: what can players do right now?
PJ: working out with the strength coach. they check in with position coach once a week. they're in the summer program. a lot of them have internships and are going to summer school. there's a lot going on.
Sid: 20 some players for 2020 recruiting class
PJ: we're not done yet. I hope we add some more soon. it's evolving. more people are excited about U of MN. recruiting is the lifeblood of any program. we want kids who believe MN is the best place for them. Want to get the best student athletes from the HS level. Not done yet - still a long way to go to February.
Sid: talk about some of the FR and Redshirts you think will help
PJ: it's really too hard to tell. some of the RS - Dunlap, Spann-Ford. newcomers - Gordon a LB, Nubin is a good athlete. lot of young players are very talented. we're getting a higher-caliber type of player to come to MN. in 2020 class, 2019 class as well. excited to see what they can do.
(Mona - Sid asks that question every week. laughs)
Mona: you mention Spann-Ford a lot. How do you see the role of TE?
PJ: in a perfect world, the TE is part of the horsepower. want to disperse more of the catches. get catches for WR, RB's TE. be more consistent. at TE, want to be able to bring in, develop those types of players. not equal, but getting closer. at WMU, the TE was more involved. now, with Paulson, Spann-Ford, Kieft, it gives us options. that's what you want to have. got to have depth. that's why our WR position is strong - we have depth there. got to have that from TE position.
Max: looking at recruits. do you have minimum standards? height, weight, 40 time?
PJ: I was always one of those guys who was under the threshold. there are always things you look for that fit your system, fit your league. One thing I learned about the B1G, you have to be big up front. have to be big and strong. nothing can compromise that - the number varies depending on the players' skill set. I don't put a number on it. If you're going to take a chance, in general you're going to look at the bigger person, taller person. it's all a hypothesis. recruiting is about organized guesses. nobody's 100% in recruiting. with the players, you have to see - are they going to get the most out of themselves?
Sid: will the FR QB's be in competition to start?
PJ: everyone is in competition. the 2 guys with the most experience - Tanner - he got into his role. Zach at the beginning of the season. the other two guys will be in the mix. they'll get a lot of reps in Training camp. it's an open competition. they all know that.
Mona: chance of seeing Faalele at RB?
PJ: probably pretty high. he's already done it. it's not something you'd use all the time. just never know when you might have a certain package. we're open to anything. it's not a joke. we look for different ways to use people -different personnel groupings, in order to give us an advantage.
Max: the FB - how is it used in your system?
PJ: everyone has 11 players on Offense. lot of people run the same concepts, just with different terminology. we've gone away from the FB. we did a little more at WMU at the start, but we got away from it. we'd rather find a TE who can put his hand on the ground, split out wide, be a little more athletic. we need to find ways to get them on field. does not mean that the FB is not valuable. in some packages, we can use the TE as a FB. but a true FB, we don't use much anymore
Sid: will the Defense be stronger?
PJ: we've got some guys on defense with more experience. Barber, Martin, Coughlin -they bring a lot of experience. they've got to be able to play their best football. need the younger guys to follow suit. still need to find some additions in secondary, and up front, to make sure those other guys can play the best football they can play.
Sid: lot of new ticket plans. they cut prices. be very cheap. get tickets early. good football team. Murray's.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
