PJ Fleck Interview new - Sunday 10-20-19

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Gopher Football Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO radio.

Sid: Slow Start. But you got it going.
PJ: we've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. we started fast on defense. the offense took a while to get in rhythm. they did some different things on defense that we had to adjust to. on offense, we had two opportunities we didn't capitalize on. Kirk did a good job adjusting. Our Defense was lights out. Take-aways. INT for a TD. Philip Howard, moved from WR to DB, he's given us good minutes. Special teams played well

Sid: You have 3 or 4 guys who might be drafted.
PJ: We feel like we need to recruit and develop NFL players at a high level. we think we have a lot of players who will be drafted, play in NFL. Look at our Senior Class, what they've gone through.

Sid: Rodney Smith
PJ: such a veteran. he's learned so much. I've had him for 3 years, he's grown up so much in that time. love the style, the way he runs.

Max: their QB was inexperienced. When preparing, do you look a lot at their experience at QB in terms of mixing it up on defense?
PJ: we look at how we're able to defense them. If there isn't a lot of film on the QB, you may have to watch his HS film. we thought there were things they were going to do. Put Pacheco at Wildcat. when you have a coach that is fired, now you've got an interim coach putting things together. each week might try something a little bit different. you have to prepare for ghosts. it makes in-game adjustments difficult. coaches have to work hard through entire game. Joe Rossi did a great job.

Mona: Kamal Martin? // emotional moment with Casey O'Brien.
PJ: no update on Martin. in the long-term, he's going to be OK. he walked off the bus. he said he felt good. the trainers felt good. that doesn't mean that everything's ok. we'll have to follow his progress. // Casey - not many stories where football can stop for a little while for life. One of the greatest young men I've ever met. One of the most inspiring. He's beaten cancer 4 times. His ultimate dream was to play college FB. First time he walked in my office, he said "I'm going to play for you." We had a lot of work to do before we could put him on the field. look at the way it turned out, with his parents being there and Casey being a captain yesterday.

Sid: Morgan gets better every week.
PJ: Kirk keeps challenging him every day in practice. Working hard to make him great, make him a special player. Kirk is pushing him every day. we as coaches see the progress. learning to take his game to a different level.

Max: Morgan had to be patient. How do you counsel kids through that, when they don't know when their opportunity comes?
PJ: it's 2019. you've got transfers, the portal, "I'm leaving." that's our world. I've known him for 5 years. I knew his time would come. to go through your career without injury is almost impossible. when you get that opportunity, what you do with it is up to you. he was ready for his opportunity. We feel we have 4 good QB's who are all young. Tanner is a very faith-based person. He keeps his oar in the water, keeps rowing the boat.

Mona: Looks like you're 4-deep at TE. Spann-Ford and Witham blocked fantastic. // Winfield named 1st-team pre-season All-American at safety
PJ: Paulson, Kieft did not play. they'll be back next week. Gave Spann-Ford and Witham a chance to show what they could do. Breyvn is still really young. He's very advanced as a receiver, but with blocking, he's still got to mature. Bryce is a veteran, stepped in. didn't miss beat

Sid: Johnson. who's better than him?
PJ: we have a really good core of receivers. Tyler, Bateman, Bell, our TE's, Douglas. I don't know who to compare them to. Tyler -that allows him to be the best. the other team can't cover just one guy. part of our becoming a complete team. //Forgot to talk about Winfield. He's a special player. Our Safeties coach is developing him into one of the premier safeties in the country. he's always in the right spot. always affecting the game. that's partly on the player, and partly from the right coaching. Winfield is one of those young men who's really special. after the game, he was on the phone with his Dad. one of these days, it will be turned around. He won't be Antoine Winfield SR's son - Antoine Sr will be his Dad.

Max: Maryland lost. WI upset. when you get done with a game, do you spend time perusing B1G, or do you only look at Maryland?
PJ: When you're on the bus or the plane, it's fun to check scores. we're all fans at heart. like to peruse scores. check other places where you have friends. But our focus is on Maryland. the season doesn't go past next Saturday. Maryland is a dangerous football team. They can score 70-some points. they have explosive play-makers. they're very talented.

Mona: 1st 7-0 Gopher team since Pearl Harbor. You learned the score of WI game before you kicked off, and told the team?
PJ: I did tell our team. people talk about trap games. I don't think trap games exist unless you let them happen. that's what can happen when things from the outside come into your walls. it can happen any given Saturday. that's why you have to be at your best at all times.

Sid: did you expect Morgan to be this good?
PJ: we recruited him, offered him a Scholarship. when we were at WMU, we felt we were getting a steal. We felt we would have a special player at some point. He brings calmness to a hostile situation. his intangibles are off the roof. His QB attributes are starting to take over.

Sid: Fantastic coaching job. Murray's. Tickets available for next game. got to sell the place out at least one time.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
 




Great to see Spann-Ford getting some extensive playing time but you have to wonder how much missing Paulson and Kieft slowed down the Gophers running game, and offense in general.

Nice work, SON!
 


Great to see Spann-Ford getting some extensive playing time but you have to wonder how much missing Paulson and Kieft slowed down the Gophers running game, and offense in general.

Nice work, SON!

Does anybody know the nature of their injuries? More importantly, how long will they be out?
 

Does anybody know the nature of their injuries? More importantly, how long will they be out?

Mona: Looks like you're 4-deep at TE. Spann-Ford and Witham blocked fantastic. // Winfield named 1st-team pre-season All-American at safety
PJ: Paulson, Kieft did not play. they'll be back next week.
 





Does anybody know the nature of their injuries? More importantly, how long will they be out?

Paulson j think has been dealing with a shoulder injury and almost positive Ko was concussed on the opening 2nd half kickoff against NE. Absolutely crushed a guy.


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The Winfield Sr’s son vs. Winfield Jr’s dad comment is pretty cool and subtle example of Fleck’s personality without using his mantras. I’m sold.


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Thanks Son! Very hopeful about Martin. Perhaps a couple weeks off.
 





Thanks SON


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