PJ Fleck Appreciation Post - Discipline

Gopher Gildy

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Hello fellow GHers,

I just wanted to state my appreciation for having a head coach that preaches DISCIPLINE to his players. I did some basic research, and, not to my surprise, I found that our Fleck-coached Gophers teams simply do not commit many penalties. In other words, we don’t beat ourselves. Here’s a look at our national rank in average penalty yards/game:

2017 (Fleck year 1): 1st in country, only 28.3 penalty yards per game

2018 (Fleck year 2): 6th in country, 39.1 penalty yards per game

2019 (Fleck year 3, through 7 games): 11th in country, 42 yards per game

I think this is a fantastic trend that I hope will continue - I’ve watched enough CFB to know that bone-headed penalties can swing the momentum of a game. As a season-ticket holder, these games are so much fun to watch when you know the head coach will have his players ready to play with heart and high levels of discipline. Any thoughts? I never played this sport competitively, am I over-stating the importance of playing largely penalty-free football?


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The “trend” is that the penalty yards are getting worse albeit still admirable according to your data!


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What were our numbers under Kill/Claeys/Brewster/Mason? I agree it has felt like we have less penalties under Fleck, but I wonder what the data says the difference is.
 

Hello fellow GHers,

I just wanted to state my appreciation for having a head coach that preaches DISCIPLINE to his players. I did some basic research, and, not to my surprise, I found that our Fleck-coached Gophers teams simply do not commit many penalties. In other words, we don’t beat ourselves. Here’s a look at our national rank in average penalty yards/game:

2017 (Fleck year 1): 1st in country, only 28.3 penalty yards per game

2018 (Fleck year 2): 6th in country, 39.1 penalty yards per game

2019 (Fleck year 3, through 7 games): 11th in country, 42 yards per game

I think this is a fantastic trend that I hope will continue - I’ve watched enough CFB to know that bone-headed penalties can swing the momentum of a game. As a season-ticket holder, these games are so much fun to watch when you know the head coach will have his players ready to play with heart and high levels of discipline. Any thoughts? I never played this sport competitively, am I over-stating the importance of playing largely penalty-free football?


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Fresno game is definitely pulling us down a bit, with 65 yards in that game.

Since Big Ten play started we are at 36 yards a game, which is pretty close to what we did last year.
 

All I know is if you create a dumb penalty (Durr?), you get to sit on the bench and think about it.

A more important note is both the offense and defense are playing together as a well oiled machine. There is no "I" in team with the current Gophers. The more experienced players seem to have maintain team leadership and team discipline on and off the field.
 


What were our numbers under Kill/Claeys/Brewster/Mason? I agree it has felt like we have less penalties under Fleck, but I wonder what the data says the difference is.

Year - YPG - Rank
2000 - 63.55 - 72
2001 - 46.55 - 18
2002 - 44.38 - 18
2003 - 50.62 - 38
2004 - 38.92 - 8
2005 - 50.58 - 35
2006 - 43.85 - 38
2007 - 41.83 - 8
2008 - 53.46 - 75
2009 - 52.15 - 59
2010 - 43.08 - 27
2011 - 49.42 - 59
2012 - 50.23 - 46
2013 - 36.08 - 16
2014 - 46.54 - 41
2015 - 45.46 - 29
2016 - 57.15 - 80
2017 - 28.33 - 1
2018 - 39.08 - 5
2019 - 42.00 - 11
 

Year - YPG - Rank
2000 - 63.55 - 72
2001 - 46.55 - 18
2002 - 44.38 - 18
2003 - 50.62 - 38
2004 - 38.92 - 8
2005 - 50.58 - 35
2006 - 43.85 - 38
2007 - 41.83 - 8
2008 - 53.46 - 75
2009 - 52.15 - 59
2010 - 43.08 - 27
2011 - 49.42 - 59
2012 - 50.23 - 46
2013 - 36.08 - 16
2014 - 46.54 - 41
2015 - 45.46 - 29
2016 - 57.15 - 80
2017 - 28.33 - 1
2018 - 39.08 - 5
2019 - 42.00 - 11

So, under Fleck we've had our best, second best, and currently on pace for our 5th best years since 2000.
 





What were our numbers under Kill/Claeys/Brewster/Mason? I agree it has felt like we have less penalties under Fleck, but I wonder what the data says the difference is.

Perhaps the bigger difference IMO is Fleck teams can recover from a penalty.

Kill era if someone got a false start on 1st down, it felt like the drive was effectively OVER.
 

Perhaps the bigger difference IMO is Fleck teams can recover from a penalty.

Kill era if someone got a false start on 1st down, it felt like the drive was effectively OVER.

Keeping penalties to a minimum is huge especially on the offensive side. I know teams like FSU during their prime would often lead the ACC in penalties, but it was likely due to having a hyper aggressive and talented defense. They didn't mind sacrificing the occasional offsides or late hit to wreak havoc on the QB.
 

If you ignore targeting penalties, though, that year was probably more like 27.15/game.

Take away Duke M and we’d have been top 10.!


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If you ignore targeting penalties, though, that year was probably more like 27.15/game.

Ha - you beat me to it. Those were some ridiculous calls.
 

Perhaps the bigger difference IMO is Fleck teams can recover from a penalty.

Kill era if someone got a false start on 1st down, it felt like the drive was effectively OVER.
It pretty much was. Cringed whenever we had a second or third and long situation with Leidner at the helm. Thank God those days are behind us.

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Year - YPG - Rank
2000 - 63.55 - 72
2001 - 46.55 - 18
2002 - 44.38 - 18
2003 - 50.62 - 38
2004 - 38.92 - 8
2005 - 50.58 - 35
2006 - 43.85 - 38
2007 - 41.83 - 8
2008 - 53.46 - 75
2009 - 52.15 - 59
2010 - 43.08 - 27
2011 - 49.42 - 59
2012 - 50.23 - 46
2013 - 36.08 - 16
2014 - 46.54 - 41
2015 - 45.46 - 29
2016 - 57.15 - 80
2017 - 28.33 - 1
2018 - 39.08 - 5
2019 - 42.00 - 11

Strange thing with this is during what I’d consider our two worst years (2007 and 2017), we finished ranked 8th and 1st in the country for few penalty yards. I think I heard Fleck say last year that you don’t want to be first in the country in that category, as it likely means you’re not aggressive enough. I think he said the ideal spot would be around the top 15-20% of teams.
 

Take away Duke M and we’d have been top 10.!


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Lol, the “Iron Duke” was not only the powerplant for the stellar Chevrolet Citation but a high motor, heavy hitting, headhunting Georgian safety. They may have been a little...aggressive but those Claeys defenses flew to the ball carrier.
 

Year - YPG - Rank
2000 - 63.55 - 72
2001 - 46.55 - 18
2002 - 44.38 - 18
2003 - 50.62 - 38
2004 - 38.92 - 8
2005 - 50.58 - 35
2006 - 43.85 - 38
2007 - 41.83 - 8
2008 - 53.46 - 75
2009 - 52.15 - 59
2010 - 43.08 - 27
2011 - 49.42 - 59
2012 - 50.23 - 46
2013 - 36.08 - 16
2014 - 46.54 - 41
2015 - 45.46 - 29
2016 - 57.15 - 80
2017 - 28.33 - 1
2018 - 39.08 - 5
2019 - 42.00 - 11

2016 is quite the outlier. Not much discipline going on during that year
 




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