PJ Fleck Interview new - Sunday 10-27-19

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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO Radio.

Sid: What's your schedule for bye week?
PJ: we've had it set for a while. give the players some time off. they need it. get ready for the 4-game stretch coming up. playing some rivalry games. facing ranked opponents. we've got to get healthy. have a health and wellness type week. something very new for us, different. get them ready mentally, physically, emotionally. coaches will go out recruiting Thurs, Fri, Sat. We'll get into our normal game week routine next Sunday.

Sid: how did you feel about game on Thursday? (huh?)
PJ: Thursday - the Vikings were awesome. Our game, we found a way to play well on offense, defense, special teams. I thought the offense started slow the previous week and the defense kept us in game. this week, the offense got going, and benefited from takeaways. Sori-Marin led us in tackles, Durr with the Pick 6, Winfield. We call it "Family room" defense. The Offense ran for over 300 yards. Receiving - Chris-Autman Bell, Johnson, Bateman, Douglas. wasn't just one guy. Potts. Ibrahim. Green 2 TD's. Rodney ran for over 100 yards. Shannon had the 2nd-most carries.

Mona: tip drill
PJ: you plan for some of those. we have a 'program' drill. the ball is the program. we work on tipped passes. Players ask sometimes "why are we working on this?" every team works on tipped balls. We found a way to make a play.

Max: Facing a team that's struggling, do you try to bring heat early. test opposing QB's?
PJ: that's our emphasis no matter who you're playing. last two weeks, people were talking about trap games, having a let-up. we don't believe in those things. we have 100% respect for all of our opponents. I'm not sure how many of them respect us. we game plan against who we're playing. we don't say this is an easier game, or a harder game.

Sid: healthy?
PJ: players do a good job taking care of their bodies. bye week lets us take a breath.

Mona: Goal line luncheon. Heather knocked it out of the park.
PJ: I told her she's going to be on the radio show, the TV show, speaking to you on Sunday. She'll be taking over all my media responsibilities. very proud of her. an advocate in the TC area. Huge heart. She's Wonder Woman. the things she does on a daily basis. helping to serve, give. Ronald Mc Donald House, Love Your Melon. RTB. be a mom to 125 football players, a mom to our 4 kids, and be a wife to me. That's not easy at times.

Sid: are there many better RB's than Smith?
PJ: Rodney over 100 yards. all-time leader in U of MN all-purpose yards. been here a long time, played a lot of football. leaving his stamp on the program. been able to stick it out, become better, grow, lead the culture. wants to finish strong.

Max: recruiting restrictions during bye week?
PJ: we'll go watch some games, be in some HS's. gather info from guidance counselors. get grade information. be sure players are up on their grades. it's a two-way bargain. players we recruit need to keep up their, grades, show progress in the classroom. do the right things off the field. we check up on that.

Mona: Recruiting - do you start looking at 10th graders? // Smith will go directly from playing to Social Security.
PJ: Rodney's been here a long time. has a wealth of knowledge. he helps to lead our young players. Recruiting - working on 2021 class. try to hold onto 2020. still have a few things moving around. go in and check everything. recruit 2020 class through signing day, then on to 2021, 2022. smoke coming out of the doors, they're working so hard. we work so far in advance.

Sid: have an extra week to prepare for next game.
PJ: Penn State has an extra week too. James Franklin is one of my best friends in the profession, one of the coaches I respect. one of top 5 coaches in country. Look what he did at Vanderbilt, Penn State. Special person, special coach. we have a lot to prepare for. He has a very talented FB team. wonderful match-up. this could be one of the biggest games in the modern history of Gopher football. happening in 2 weeks at TCF. we have a lot of things planned. game-day experience. ticket people. two weeks to try and make it one of the greatest game-day environments in college football.

Max: talk about gaining trust of players. what's most important thing to them? timetable?
PJ: honesty. consistency. authentic and real. If players find its not authentic and real, they're not in. It takes 18 months. year 1 leaks into year 2. Year 1 is the pouring of the foundation. year 2 is the hardening of the foundation. year 3 is the framework, you start building the house. year 1, some people are on the fence, might not be in. some might be all the way out. it takes time to find that out. It's about being yourself - that's what the players want. they can decide if that's what they want.

Mona: Gophers catching national attention. your name enters conversation for other coaching jobs.
PJ: I'm trying to make sure MN gets attention on national level. for our team, coaches, the state, the Twin Cities area. Heather and I love it here. we've very grateful to the Gopher fans, the administration. We've got a lot of things to finish here this year.

Sid: OL has improved this year
PJ: They've improved a lot. Coach Callahan deserves credit, and the players deserve credit. We have 6 starters. selfless. we rotate in the OL. we have a set rotation. Not everyone would do that, but it works for us.

Mona: never met coach who, when he had two weeks to prepare, didn't think about new wrinkles. are you working on anything?
PJ: I don't know. we've got two weeks. we'll game plan like a normal game. Try to find every advantage against that team that we can think of. Need to do everything first to get better as us, then start working toward Penn State.

Sid: Fantastic job. you and your staff have done the job. need to get the stadium packed. Murray's.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers. Skol Vikes.
 


Thanks SON! Can't wait for the next game!


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When asked about his name being in the mix for other coaching jobs. Feel very shaky about that response.


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When asked about his name being in the mix for other coaching jobs. Feel very shaky about that response.


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When he said this year that got my attention and left me wondering.
 


:clap: I still chuckle a little about remembering Rodney’s huge smile (and good save) after Sid asked him a mostly incoherent question at a post game years ago.

Sid: how did you feel about game on Thursday? (huh?)
PJ: Thursday - the Vikings were awesome. Our game, we found a way to play well on offense, defense, special teams. I thought the offense started slow the previous week and the defense kept us in game. this week, the offense got going, and benefited from takeaways. Sori-Marin led us in tackles, Durr with the Pick 6, Winfield. We call it "Family room" defense. The Offense ran for over 300 yards. Receiving - Chris-Autman Bell, Johnson, Bateman, Douglas. wasn't just one guy. Potts. Ibrahim. Green 2 TD's. Rodney ran for over 100 yards. Shannon had the 2nd-most carries.
 

When asked about his name being in the mix for other coaching jobs. Feel very shaky about that response.


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Didn't hear it live but honestly there really isn't a great way to answer a question like that that will satisfy everyone. All we can do is trust that he truly does love it here the way he says he does and hope the administration will do what needs to be done to make sure he doesn't have any reason to go somewhere else.

Fleck strikes me as more of a builder then a maintainer, the helmet schools are looking for someone that can come in and be a great fit from day one and win right away. I am not positive Fleck's style fits that mold. But again, no point speculating or worrying about any of that. Team is 8-0 with 4 huge regular season games to go and the potential for a few more after that if we keep doing what we are doing.
 


When asked about his name being in the mix for other coaching jobs. Feel very shaky about that response.


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Same here, but on the other hand even if he planned on staying indefinitely he may leave a little fear out there that he may leave, for negotiating leverage on a new contract.
 




When asked about his name being in the mix for other coaching jobs. Feel very shaky about that response.


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He's not going anywhere soon.

Sid with the bookend Bye week question...:rolleyes:
 

Same here, but on the other hand even if he planned on staying indefinitely he may leave a little fear out there that he may leave, for negotiating leverage on a new contract.

Correct. This is how this process works. When people create great things, they build leverage. And Smart people don't give up leverage for no reason.

Time to back up the truck. Do it and do it now.

Let's hope they extend him, and give him the $$$ he needs to build and maintain his assistant coaching staff.

Time to make the next step as program.
 

Didn't hear it live but honestly there really isn't a great way to answer a question like that that will satisfy everyone. All we can do is trust that he truly does love it here the way he says he does and hope the administration will do what needs to be done to make sure he doesn't have any reason to go somewhere else.

Fleck strikes me as more of a builder then a maintainer, the helmet schools are looking for someone that can come in and be a great fit from day one and win right away. I am not positive Fleck's style fits that mold. But again, no point speculating or worrying about any of that. Team is 8-0 with 4 huge regular season games to go and the potential for a few more after that if we keep doing what we are doing.

I didn't hear it either but he could have simply meant he is just concentrating on this season and isn't even thinking about anything else.
 




Thanks shorty. Got your leaves raked yet?

I was thinking more on the lines, Got your new snowblower yet?! Thanks Son, very well done! As to Fleck, yes I agree he isn't going anywhere yet. However we do need to get that sewed up.
 

Correct. This is how this process works. When people create great things, they build leverage. And Smart people don't give up leverage for no reason.

Time to back up the truck. Do it and do it now.

Let's hope they extend him, and give him the $$$ he needs to build and maintain his assistant coaching staff.

Time to make the next step as program.

This.

Fleck isn't going anywhere. Coyle will extend him for at least 5 and probably increase his salary and assistant pool $$ by 50%. That'll do. The facilities, situation, and upside at Minnesota are likely un-matchable almost anywhere else for a guy his age and with his family dynamic. Its the perfect situation for him. Pay the man and its his career job.
 




As always, thank you SON. At first glance I wasn't real fond of PJ's answer to stay here either, however he probably needs to be vague as a bargaining tool to get paid. If we lose PJ, shame on the lack of fan support, lack of institutional support and lack of money. Give the dude everything he needs to row his boat.
 

Thanks SON

This.

Fleck isn't going anywhere. Coyle will extend him for at least 5 and probably increase his salary and assistant pool $$ by 50%. That'll do. The facilities, situation, and upside at Minnesota are likely un-matchable almost anywhere else for a guy his age and with his family dynamic. Its the perfect situation for him. Pay the man and its his career job.

If he truly wants to stay here, give him the extension he wants. More importantly - take care of the assistant coaches and their families.

I don't know if Glenn Mason had the luxury of a large pool of money for his assistant coaches. He could have used that on a good Defensive Coordinator. During his day, the U wasn't spending money on athletics like they are doing today.
 

Thanks SON



If he truly wants to stay here, give him the extension he wants. More importantly - take care of the assistant coaches and their families.

I don't know if Glenn Mason had the luxury of a large pool of money for his assistant coaches. He could have used that on a good Defensive Coordinator. During his day, the U wasn't spending money on athletics like they are doing today.

This might do it, as we're in year three which is the framing of the house. Hopefully, PJ intends to stick around for finishing off the basement rec room and then building that gazebo out in back in ten years or so.
 

His answer on the national attention wasn't the most comforting nor does it need to be.
The U will either throw gobs of money at him or they won't.

The new U President is in the picture in this video taking in postgame.

Hard for her to say no to an extension.

 


Currently 62 threads being responded to from Midnight on into today. New excitement level!
 

His answer on the national attention wasn't the most comforting nor does it need to be.
The U will either throw gobs of money at him or they won't.

The new U President is in the picture in this video taking in postgame.

Hard for her to say no to an extension.


That was pretty cool. So many good things about the direction of the program moving forward.
 

Thanks SON. I really appreciate your effort. Rest your back now.


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