BleedGopher
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per Chip:
Fleck has not masked his enthusiasm for this team since last winter, coinciding with the "Encore Four" — Morgan, Mohamed Ibrahim, Chris Autman-Bell and John Michael Schmitz — announcing they would return for a sixth season.
Not often does a college football team feature a quarterback who could finish his career with 50-plus starts. Morgan had an eventful offseason in advance of his final season: He got married and his former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca returned to the program. That qualifies as a win-win.
Fleck has not had a better combination of coordinators in his tenure here than Ciarrocca and Joe Rossi. Two proven veterans whom Fleck can trust entirely in overseeing the offense and defense.
The offense will show more creativity under Ciarrocca, which is a low bar considering the run-pass balance last season paid homage to 1960s football.
Rossi's defense became one of the best statistically in college football last season, and he believes this unit can be even deeper with more versatility this season.
Fleck sees the "blueprint of how we should play" in his team. In Year 6, that should be the case. Everything feels more settled and stable, even as the conference undergoes a transformation.
The Gophers have risen to the level of being legitimate contenders in the West in recent years. Right there on the cusp but unable to break through and finish the job. That's the next step in the development of Fleck's program, to fill in that blank line on the résumé.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
Fleck has not masked his enthusiasm for this team since last winter, coinciding with the "Encore Four" — Morgan, Mohamed Ibrahim, Chris Autman-Bell and John Michael Schmitz — announcing they would return for a sixth season.
Not often does a college football team feature a quarterback who could finish his career with 50-plus starts. Morgan had an eventful offseason in advance of his final season: He got married and his former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca returned to the program. That qualifies as a win-win.
Fleck has not had a better combination of coordinators in his tenure here than Ciarrocca and Joe Rossi. Two proven veterans whom Fleck can trust entirely in overseeing the offense and defense.
The offense will show more creativity under Ciarrocca, which is a low bar considering the run-pass balance last season paid homage to 1960s football.
Rossi's defense became one of the best statistically in college football last season, and he believes this unit can be even deeper with more versatility this season.
Fleck sees the "blueprint of how we should play" in his team. In Year 6, that should be the case. Everything feels more settled and stable, even as the conference undergoes a transformation.
The Gophers have risen to the level of being legitimate contenders in the West in recent years. Right there on the cusp but unable to break through and finish the job. That's the next step in the development of Fleck's program, to fill in that blank line on the résumé.
Year 6 of P.J. Fleck's tenure brings all the elements for a successful Gophers title run
The Gophers have a real chance to win the West, just as the Big Ten's current divisional alignment is likely to change.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!