Excitement/interest for next season

How has your excitement/interest level for next season change with the PJ Fleck hire?

  • +10

    Votes: 58 42.3%

  • +5

    Votes: 52 38.0%

  • 0

    Votes: 10 7.3%

  • -5

    Votes: 12 8.8%

  • -10

    Votes: 5 3.6%
  • Total voters
    137
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Very excited for next year. Can't understand all the Debby Downer's (or Fleck haters) who think that he and his staff will be so incompetent that they can't replace the Mitch Leidner of the 2016 season. Unlike the Mitch of the 2015 season, this season's Mitch was virtually never good. Take out the Indiana State game and he might have had 4-5 good Quarters all year!

Anybody who was down on the QB performance for 2016, which should be every Gopher fan in America, should expect a much better QB performance this year.

Trolls and haters are the only ones pretending that they aren't.
 

I am at a +5.

I thought Claeys did a good job, but it's nice having our coaching situation figured out. Dipping our toes in last year was annoying (especially since it didn't matter what happened on the field). I'm skeptically excited to see if there are big changes in recruiting. I also expect us to be pretty darn good next season. I don't understand how anyone expects a "so-so" season next year. We are bringing back as much/more talent than last year, our schedule isn't too tough, anything under 7 regular season wins is a disappointment. I know, it's Gopherhole bizarro world where the people who like Fleck the most expect him to do the worst.


So, I'm excited. It's something new. We have some structure going forward.
 

Iceland12 said:
Very excited for next year. Can't understand all the Debby Downer's (or Fleck haters) who think that he and his staff will be so incompetent that they can't replace the Mitch Leidner of the 2016 season. Unlike the Mitch of the 2015 season, this season's Mitch was virtually never good. Take out the Indiana State game and he might have had 4-5 good Quarters all year!

Anybody who was down on the QB performance for 2016, which should be every Gopher fan in America, should expect a much better QB performance this year.

Trolls and haters are the only ones pretending that they aren't.
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I agree with all of this, except I think it's the Fleck lovers who are looking at the QB spot as a reason to reduce expectations, not haters.

I'm always excited for the new season, no matter how the last one went, so I'm a zero in the poll. I'll be excited next year, but no more (or less) than before. I love Fleck's recruiting zeal and it makes me excited for the future, but I think it will be a few years before we know if that zeal translates to wins. And while he can do whatever he wants with the offense and I'll trust him, I won't believe he's better on defense until I see it. It's a wash. We had a decent thing started; I hope we keep it going.
 

Iceland12 said:
Very excited for next year. Can't understand all the Debby Downer's (or Fleck haters) who think that he and his staff will be so incompetent that they can't replace the Mitch Leidner of the 2016 season. Unlike the Mitch of the 2015 season, this season's Mitch was virtually never good. Take out the Indiana State game and he might have had 4-5 good Quarters all year!

Anybody who was down on the QB performance for 2016, which should be every Gopher fan in America, should expect a much better QB performance this year.

Trolls and haters are the only ones pretending that they aren't.
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Agreed. Mitch had 4 TDs vs 11 INTS vs power 5 teams last year. He regressed badly under Johnson and while some of the blame goes to a lack of a good pass-catching tight end he habitually made poor decisions, most famously during the epic Wisconsin collapse. I will argue that most freshmen QBs could probably meet or surpass the low bar Mitch set in 2016. The receivers should benefit from Fleck and Simon and we should be better at TE. No reason to think we should be worse on O unless the line fails to develop.
 

Hates Monikers said:
I agree with all of this, except I think it's the Fleck lovers who are looking at the QB spot as a reason to reduce expectations, not haters.

I'm always excited for the new season, no matter how the last one went, so I'm a zero in the poll. I'll be excited next year, but no more (or less) than before. I love Fleck's recruiting zeal and it makes me excited for the future, but I think it will be a few years before we know if that zeal translates to wins. And while he can do whatever he wants with the offense and I'll trust him, I won't believe he's better on defense until I see it. It's a wash. We had a decent thing started; I hope we keep it going.
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Bingo. They hammered ML's performance all season, then point to losing him as a huge concern once Fleck got hired.

There's a great article on how Fleck's passing offense is designed to set the QB up for a high probability for success with easy reads from pre-snap movement out of spread formations. I'm not concerned that he'll get what he needs out of the QB position this year.
 


The problem with my response is this: I am a hopeless Gopher fan. Win triumphantly or lose terribly, I will always look towards tomorrow for a better day, team. Thus, my anticipation every Spring is always high. Fleck HAS increased it, but either way I'm counting down until the Spring game! RAH!
 

PMWinSTP said:
Bingo. They hammered ML's performance all season, then point to losing him as a huge concern once Fleck got hired.

There's a great article on how Fleck's passing offense is designed to set the QB up for a high probability for success with easy reads from pre-snap movement out of spread formations. I'm not concerned that he'll get what he needs out of the QB position this year.
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If Leidner was all they are losing, then some of you would have a point. The changes in offense are not that drastic, everyone is trying to get the ball in the hands of their play makers. The problem is the Gophers have so few of them outside of RB.

Right now Rhoda would be the most likely to start and he couldn't beat out Leidner. He completed 50% of his passes for 88 yards the one game he played. Very Leidner like.

Even with the poor QB play they lose a WR who had the best season of any Gopher WR since Eric Decker. They lose their two best offensive lineman off of a very average to below average offensive line. They have young guys behind them but how good are they? A number of them came in at the same time as Moore, but Moore played and they didn't. Claeys was still recruiting Juco OL for a reason.

They lose two solid DL, but have should still have a solid starters. Depth is nearly non-existent, which is why Fleck has been going after DT's like crazy. They'll be fine at LB.

They will likely lose their entire starting secondary, including two players who will play in the NFL, and much of the depth that was also there. Yeah other colleges lose players every year, but many of them have upperclassmen to step into starting roles that were left. The Gophers could be relying on a number of true freshman at key positions next year. Let's not pretend all they are losing is Leidner.
 

With all spring to work on things I would expect our QB to be Tanner Morgan, unless Seth Green is still with the team.
 

#2Gopher said:
I really believe the new facilities will help with recruiting. As much as I don't like to get into an arm's race over facilities. We had to do something and it will make a difference.
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I think we need more global warming to get better recruits from the south to come up to the frozen tundra!
 



Offensively, I have a feeling we will be better than we were last year. Our new QB will be equal to what we are replacing in Leidner when it comes to stats with less int's, because I think Coach Fleck and Carrocca will be able to coach them up on that side of the ball. Leadership from that person will be less, but over the course of the year whoever the QB happens to be will develop in that leadership role.
Our running game will be the same if not better. Rodney and Shannon will be even better than they were last year. OL does have to replace a couple spots, but the FR and R-FR should be able to fill in to those spots. They were some talented OL coming out of HS and I see no reason to believe that they can't find 2 to step into the starting roles and a few other to provide depth.
WR will be better, because the offense and QB will look to spread the ball around more, rather than focusing in on one target, which ML was known for the past two seasons. Getting Lingen back next year will really help out as well.
Defensively, DL should be better on the interior and close to the same on the outside. Devers has a year in the weight room that should really help him.
LB play should be even better than last year. losing Lynn is tough, but with Coughlin, Martin, Cashman, Huff, Barber having another year of experience will make this group deep and very talented.
Both of the DL and LB play can help with the suspect secondary that we will be starting the year with. Tough to replace all that we lose or could potentially lose back there, but I think they will be able to find enough bodies to make it work. Early in the year, pass D will struggle, but as they grow more comfortable back there, I believe they can be ok. That area will be see a drop off from previous seasons, especially early.
Looking forward to the season and believe that we can continue the upward trend in the BIG that has taken place the past 6 years.
Ski-U-Mah!!!
 

Let me be clear - Fleck may be a very good coach. He may be (probably is) a better recruiter than Claeys. Claeys was a good X's & O's coach, so Fleck will need his coordinators to come through. When you take style out of the equation, the change in coaches is probably a net plus for the program.

BUT - and this is a personal thing - Fleck's style just turns me off. I hate the over-the-top antics, slogans, catch phrases and all the shtick. I'm already at a point where I never want to hear "elite" or "row the (bleepin') boat" again.

If he was coaching another team (like WI or IA), I suspect a lot of people on this board would be ridiculing Fleck instead of praising him.

So - to sum up - I can't say I'm more excited about the 2017 season. More like apprehensive. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.
 

I'm pretty excited for next year and the future. I enjoyed the 2016 season and even went to two road games, but our plans to attend the bowl game went away with the boycott (no one had the appetite for the bowl game after that).
A change had to be made for us to renew and our group is very excited for the future. I will be okay with a slightly worse record in 2017 in exchange for a better performing team (mainly offense) going forward.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Agreed. Mitch had 4 TDs vs 11 INTS vs power 5 teams last year. He regressed badly under Johnson and while some of the blame goes to a lack of a good pass-catching tight end he habitually made poor decisions, most famously during the epic Wisconsin collapse. I will argue that most freshmen QBs could probably meet or surpass the low bar Mitch set in 2016. The receivers should benefit from Fleck and Simon and we should be better at TE. No reason to think we should be worse on O unless the line fails to develop.
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I would throw in a little Adam Weber treatment. IIRC Adam had four OC's in five years. Mitch didn't have as many, but he had two or more. Though the offensive looked about the same, it appeared that reads, etc were different.
 




GopherWeatherGuy said:
If Leidner was all they are losing, then some of you would have a point. The changes in offense are not that drastic, everyone is trying to get the ball in the hands of their play makers. The problem is the Gophers have so few of them outside of RB.

Right now Rhoda would be the most likely to start and he couldn't beat out Leidner. He completed 50% of his passes for 88 yards the one game he played. Very Leidner like.

Even with the poor QB play they lose a WR who had the best season of any Gopher WR since Eric Decker. They lose their two best offensive lineman off of a very average to below average offensive line. They have young guys behind them but how good are they? A number of them came in at the same time as Moore, but Moore played and they didn't. Claeys was still recruiting Juco OL for a reason.

They lose two solid DL, but have should still have a solid starters. Depth is nearly non-existent, which is why Fleck has been going after DT's like crazy. They'll be fine at LB.

They will likely lose their entire starting secondary, including two players who will play in the NFL, and much of the depth that was also there. Yeah other colleges lose players every year, but many of them have upperclassmen to step into starting roles that were left. The Gophers could be relying on a number of true freshman at key positions next year. Let's not pretend all they are losing is Leidner.
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The response was specifically in relation to the QB position from the post.

As for the rest, teams lose key players every year. People were concerned when players like Hageman, Cobb, BBC, Maye, a majority of the OL left, etc., etc., in recent past years. I've said it in many other posts...over the past 3-4 years, Gophs have had holes to fill and talented players on the roster stepped up and in to fill the voids. Iowa and Neb have much bigger challenges at QB, and Iowa lost pretty much all its skill position players on offense.
 

PMWinSTP said:
The response was specifically in relation to the QB position from the post.

As for the rest, teams lose key players every year. People were concerned when players like Hageman, Cobb, BBC, Maye, a majority of the OL left, etc., etc., in recent past years. I've said it in many other posts...over the past 3-4 years, Gophs have had holes to fill and talented players on the roster stepped up and in to fill the voids. Iowa and Neb have much bigger challenges at QB, and Iowa lost pretty much all its skill position players on offense.
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Like I already mentioned in my post, most teams have upperclassmen that step into the voids left by SRs. These are players that were solid contributors in the past. We don't have that at QB, OL, DB, and a lack of talent at WR.

Pretty much everyone knew Wolitarsky was going to be the leading receiver this year. Who is it going to be next year? Still or Eric Carter? They haven't exactly produced at a high level. We knew we had Myrick and Travis coming back to help replace Murray and BBC, who is it going to be next year? A bunch of Freshman?

We have 1 QB on the roster who started 1 game and he was originally a walk on. Who's going to replace Moore and Pirsig? Likely someone who has played very little or not at all at those positions. There's talent on this team but there is a lack of depth and experience at a number of key positions.
 

Fleck was a three run home run hire and has come into a perfect situation. To advance up the food chain we need better recruiting, an upgraded offense, and we need to put butts in the seats. He is the guy to do all three. He will have our beautiful stadium and sparkling new practice facilities to sell.
If he fails, perhaps the curse of the Essen House stein is legit. The Golden Gophers got the hot coach!
Enjoy this while we can.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Like I already mentioned in my post, most teams have upperclassmen that step into the voids left by SRs. These are players that were solid contributors in the past. We don't have that at QB, OL, DB, and a lack of talent at WR.

Pretty much everyone knew Wolitarsky was going to be the leading receiver this year. Who is it going to be next year? Still or Eric Carter? They haven't exactly produced at a high level. We knew we had Myrick and Travis coming back to help replace Murray and BBC, who is it going to be next year? A bunch of Freshman?

We have 1 QB on the roster who started 1 game and he was a walk on. Who's going to replace Moore and Pirsig? Likely someone who has played very little or not at all at those positions. There's talent on this team but there is a lack of depth and experience at a number of key positions.
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KJ Maye had a combined total of 34 catches his first three years. Players do progress and get better, it really does happen. I suggest you go look at the O-Line players and see how many non-starters consistently played throughout last year. Rotated a lot of players through on both O-Line and D-Line.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:
Just wondering if people are more excited/interested for next season or less with the coaching change.
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PJ is all talk!!! He doesn't truly believe that he can win with players from this area. He is looking to get MAC level players from other states to come to Minnesota. He seems to believe that MAC level players from other states are better than area D1 recruits!!!
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I am at a +5.

I thought Claeys did a good job, but it's nice having our coaching situation figured out. Dipping our toes in last year was annoying (especially since it didn't matter what happened on the field). I'm skeptically excited to see if there are big changes in recruiting. I also expect us to be pretty darn good next season. I don't understand how anyone expects a "so-so" season next year. We are bringing back as much/more talent than last year, our schedule isn't too tough, anything under 7 regular season wins is a disappointment. I know, it's Gopherhole bizarro world where the people who like Fleck the most expect him to do the worst.


So, I'm excited. It's something new. We have some structure going forward.
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I think 7 wins is a realistic goal. We have a few chicken littles running around for sure. Conversely, we have the Fleck haters/Clays apologists who say we should win more games. That's equally ludicrous. If Claeys had stayed most would be saying expect about 7-5 this year. We also need to see who is on the team and who signs as well. There is only so much you can "expect" at this exact moment.
 

PMWinSTP said:
KJ Maye had a combined total of 34 catches his first three years. Players do progress and get better, it really does happen. I suggest you go look at the O-Line players and see how many non-starters consistently played throughout last year. Rotated a lot of players through on both O-Line and D-Line.
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KJ Maye always had the talent, but struggled to stay healthy, he was always nicked up. He finally did his SR year. Not worried about the starters on the D-Line, but if they lose a DT or two to injury, they are in trouble with little depth. Every year we've said the O-Line will get better with new players the following year, but the offensive line has been sub-par for years. They need a talent upgrade there.
 

speedkills said:
PJ is all talk!!! He doesn't truly believe that he can win with players from this area. He is looking to get MAC level players from other states to come to Minnesota. He seems to believe that MAC level players from other states are better than area D1 recruits!!!
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What does this even mean?
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
KJ Maye always had the talent, he couldn't stay healthy. He finally did his SR year. Not worried about the starters on the D-Line, but if they lose a DT or two to injury, they are in trouble with little depth. Every year we've said the O-Line will get better with new players the following year, but the offensive line has been sub-par for years. They need a talent upgrade there.
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What? How so? Played in every game each of his four years.
 

speedkills said:
PJ is all talk!!! He doesn't truly believe that he can win with players from this area. He is looking to get MAC level players from other states to come to Minnesota. He seems to believe that MAC level players from other states are better than area D1 recruits!!!
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Speed kills? Your post kills badly. What does it mean?
 


PMWinSTP said:
What? How so? Played in every game each of his four years.
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Sports hernia early in his sophomore year and said he should have taken a medical redshirt. http://www.startribune.com/kj-maye-went-from-setbacks-to-stardom-to-finish-gophers-career/354140511/

You could always see the talent with Maye he just had to put it together. I thought maybe Eric Carter could be the same way but he just hasn't gotten it done. Rashad Still runs like Bambi on ice and I'm not convinced Johnson will stick at WR. Just not a lot to be excited about at WR next year outside of the true Freshman.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Sports hernia early in his sophomore year and said he should have taken a medical redshirt. http://www.startribune.com/kj-maye-went-from-setbacks-to-stardom-to-finish-gophers-career/354140511/

You could always see the talent with Maye he just had to put it together. I thought maybe Eric Carter could be the same way but he just hasn't gotten it done. Rashad Still runs like Bambi on ice and I'm not convinced Johnson will stick at WR. Just not a lot to be excited about at WR next year outside of the true Freshman.
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That's what you define as unable to stay healthy? I think Still has always had talent and somehow has not been able to put it together...not quite aggressive enough going after balls. KJ was pretty much the same way until his senior year, and then he was fearless. I don't see Johnson changing positions and see him as another who has the talent to step up this year.
 


speedkills said:
It means PJ believes that a 3 star kid from Michigan is better than a 5 star kid from Minnesota, just because he played better competition in high school!!!
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Yeah that's crazy can't believe PJ thinks that
 


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