Fleck Post Game Press Conference

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kg21 said:
All coaches say the same bullshit in losses or sad seasons.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall, but I would hope he's in his office and looking at things with a what the hell is going here at qb and with this passing game. If not, he's a moron.
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Press conferences are not the place for relevant information 90% of time.
Occasionally you get a gem: Jim Mora, Allen Iverson, Burnsie and Denny😃
 

Marooned said:
Probably because he was being pursued by other programs. I believe in Fleck, but he needs to practice what he preaches and change his best. That starts with an OC change.
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Fleck's agent gets his name out there when there's a high profile opening. He's very good at his job, which is creating the perception that his client is a hot commodity. Realistically, there was almost a zero chance a big program would choose Fleck, especially midseason, but the agent was able to leverage the perception with Coyle anyway. He's *very* good at his job.
 

Fleck is a great recruiter and motivator. He is not a great football coach. TBH, this has been obvious since year one but is more obvious to some now that the honeymoon period is over. He also appears to not be good at hiring assistants.

He brings in more talent, good kids, kids you enjoy cheering for. But yelling “culture”, making up “firsts”, and claiming moral victories is all transparent and has its limits. It wears very thin by year 5. To the players too, I would bet. I was always very critical of PJ as his personality and mine don’t mix. Looking back, I was likely too critical. PJ has helped move this program forward and if he could hire decent assistants we could likely compete in an average BTW. At the same time, I was spot on about what PJ lacks and how the rah-rah has its limits.
 

Spoofin said:
Fleck is a great recruiter and motivator. He is not a great football coach. TBH, this has been obvious since year one but is more obvious to some now that the honeymoon period is over. He also appears to not be good at hiring assistants.

He brings in more talent, good kids, kids you enjoy cheering for. But yelling “culture”, making up “firsts”, and claiming moral victories is all transparent and has its limits. It wears very thin by year 5. To the players too, I would bet. I was always very critical of PJ as his personality and mine don’t mix. Looking back, I was likely too critical. PJ has helped move this program forward and if he could hire decent assistants we could likely compete in an average BTW. At the same time, I was spot on about what PJ lacks and how the rah-rah has its limits.
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That's why he's a good college coach. By the time the kids have heard enough, they should be graduating.

I think most of his coaching hires are good, but Sanford I'm afraid just doesn't have a clue.

A strength or a weakness for Fleck is his loyalty. He's tremendously loyal to his coaches and players, and that's hurting him this year probably.
 

Marooned said:
Probably because he was being pursued by other programs. I believe in Fleck, but he needs to practice what he preaches and change his best. That starts with an OC change.
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And let’s be real it was not that big of a salary increase and really only protects them from him leaving for the next couple of years. I have not seen the exact terms but hopefully there is more money for assistants so we can make some changes there.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Press conferences are not the place for relevant information 90% of time.
Occasionally you get a gem: Jim Mora, Allen Iverson, Burnsie and Denny😃
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Yeah, I really don't know what fans expect to hear sometimes in press conferences. If they are waiting for Fleck to go out and tear players or coaches apart it isn't going to happen.

And anyone that assumes that what is said at the press conference is exactly the same as what is said behind closed doors is a moron.
 

Face The Facts said:
That's why he's a good college coach. By the time the kids have heard enough, they should be graduating.

I think most of his coaching hires are good, but Sanford I'm afraid just doesn't have a clue.

A strength or a weakness for Fleck is his loyalty. He's tremendously loyal to his coaches and players, and that's hurting him this year probably.
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I agree. He’s a developmental coach trying to develop some 24-25 year olds. QB had 3years of development and then switched to a new OC and lost 2 pro WR’s.

Here is where he needs to grow.
1. Solutions needed at OC and Special Teams coordination
2. In game analytics. Understanding when to go for it and not.
3. two minute drills

If he looks to address these going into the future, the on field product will get better. No issues for me off the field.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I agree. He’s a developmental coach trying to develop some 24-25 year olds. QB had 3years of development and then switched to a new OC and lost 2 pro WR’s.

Here is where he needs to grow.
1. Solutions needed at OC and Special Teams coordination
2. In game analytics. Understanding when to go for it and not.
3. two minute drills

If he looks to address these going into the future, the on field product will get better. No issues for me off the field.
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Well said.

I hope Sanford moves on but if he is back the obsessive sideline checks have to stop. Start snapping the ball with 10-15 seconds on the play clock instead of 1 or 2 seconds most plays. Just looks so disjointed and frantic.

Watched some 2019 highlights and on most of the plays we were snapping it with 15+ seconds on the play clock, so Fleck hasn't always been hyper obsessed with bleeding the play clock on every single snap.

TOP is great but this check with me system and run around like crazy right up to the end of the play clock needs to go away.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah, I really don't know what fans expect to hear sometimes in press conferences. If they are waiting for Fleck to go out and tear players or coaches apart it isn't going to happen.

And anyone that assumes that what is said at the press conference is exactly the same as what is said behind closed doors is a moron.
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Ding, ding, ding. Come on, Fleck spends more time with the players and coaches than his family -- and more than any of us. He knows exactly who can handle what type of criticism and motivation in public and in private. Press conferences are stupid...that's why people like Belicheck have treated them as a joke all these years.

MaxyJR1 said:
I agree. He’s a developmental coach trying to develop some 24-25 year olds. QB had 3years of development and then switched to a new OC and lost 2 pro WR’s.

Here is where he needs to grow.
1. Solutions needed at OC and Special Teams coordination
2. In game analytics. Understanding when to go for it and not.
3. two minute drills

If he looks to address these going into the future, the on field product will get better. No issues for me off the field.
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100% agree. Fleck needs to change his best in a few areas if he wants to elevate the program. The things he's got them doing well have been enough to beat bad teams and occasionally spring an upset...but not get over the hump. Therefore he needs to get them doing MORE things well -- like those you noted. Great post.
 



Face The Facts said:
That's why he's a good college coach. By the time the kids have heard enough, they should be graduating.

I think most of his coaching hires are good, but Sanford I'm afraid just doesn't have a clue.

A strength or a weakness for Fleck is his loyalty. He's tremendously loyal to his coaches and players, and that's hurting him this year probably.
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I find it pretty perplexing. Won't look at changing OC or giving Simon a shot, won't give Zack a chance at QB, but makes the decision at a critical point to forgo a punt to pin Iowa deep, and go away from his normal FG kicker to put in his kickoff specialist placekicker to attempt a long FG.
 

PJ needs to hire someone he will respect as OC and will tell him like it is when he is doing stupid in-game decisions. the call for FG was the act of sheer desperation with a touch of lunacy. Is he not watching how Iowa was playing. They can't make plays. Yet instead of making them earn or forcing their QBs to create a turnover for us, he did one of the stupidest coaching decisions I've ever seen on the football field. How on earth does no one on the team tells him not to commit such a comicially stupid decision. Wow was the word I have for that. FFS really? really? Not many people would go nuts with going for TDs instead of FGs. These are ones worth taking risks. Not when your unproven kicker was asked to do an almost impossible task.
 

PJ should stop surrounding himself with a Starbuck carrier person who can only spit out whatever the trendiest words on weekly basis. Data crunching, spreadsheet, looking at data, rhythm, flow whatever he can think of at the moment. Can Sanford really coach?
 

Face The Facts said:
That's why he's a good college coach. By the time the kids have heard enough, they should be graduating.

I think most of his coaching hires are good, but Sanford I'm afraid just doesn't have a clue.

A strength or a weakness for Fleck is his loyalty. He's tremendously loyal to his coaches and players, and that's hurting him this year probably.
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I heard someone advance this theory on a podcast. the theory was that Fleck's approach may wear thin after repeated exposure, and with so many players getting extra eligibility due to covid, you have players who have been in the program for 5 or 6 years, so it's possible that some of them may be tuning Fleck out or just not responding the same

I don't care how good the message is. the 150th time you hear it, it just isn't going to have the same impact as the 1st few times you hear it. I know that I tune out my boss at work a lot more than I used to.

So, Fleck might need to think about ways to 'freshen up' his message.
 



I think fleck has built a good foundation here with culture (no off the field issues, good academics) and brand. He’s also a good enough recruiter to keep us competitive in the West.

But I hope after this season he realizes that he can’t let his preferences for ball control and conservatism consume him. We’ve become so one dimensional w the run game that the passing game is broken. Firing Sanford is a must, but we threw the ball 10000% better against OSU without Crab. What happened? It just seems like Fleck’s only pass when we have to mantra has impacted Tanner.

I still believe that Fleck, with the right coordinators (and Rossi is right for the defense) can take us back to 2019 levels, but he needs to reevaluate how he held the team back this year, and then hire the right OC this offseason.

Still massively disappointed that we lost yesterday, and Fleck’s inconsistent and hesitant decision making played a huge role in that.
 

MGGopher said:
Ding, ding, ding. Come on, Fleck spends more time with the players and coaches than his family -- and more than any of us. He knows exactly who can handle what type of criticism and motivation in public and in private. Press conferences are stupid...that's why people like Belicheck have treated them as a joke all these years.


100% agree. Fleck needs to change his best in a few areas if he wants to elevate the program. The things he's got them doing well have been enough to beat bad teams and occasionally spring an upset...but not get over the hump. Therefore he needs to get them doing MORE things well -- like those you noted. Great post.
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I get why they do them for the media but there are few things more worthless than post game press conferences after a loss.

No matter what a coach says people are going to get upset about it. If he takes the blame, it is just coach speak, if he rips a player or coach he is a jerk and trying to pass the blame to someone else. There is nothing the coach can say after a loss that isn't going to make someone mad.

Said it in the other post, I honestly don't know what people expect Fleck, or any coach for that matter, to say after a loss, but I can guarantee that no matter what he does say there is going to be someone in here complaining about it.
 


MNVCGUY said:
I get why they do them for the media but there are few things more worthless than post game press conferences after a loss.

No matter what a coach says people are going to get upset about it. If he takes the blame, it is just coach speak, if he rips a player or coach he is a jerk and trying to pass the blame to someone else. There is nothing the coach can say after a loss that isn't going to make someone mad.

Said it in the other post, I honestly don't know what people expect Fleck, or any coach for that matter, to say after a loss, but I can guarantee that no matter what he does say there is going to be someone in here complaining about it.
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We expected him to say that Sanford won’t be back.
 



RealU said:
This is why you don't give extensions midseason.

Year 5 is nearly in the books for PJ and for a guy that preaches accountability, he seems to lack it or he lacks the ability to look critically at himself/his program. This press conference is a microcosm of the larger issues.

His loyalty continues to cloud his judgement as Tanner Morgan has regressed from an upper tier Big10 QB in 2019 to a mid-major QB in 2021, but he refuses to pull him. His lack of in-game adjustments, playing not to lose style and poor clock management continues to occur in most close games. Even in the success of 2019, they lost the two most important games @ Iowa and home against Wisconsin. Instead of being a stepping stone to greater success, they have fallen back into mediocrity. Returning Minnesota to consistent mediocrity is Fleck's greatest accomplishment.

He is 2-10 against ranked teams with an average margin of defeat by 16.8 ppg and a combined 1-8 against Wisconsin/Iowa (likely to be 1-9 after the Wisconsin game). His teams have been outscored by Wisconsin 104-71 (2 games by 21+) in 4 games and 150-89 by Iowa (2 games by 17+) in 5 games. To give some credit, they have lost 3 one score games to Iowa.

Let's assume they finish the year 2-1 by beating Indiana, losing to Wisconsin and beating an average team in a bowl game. Fleck will be 34-24 overall and 20-23 in the Big10, w/ 3 seasons above .500. 10 of those wins have come against Buffalo, Oregon State (Went 1-11 in 2017), Middle Tenn, New Mexico State, Fresno State x2, Miami (OH) x2, South Dakota State, and Georgia Southern. In what world does this resume warrant an extension w/ a sizeable raise?

Mark Coyle's hires and decision making during his tenure have left a lot to be desired. Wouldn't mind seeing him ousted at some point in 2022.
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And the Gopher teams the last 4 years under Kill/Claeys were 31-21.
So, the words coming out of PJ's mouth about how far this program has come under his leadership just is not true a statement. Like a lot of things he spins.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I agree. He’s a developmental coach trying to develop some 24-25 year olds. QB had 3years of development and then switched to a new OC and lost 2 pro WR’s.

Here is where he needs to grow.
1. Solutions needed at OC and Special Teams coordination
2. In game analytics. Understanding when to go for it and not.
3. two minute drills

If he looks to address these going into the future, the on field product will get better. No issues for me off the field.
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A lot of "into the future" has gone by. If he hasn't already recognized all this I am not confident he ever will.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I get why they do them for the media but there are few things more worthless than post game press conferences after a loss.

No matter what a coach says people are going to get upset about it. If he takes the blame, it is just coach speak, if he rips a player or coach he is a jerk and trying to pass the blame to someone else. There is nothing the coach can say after a loss that isn't going to make someone mad.

Said it in the other post, I honestly don't know what people expect Fleck, or any coach for that matter, to say after a loss, but I can guarantee that no matter what he does say there is going to be someone in here complaining about it.
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He could say we are going to evaluate everyone and everything this week and make necessary changes for Indiana. And mean it.
 

60's Guy said:
Aren't coaches supposed to put them in position to be able to make successful plays?
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Two dropped interceptions, a missed tackle that resulted in a TD and multiple drops by the WR group.

The coaches put the players in position to make plays and the players didn’t make them.
 

scools12 said:
Two dropped interceptions, a missed tackle that resulted in a TD and multiple drops by the WR group.

The coaches put the players in position to make plays and the players didn’t make them.
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So who recruited these players and coaching these players? If I am right there is only HC currently at Gopher football team.
 

BoatRacer said:
So who recruited these players and coaching these players? If I am right there is only HC currently at Gopher football team.
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So the players have no fault in not making plays?

The HC is at fault because he recruited these players.

The coaches are at fault because they put these players in position to make plays that the players didn’t make.

Got it 👌🏻
 
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scools12 said:
So the players have no fault in not making plays?

The HC is at fault because he recruited and coaches the players that didn’t make the plays. Got it 👌🏻
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Yes. Correct it is 100% coaches fault. It may sounds extreme but yes it is 100% coaches fault. They get paid millions to make sure these players do their assignments. If these players are not performing find the ones who will do. Simple as such. PJ is almost effervescent when he talk about leadership. So show us for once that they have it.
 

Coyle's granting the five year extension of PJ's contract was insane. You don't do this midseason before the two biggest rivalry games of the year...Iowa and Wisconsin. What was Coyle thinking??
 

It is almost always useless to listen the post game pressers. What useful information can he dispense? If you have witty coaches like Macky you will get good one liners. That's all.
 

proudgopher said:
Coyle's granting the five year extension of PJ's contract was insane. You don't do this midseason before the two biggest rivalry games of the year...Iowa and Wisconsin. What was Coyle thinking??
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OC and Special Team coaches need to be replaced if we're planning to win B1G West. 2019 we have capable DC OC and horrible SC. But now we have capable DC, HC with horrible in-game coaching skill, below average SC and Horrible OC. We lost to BG for a good reason. No it is not one-off fluke. It is indeed worrisome that it will become a norm. FFS in fifth year our punting and punt return teams acting like they never seen football field in all 100 yards. How is that SC team coach is still on payroll is mind-boggling.
 

BoatRacer said:
Yes. Correct it is 100% coaches fault. It may sounds extreme but yes it is 100% coaches fault. They get paid millions to make sure these players do their assignments. If these players are not performing find the ones who will do. Simple as such. PJ is almost effervescent when he talk about leadership. So show us for once that they have it.
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So you bench Durr for missing a tackle? Kid has been a heck of a player, but he didn't make that play.

So you bench Walley for not making the pick or getting burned by a receiver? Kid has played really well and looks to have a bright future.

Pretty sure Jack Gibbons is the other defender that missed a pick, bench him too right?

CRAB didn't make a 50/50 grab, to the bench find someone else. MBS drops balls sometimes, bench him too.

Think it was Olson who wiffed on the sack at the end of the game, gotta get someone else in there for him.

Good lord, the issue isn't that the players are not good enough it is that they didn't make some key plays in the game against Iowa. It happens. No coach in the world can make his players do everything right all the time. Coaches deserve blame too but to say it is 100% on the coaches is just foolish. At some point the players have to make the plays and our guys didn't against Iowa.

Morgan is the one massive question mark right now in terms of performance. He had a bad game against Iowa and has had a pretty mediocre year. Whether it is coaching or something else that is an area where they deserve some heat for not trying someone else as Morgan is just off.
 

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