Hot take: We're just fine, PJ is doing fine.

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TheNorthernAmir

TheNorthernAmir

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Let me parachute into this board and drop some (seemingly) hot takes:

  • PJ is doing fine. He has built a front 7 and secondary (plus depth) that we haven't seen before
  • We clearly have more talent, size and athleticism across the board than we have at any time in the past.
  • We now have competition (and unfortunate transfers) in RB/WR/QB rooms. That means good recruiting. That means good depth.
  • Lastly, and perhaps most importantly - it's a sign of a good coach that he can make guys like Tanner Morgan, Braelon Oliver, Sori-Marin, etc and make them into competitive B1G players. Y'all need to remember how bare the cupboard was, and PJ was bringing in guys that would have been at a MAC or Sun Belt school instead.
 



stocker08 said:
People choose to forget the decade proceeding Fleck. The fact that seven or eight wins was a major accomplishment. The fact that losing the axe every year was expected.
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True on the axe, but these last 4 or 5 years are not the Wisconsin of old.
 

There’s nothing to see here folks. Move along now. Go on home folks, move along.
 


kg21 said:
True on the axe, but these last 4 or 5 years are not the Wisconsin of old.
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Maybe not the higher end, Rose Bowl Badger teams.....but last year they would have had ten wins had we not beaten them. Nine wins in 2018. These were still good teams.

Wisconsin had a lot of good but not great teams in the years between Axe wins. Just happens that the Gophers were mostly terrible in that time. I'm looking forward to a year where both the Gophers and the Badgers are ranked and the Axe game is meaningful outside of our two states.
 


stocker08 said:
People choose to forget the decade proceeding Fleck. The fact that seven or eight wins was a major accomplishment. The fact that losing the axe every year was expected.
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Agreed. Wisconsin pounded the gophers so many times it was just apathetic at the games. Half empty at halftime and now they have split the last 4. Takes time and I still believe it’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area. The gophers were just completely shitty for about 15 years. Might not be improving at the speed some would like but it is improving for sure.
 

stocker08 said:
People choose to forget the decade proceeding Fleck. The fact that seven or eight wins was a major accomplishment. The fact that losing the axe every year was expected.
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I guess the question is...has it been worth roughly $4 million more a year, not including staff salary increases? Is it matching Coyle's expectations from the intro presser for Fleck? He is the first football HC to have the full use of the Athletes Village.
 



goldengophers said:
We unfortunately lose to that guy now at a far lesser school.
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There's no such thing as a "far lesser school". Program....maybe. But Illinois is a Big Ten school. And their recent history (last 50 years) isn't really any worse than the Gophers. In fact....they've been to a Rose Bowl in the past 15 years.

Not that any of that matters. Beating Chunk means nothing in comparison to beating Wisconsin and getting the Axe.
 

Live in the now said:
Agreed. Wisconsin pounded the gophers so many times it was just apathetic at the games. Half empty at halftime and now they have split the last 4. Takes time and I still believe it’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area. The gophers were just completely shitty for about 15 years. Might not be improving at the speed some would like but it is improving for sure.
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that overtime loss two years ago still pisses me off. Mo walks into the end zone from the 1 yard line, and they call holding on the other side of the field. Morgan gets picked on the next play. We lost in overtime. Should be 3-1
 

PMWinSTP said:
I guess the question is...has it been worth roughly $4 million more a year, not including staff salary increases? Is it matching Coyle's expectations from the intro presser for Fleck? He is the first football HC to have the full use of the Athletes Village.
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To regularly finish over .500? To be playing in bowl games that people actually watch? To win games on national TV against rivals that have smacked us around for years?

These are such silly questions. The answer is YES!!!!

 




We haven't beaten a ranked team on the road since 2000.

That's 25 straight losses.

It's kind of a summary of trying to win here.
 

Live in the now said:
Agreed. Wisconsin pounded the gophers so many times it was just apathetic at the games. Half empty at halftime and now they have split the last 4. Takes time and I still believe it’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area. The gophers were just completely shitty for about 15 years. Might not be improving at the speed some would like but it is improving for sure.
Click to expand...
 

PMWinSTP said:
I guess the question is...has it been worth roughly $4 million more a year, not including staff salary increases? Is it matching Coyle's expectations from the intro presser for Fleck? He is the first football HC to have the full use of the Athletes Village.
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... This isn't even a question. Dude is wildly underpaid. He makes less than Ferentz, Tucker, and Fitzgerald who all have worse teams than he does this year. He was making less than Frost until this season.

If the Gophers fired Fleck then I would never give the school, much less athletics, another dime.
 

Live in the now said:
Agreed. Wisconsin pounded the gophers so many times it was just apathetic at the games. Half empty at halftime and now they have split the last 4. Takes time and I still believe it’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area. The gophers were just completely shitty for about 15 years. Might not be improving at the speed some would like but it is improving for sure.
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"It’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area."

Well told. The media and fans have many options for their attention and their dollars in Minneapolis. And the recent reputation that Minneapolis has earned makes recruiting even harder. The chance for a conference championship and high rankings is low so the best candidates gravitate toward winning programs. I think UM is doing pretty well given the handicaps.
 

stocker08 said:
To regularly finish over .500? To be playing in bowl games that people actually watch? To win games on national TV against rivals that have smacked us around for years?

These are such silly questions. The answer is YES!!!!

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Not silly questions, but might be a silly answer. We had the Axe and the Pig in 2014. Mason beat Penn State four consecutive times. People watched the Citrus, Holiday, and Sun Bowls.
 

hello-world said:
... This isn't even a question. Dude is wildly underpaid. He makes less than Ferentz, Tucker, and Fitzgerald who all have worse teams than he does this year. He was making less than Frost until this season
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Fitz has won the West twice in the previous four seasons.

the-point-over-your-head.gif
 
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PMWinSTP said:
Not silly questions, but might be a silly answer. We had the Axe and the Pig in 2014. Mason beat Penn State four consecutive times. People watched the Citrus, Holiday, and Sun Bowls.
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And look what happened after the Gophers fired him. It took nearly 20 years for the program to rebuild to that level.

Mason had several awful patterns under his coaching. Including giving up gigantic leads in the second half and never beating the skunks. And it was still an awful mistake to fire him.
 
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hello-world said:
And look what happened after the Gophers fired him. It took nearly 20 years for the program to rebuild to that level.

Mason had several awful patterns under his coaching. Including giving up gigantic leads in the second half and never beating the skunks. And it was still an awful mistake to fire him.
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Actually eight, but OK.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Actually eight, but OK.
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8?

You think losing a Citrus Bowl with a QB that couldn't throw was at all equivalent to beating the Razorbacks, Ducks, and Crimson Tide in three straight bowl games?

Say what you will about Mason, at least he could coach an offense. Limegrover ran probably the ugliest college offense I have ever seen and that includes the service academies. Nobody enjoyed watching those teams.

It was awful, and to compare Kill's two 8-5 teams with Leidner under center to the absolutely stacked offensive rosters that Mason built is an absolute joke.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Not silly questions, but might be a silly answer. We had the Axe and the Pig in 2014. Mason beat Penn State four consecutive times. People watched the Citrus, Holiday, and Sun Bowls.
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This isn’t factually accurate but I think you meant jug not axe
 

hello-world said:
8?

You losing a Citrus Bowl with a QB that couldn't throw was at all equivalent to beating the Razorbacks, Ducks, and Crimson Tide in three straight bowl games?

Say what you will about Mason, at least he could coach an offense. Limegrover ran probably the ugliest college offense I have ever seen and that includes the service academies. Nobody enjoyed watching those teams.

It was awful, and to compare Kill's two 8-5 teams with Leidner under center to the absolutely stacked offensive rosters that Mason built is an absolute joke.
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OK then, 10 years. And no not an absolute joke. As many posters know, Mason had some of the most absolutely painfully memorable and inexplicable loses in recent history.
 

kg21 said:
We haven't beaten a ranked team on the road since 2000.

That's 25 straight losses.

It's kind of a summary of trying to win here.
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#21 Michigan 2005
#23 Nebraska 2014
 


FanSinceTheFifties said:
"It’s a little tricky to get big recruits into Minnesota compared to communities that are totally geared towards college athletics and aren’t usually as big of a metro area."

Well told. The media and fans have many options for their attention and their dollars in Minneapolis. And the recent reputation that Minneapolis has earned makes recruiting even harder. The chance for a conference championship and high rankings is low so the best candidates gravitate toward winning programs. I think UM is doing pretty well given the handicaps.
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I agree and that’s well put.
 

PMWinSTP said:
OK then, 10 years. And no not an absolute joke. As many posters know, Mason had some of the most absolutely painfully memorable and inexplicable loses in recent history.
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Kill literally never won a bowl game at the U. Not remotely comparable levels of success.
 


hello-world said:
Mason had several awful patterns under his coaching. Including giving up gigantic leads in the second half and never beating the skunks. And it was still an awful mistake to fire him.
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He didn’t do well against Bucky, but he did beat them in ‘01 and ‘03. I’ll never forget Rhys Lloyd running to get the Axe after kicking the winning FG.
 

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