PJ Fleck Interview new - Sunday 9-29-19

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

Sid: How about passing game? Morgan - receivers?
PJ: we can always be better. there is still room for improvement. we finished the game when we had to. I'd like to make it not as close. have to finish game in 4th qtr. proud of offense -showed our diversity- receivers. the passing game opened up the running game. protection was good. some of the sacks -we held the ball a little too long. could have thrown it away. Tanner is a winner. we're learning how to win in different ways. Purdue is a good team- explosive on offense. we've got a lot of things to clean up. get back to work today.

Sid: got to have better pass rush.
PJ: with Purdue, the ball gets out so quick, it's difficult to get sacks. we have to tackle better on defense, tackle better on the perimeter. I thought our defense played well until the last 6 minutes. we didn't tackle on 3rd down. it could have been 38-17. we had an onside kick hit us in the facemask. gave them a short field. proud of how we're playing. got to finish game, tackle better. we got in a position where it was the clock versus the game. on defense, said we were going to keep everything in front of us. dropped 8 at times. let them run and take time off the clock if they were going to run. we've got to be better at tackling.

Mona: yards after catch
PJ: we have explosive play makers. they love each other. this team is so connected. Tyler coming back for Senior year was really big. He came back for his teammates. Rashad got that touchdown, you saw Tyler jumping up and down. that WR room is really tight. Bateman - he's become that this year. one of most dynamic players in country. CAB great run after catch. Tanner is learning how to manage the game, master the offense. learning how to lead guys - put the ball where they can catch it and run. running game, we've got to get everyone healthy. Paulson did a nice job. we're learning to get everyone involved on offense. needed to get through first 1st three games, evaluate where we're at, see the identity of this team, see the strengths and weaknesses. use that to develop the game plan.

Sid: were you happy with OL?
PJ: the line is evolving. not one senior on that group. they're working hard to get better. Coach Callahan doing a great job developing them. Our RT had only played football for 2-1/2 years. (talks about other players young) rotating guards and center. all young guys. getting better every week. as they improve, that will allow us to evolve offense.

Mona: Brooks?
PJ: hasn't played in a long time. I think he got too amped up at times. has to let the read come to him. let the line block for you. he probably tried to do too much. but that's Shannon's mindset. we had a pitch count on him. good to get him some game experience. proud of him

Sid: great Schedule next two weeks. Get Ill and Neb at home
PJ: just excited to get back in front of our fans. we'll play an improved Ill team this week. need to take all the things we can from yesterday, learn from it. then move on to Illinois.

Mona: Morgan set modern B1G record for accuracy. just seemed like he's getting better and better
PJ: looks like it. he is a very humble person; very motivated. spiritual. one of best leaders you'll ever meet. may not be 6'5", 220 lbs, but he has intangibles. he's a winner. he makes everyone else around him better. he wants to continue to get better. he said after that game "that was too close." Was not a perfect game. he looks at it through the eyes of a coach. he's a wonderful human being.

Sid: injuries.
PJ: the players are just coming in right now to the facility. I'll have a better update for your on Tuesday. seems ok right now.

Sid: what about Illinois
PJ: much improved team. they've got a lot of good transfers. better. more explosive. better defensively. they can score at any point. they added a lot of transfers. very talented team. They took Neb down to the wire. We're excited to be back home for homecoming. Hope to have an elite day.

Sid: receivers. don't think Gophers have ever had a group like this
PJ: Gophers have had good ones in the past. Decker. Johnson. I didn't get chance to coach them, but I would have loved to coach them. we have a great tradition. But WR right now -that's our MO. that's what our culture is know for. Matt Simon played for me, and now he does a fantastic job coaching. it's hard to get egos in line to share ball and have fun doing it. they have fun getting better. Kirk C and Matt S deserve a lot of credit. 85 guys with above 3.0 GPA. only 2 guys below 2.5 GPA. they're play-makers. they're all about serving and giving. getting out in the community. going great in school. they really represent the University well.

Mona: Red-shirting. use players for four games?
PJ: so far, so good, we have a plan. played a lot of FR on special teams. now we'll get a new batch in there so they can gain experience. use those 4 games. have a long way to go. the first third of the season is done. we have a lot to evaluate, get better at. I like coaching this team. the goal is to be better today than yesterday.

Sid: did any one player play good on defense?
PJ: we could have all played more consistent. tackling is hard to address. we'll some up with some drills to isolate that. our guys know how to tackle. we had one game where we didn't tackle well. we've got to go back and fix it. they knew that. after game on bus, ask players to write down one area where they need to play better. the corners, the secondary on defense all wrote down tackling. the players know they have to get better.

Sid: look forward to next two weeks. lot of tickets left. Murray's.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah. It's Heather Fleck's B-day tomorrow. she is the greatest coaches' wife ever. Love you babe, you are a rock star.
 


Thanks SON!


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Thanks as always!

Mood seemed similar to what most fans are thinking. Happy to be 4-0 but still a lot of things to improve upon.
 



Thanks SON.


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I'm surprised PJ didn't say something about Winfield. Dude was all over the field yesterday, making solid hits.

As always, thanks for the recap, SON.

JTG
 

I think I’m starting to understand why Fleck downplays Morgan’s performance on the field. He’s a perfectionist, wants to emphasize the areas where he can improve, and Morgan can clearly handle it. It’s working. Pocket presence is his glaring weakness at the moment.

Fleck also hinted that the OL development is what’s holding them back from expanding the offense. I expect them to get better as the season progresses. It’s nice to have the easier games earlier in the season while they work these things out.


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I'm surprised PJ didn't say something about Winfield. Dude was all over the field yesterday, making solid hits.

As always, thanks for the recap, SON.

JTG

MN had 56 plays compared to Purdue's 82. TOP 29:01 MN/30:59 PUR.
The Gopher Defense seem to have trouble with Purdue's quick plays.

Winfield led the team in tackles:

Player - Solo - Assist - Total
Winfield 8-1-9
Williamson 6-2-8
Martin 5-1-6
Howden 5-1-6
Coughlin 5-0-5
Thomas 2-2-4
Barber 3-1-4
St Juste 2-1-3
Renner 3-0-3
Smith 2-0-2
Otomewo 1-1-2
Sori-Martin 2-0-2
Rush 1-0-1
Devers 1-0-1
Oliver 0-1-1
Dew-Treadway 1-0-1
Harris 1-0-1
Mafe 0-1-1
Delattiboudere 1-0-1
Teague 0-1-1
 

On TV, the knucklehead announcers never caught on to the personnel change to the OL, with Schmitz coming in at C for a bit. In fact, they were talking about the huge size advantage Faalele and Dunlap have ... while Dunlap was on the sideline, and the camera was showing Olson lined up next to Big Daddy.

Did the radio crew say anything about Dunlap getting dinged up? Or was this a planned rotation? SON's transcript made it sound like this was a planned move (and one several of us expected).

JTG
 


On TV, the knucklehead announcers never caught on to the personnel change to the OL, with Schmitz coming in at C for a bit. In fact, they were talking about the huge size advantage Faalele and Dunlap have ... while Dunlap was on the sideline, and the camera was showing Olson lined up next to Big Daddy.

Did the radio crew say anything about Dunlap getting dinged up? Or was this a planned rotation? SON's transcript made it sound like this was a planned move (and one several of us expected).

JTG

In watching the tape for my "Up Front" review, I just noticed Schmitz came in during the first quarter, as well, with Andries going out. So apparently this was a pre-planned rotation.

JTG
 




On TV, the knucklehead announcers never caught on to the personnel change to the OL, with Schmitz coming in at C for a bit. In fact, they were talking about the huge size advantage Faalele and Dunlap have ... while Dunlap was on the sideline, and the camera was showing Olson lined up next to Big Daddy.

Did the radio crew say anything about Dunlap getting dinged up? Or was this a planned rotation? SON's transcript made it sound like this was a planned move (and one several of us expected).

Fleck alluded pretty strongly to an OL rotation in the game preview press conference.
 

PJ post game presser to augment this Sunday interview. If this has been posted, my apologies.
"You're gonna have to earn it (victory)... No one is going to give it to you..."

 
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Sid: got to have better pass rush.
PJ: with Purdue, the ball gets out so quick, it's difficult to get sacks. we have to tackle better on defense, tackle better on the perimeter. I thought our defense played well until the last 6 minutes. we didn't tackle on 3rd down. it could have been 38-17. we had an onside kick hit us in the facemask. gave them a short field. proud of how we're playing. got to finish game, tackle better. we got in a position where it was the clock versus the game. on defense, said we were going to keep everything in front of us. dropped 8 at times. let them run and take time off the clock if they were going to run. we've got to be better at tackling.

This was the exchange of the interview to me. The pass rush was there yesterday, but the tackling was abysmal The Gophers had multiple opportunities to make simple tackles and get off the field and they simply refused to do it.
 




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