Poll: Is the 2021 Season a Peak, Baseline, or Below Average PJ Fleck season?

[Dano564]

Do you believe the 2021 season was supposed to be a peak PJ Fleck year, or do you believe this will be his baseline?

 

[BTChamp]

I don't see a loss on next year's schedule (of course I haven't seen next year's schedule but who gives a shit). With the Gophs having the #1 seed in the playoffs, the big question is if there are 2 BIG teams.

 

[MennoSota]

If we measure PJs teams by win/loss, this season is disappointing. Those losses to BG and IL are painful. However, looking at the service oriented culture that teaches young men to be productive citizens who make society better, I couldn't be more pleased with the men PJ is mentoring for life. This is bigger than win and losses, in my mind, and with that I am thrilled.

 

[Dakota2]

If we measure PJs teams by win/loss, this season is disappointing. Those losses to BG and IL are painful. However, looking at the service oriented culture that teaches young men to be productive citizens who make society better, I couldn't be more pleased with the men PJ is mentoring for life. This is bigger than win and losses, in my mind, and with that I am thrilled.

If you had stopped with the first sentence you would have written a good post. The rest is nonsense. Every program wants a coach who wins and is a positive force in developing good citizens.

This is nothing new. There are millions of Americans who credit a coach or teacher with putting them on a path to successful life. Fleck is very good in this respect, one of the best. Still, job one of a big time coach is success on the field.

 

[Some guy]

Do you believe the 2021 season was supposed to be a peak PJ Fleck year, or do you believe this will be his baseline?

None of those options are what I think

 

[MNVCGUY]

None of those options are what I think

Yeah, 4th was the closest so went with that one.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

Don’t like any of the choices.

 

[Hates Monikers]

Bad choices. It should've been a peak year and it was disappointing. But there's no reason to think it's all downhill from here.

 

[fmlizard]

I don't think this was necessarily a peak year. There will be plenty of good players back next year. The cycle of college football means that successful programs will constantly be turning over the starting lineup every year or two.

In the context of this post, it's a journey, not a sprint. The Gophers have been solid this year but 2019 was the peak talent season. Look how many key first year NFL contributors left between 2019 and 2020. Don't believe this team was set up for domination because the linemen were all older. That's simply a cycle that needs to repeat...next guys up are juniors and seniors, they leave, and so on. Upperclassmen in the trenches. That's how our big rivals do it.

Don't believe that the next men up aren't any good because they haven't played much yet.

 

[golfing18now]

The Wisconsin game will dictate how I feel about the regular season. Five losses, including to your two rivals, going into the bowl season would be viewed as a disappointment given the experience you have at quarterback and the offensive line. With a win against Wisconsin maybe it is easier to give a pass on the BG and IL games?

 

[50PoundHead]

When I looked at the schedule, I thought 9-3 but we laid massive eggs against Bowling Green and Illinois. Losing Ibrahim and Potts hurt, but I thought the staff played too much "not to lose" during the season and didn't make adjustments on offense in the Bowling Green and Illinois games. I know the personnel surrounding Morgan played a role in game-planning, but they didn't seem to give him any rope at all.

 

[Gold Vision]

 

[csom_1991]

I would have to say near term peak. I think we take a step back next year due to OLine turnover. The question is if we can still maintain a consistent running attack (Mo is back) and then start to groom a QB that put us into the top 10 in 2-3 years time.

 

[Dano564]

None of those options are what I think

Sorry I didn't do a better job reading your mind.

If only there were a way for you to share how you feel outside of the choices I provided.

 

[GridironGus]

To be honest, I expected 8 and 4. Losses to OSU, Iowa, Wisconsin and either Colorado or Indiana. Obviously I expected both of those last two teams to be much better. The Gophers can still get to 8 and 4 by beating Wisconsin tomorrow.
For this poll, it was hard to choose between number two and number four. I believe both to be true. We will have some down years but I believe PJ is building a champion. We need to stick with him.
Is Tom Allen suddenly a bad coach this year?
If Minnesota has a year below expectations, we shouldn't respond by wanting him to be fired. He is building a good culture here. Winning and championships will be a by product of that.

 

[PoockItInfor6]

I expected something better this year, but MO’s injury and some poor play calling and/or QB play have short circuited this season into being mildly disappointing… that said, PJ will continue changing his best, and I expect a new OC next year while hopefully being able to retain Rossi and this thing will continue to build!

 

[SPEGOPHER]

Even if we beat Illinois and BGSU, a 9-3 season w losses to Iowa and Wisconsin would feel disappointing (our best win in that scenario is still Purdue). Beating WI would go a long way to making this year feel like a success.

Regardless, I hope that Fleck reflects this off season on why we lost to those shit teams (and Iowa to some extent) and realizes that being ultra conservative and doing what you think is the bare minimum on offense to beat an opponent is a good way to lose. I think Fleck became a slave to his tendencies this year, and I hope that he’s a good enough coach to make adjustments going forward.

 

[Off-GridTNgopher]

We're in what year 4 or 5.... This is now the baseline... 8 win seasons should be the norm