What grade would you give the Gophers hiring of P.J. Fleck as the new coach?

What grade would you give the Gophers hiring of P.J. Fleck as the new coach?

  • A

    Votes: 128 67.7%

  • B

    Votes: 42 22.2%

  • C

    Votes: 13 6.9%

  • D

    Votes: 6 3.2%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    189
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What grade would you give the Gophers hiring of P.J. Fleck as the new coach?
 

B

I'm having as much fun hyping about PJ and all. I like the hire.

But let's be clear. PJ is a really hot... prospective P5 coach.

I look forward to seeing how this plays out.
 

Big fat A+

29 wins over the last three seasons. New Year's 6 appearance. FBS head coaching experience. Young. Recruiter. Articulate. He was number one on my list and I am unashamed to say I'm extremely excited about this.
 

A

When was the last time (if ever) Minnesota got their #1 target and one of the hottest names in football?
 



D.

This is a step back. PJ is the shiny new unproven coach that should be hired to rebuild a program. Would have been happy with this hire had we been in the dumps like when we hired Kill. We are no longer in the dumps and don't need to rebuild, just need to take the next step. Can we do that with PJ? No one ones, not even PJ. After a 9 win season as a season ticket holder I expected more from Coyle and am not happy.
 

Gopher07 said:
Big fat A+

29 wins over the last three seasons. New Year's 6 appearance. FBS head coaching experience. Young. Recruiter. Articulate. He was number one on my list and I am unashamed to say I'm extremely excited about this.
Click to expand...

Not #1 on my list, but a very good hire. 30 wins in four years.
 

bottlebass said:
D.

This is a step back. PJ is the shiny new unproven coach that should be hired to rebuild a program. Would have been happy with this hire had we been in the dumps like when we hired Kill. We are no longer in the dumps and don't need to rebuild, just need to take the next step. Can we do that with PJ? No one ones, not even PJ. After a 9 win season as a season ticket holder I expected more from Coyle and am not happy.
Click to expand...
And you really think Claeys was gonna be the one take us there?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

bottlebass said:
D.

This is a step back. PJ is the shiny new unproven coach that should be hired to rebuild a program. Would have been happy with this hire had we been in the dumps like when we hired Kill. We are no longer in the dumps and don't need to rebuild, just need to take the next step. Can we do that with PJ? No one ones, not even PJ. After a 9 win season as a season ticket holder I expected more from Coyle and am not happy.
Click to expand...

This is pretty decent satire.
 




bottlebass said:
D.

This is a step back. PJ is the shiny new unproven coach that should be hired to rebuild a program. Would have been happy with this hire had we been in the dumps like when we hired Kill. We are no longer in the dumps and don't need to rebuild, just need to take the next step. Can we do that with PJ? No one ones, not even PJ. After a 9 win season as a season ticket holder I expected more from Coyle and am not happy.
Click to expand...

So who did you want that was a realistic option?
 


Obviously it remains to be seen how he will do here but based solely on the hire I went with an A because he was our first choice and we went out and got him. As I said in another thread, that hasn't happened around here on our previous two football hires where we were forced to settle for options that weren't even on the radar when the process started.
 



B-

Let's see how he does with trophy games. He'd boost that grade immensely by getting the Axe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


This is only my 4th coaching change as a Gophers fan (I know there are many posters on this board who have been through more). Here is how I would've graded the hires in my time both at the time and in retrospect:

Brew: at the time: F in retrospect: C- (he brought a lot of energy and marketing and he did squeek into two bowls)
Kill: at the time: C- (was concerned about his health from day one) in retrospect: B+ (built a tough squad who were never outworked, but his health was his undoing)
Claeys: at the time C- (no FBS team would have hired him as head coach - why should we have?) in retrospect: too soon to say
Fleck: A+ (we just hired one of the finalists for FBS Coach of the Year! Will recruit great. Hopeful about the staff he'll put together with the U opening up their wallet)
 

Gopher07 said:
Big fat A+

29 wins over the last three seasons. New Year's 6 appearance. FBS head coaching experience. Young. Recruiter. Articulate. He was number one on my list and I am unashamed to say I'm extremely excited about this.
Click to expand...

+1. And we got him on January 5, which is crazy.
 

I gave it an A, not solely because I think it's a quality hire (perhaps not a home run/grand slam, but definitely quality) but also because it was done quickly and decisively. Gotta give credit where credit is due to the Admin here, even if it's painful to do so; with signing day looming and the status of the suspended players and other potential transfers, it was necessary to move swiftly and they did just that.
 

Fleck looks like a sharp dude, but I was more excited about Les Miles. That, along with the incredibly clumsy way the firing was handled, makes it hard for me to give the hiring a better grade than B.
 

A+

One of the best young coaches out there. Already been a FBS head coach for 4 years. Proved he could build up a program and take it to new heights. Coyle went out and closed the deal in ~48 hours without a search committee.
 

B+. Giving consideration that Miles & Pelini are out there.
 

A

When was the last time the gophers hired their #1 choice as HC? I was conditioned to believe Fleck, Miles etc. weren't coming and to expect someone I've never heard of.
 

Vandy said:
B+. Giving consideration that Miles & Pelini are out there.
Click to expand...

Not big on Miles who I'm not sure would come here at 3.5 mil a year. Pelini would have been a better hire imo and I think would have gone for the money that Fleck will be getting.
 



A+ for Coyle and Kaler on the hire. Swift, decisive, got #1 target. Great work.

F for working "with integrity and class" and "living in truth" (in regard to boycott and Claeys firing).
 

A+ hire. Time will tell whether he's an A+ coach.
 

You can't judge a hire based on what happens after they get here. Nobody knows that any coach (Sumlin, Miles, Fleck, Meyer, Saban) would have won here or not when they hire them. But based on the coaches available I think this was a really good hire. Les Miles would have been a good hire as well, though I think his age, lack of familiarity with the Midwest (yes I know he went to Michigan, but that was 100 years ago) and out of date offensive ideology I'm not sure he would have been as good of a hire.

Based on Fleck's record and history I give this a solid A. I think if the U hadn't hired him this year he may have gotten a much bigger opportunity next year. Time will tell, but I'm happy based on what we know today.
 

A -- based on what we know so far. Nothing but great things said about him. He can recruit, his teams play hard and the stats back it up. Several coach of the year awards, players and fans love him. Great family man who is very active and visible in the community. All things that will only help Minnesota football and the University of Minnesota.

You gotta give Mark Coyle credit. While Les Miles is the bigger name, Fleck is a better hire right now for the long-term growth of the program. How many years would you get out of Miles at age 63? Fleck on the other hand, should be here at least 4 years. And if he leaves after 3 or 4 years, it would probably mean he was very successful here and is going to a bigger program or the NFL.

It's clear that Coyle wanted a change in leadership for the football program for quite some time and there was no easy way to get rid Tracy Claeys coming off a 9 win season that included an impressive bowl win. He was named head coach by default when Kill abruptly resigned in October 2015. The administration had no choice but to extend Claeys last year and name him head coach. Claeys should have known he was essentially an "interim" head coach with a new AD coming in June 2016. The sexual assault report and the tweet essentially sealed Claeys' fate, but maybe Coyle should have been more straightforward and said they simply wanted to move in a new direction. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20 but things could have been handled better all around with Coyle, Kaler, Claeys and the players themselves. We now got our #1 guy so we just need to unite and move forward. Of course, winning football games will only help!
 

A. And only because it is the first time I can remember that the U got its first choice for a football coach. Didnt have to slide down the list to #9 or whatever. That said, only time will tell if that grade remains an A. Hope so.
 

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