Fleck said the Gophers have developed a program to address racism and he wants to be “the most empathetic head coach in America.”

[BleedGopher]

per Shama:

P.J. Fleck said the Gophers have developed a program to address racism and he wants to be “the most empathetic head coach in America.” Fleck has used speakers such as Tony Dungy and Dr. Harry Edwards to talk about race with his team. Edwards, the famous sociologist and race expert, once took Fleck and his San Francisco 49ers teammates to a California prison.

David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

shamasportsheadliners.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Empathy Champions!*


*but seriously we could use a hell of a lot more of that these days...

 

[STPGopher]

per Shama:

P.J. Fleck said the Gophers have developed a program to address racism and he wants to be “the most empathetic head coach in America.” Fleck has used speakers such as Tony Dungy and Dr. Harry Edwards to talk about race with his team. Edwards, the famous sociologist and race expert, once took Fleck and his San Francisco 49ers teammates to a California prison.

David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

shamasportsheadliners.com

Go Gophers!!

He may lose a fan or two, but most of us will support him to the fullest!

 

[FredCoxRocks]

He may lose a fan or two, but most of us will support him to the fullest!

Whenever PJ does something like this it's not uncommon for me to get an earful from some of my middle-aged to old-aged acquaintances who have a great disdain for change, and anything PJ Fleck. "Ope!...your hyper, little hipster head coach is at it again!"...or, "How many acronyms do they need to get motivated to play football?!", and the list goes on. Their misery over things that they should easily be able to block out gives me a secret satisfaction.
I think this is a good idea for reasons that don't even need to be explained.

 

[#2Gopher]

He may lose a fan or two, but most of us will support him to the fullest!

I'm on board with this 100%! No time for racism.

 

[Ogee Oglethorpe]

He may lose a fan or two, but most of us will support him to the fullest!

Kind of a dumb comment. Why would he lose a fan or two? Coach Fleck is going to do what he thinks you're supposed to do in 2021 for the people inside the program. What does that have to do with the fans or anyone else?

Saying divisive things like this doesn't really help anyone that supports Gopher sports. I know we all love to think that we're smarter and more woke and more in tune with the 'proper' culture than other people but comments like this don't really help anything

 

[STPGopher]

Kind of a dumb comment. Why would he lose a fan or two? Coach Fleck is going to do what he thinks you're supposed to do in 2021 for the people inside the program. What does that have to do with the fans or anyone else?

Saying divisive things like this doesn't really help anyone that supports Gopher sports. I know we all love to think that we're smarter and more woke and more in tune with the 'proper' culture than other people but comments like this don't really help anything

How is it divisive? This isn't about being woke or whatever YOU want to make it. Where we agree is that this does have to do with with the program internally.

Regarding a what does this have to do with a select few fans, I think you already know.

Onward and upward! Go Gophers!!!

 

[MplsGopher]

This isn't about being woke or whatever YOU want to make it.

That's exactly what he's trying to do.

 

[stocker08]

He may lose a fan or two, but most of us will support him to the fullest!

Kind of a dumb comment. Why would he lose a fan or two? Coach Fleck is going to do what he thinks you're supposed to do in 2021 for the people inside the program. What does that have to do with the fans or anyone else?

Saying divisive things like this doesn't really help anyone that supports Gopher sports. I know we all love to think that we're smarter and more woke and more in tune with the 'proper' culture than other people but comments like this don't really help anything

"Why would he lose a fan or two?".....and then proceeds to whine and complain about why this is bad.

 

[STPGopher]

That's exactly what he's trying to do.

Perhaps? Only He/ She truly knows.

 

[Ogee Oglethorpe]

How is it divisive? This isn't about being woke or whatever YOU want to make it. Where we agree is that this does have to do with with the program internally.

Regarding a what does this have to do with a select few fans, I think you already know.

Onward and upward! Go Gophers!!!

Still not sure why fans would care what the coach is going to do as he addresses the team and how he handles education and awareness within the program? What the coach does with his team and his players and his coaches is his business. If I were him and my target demographic were D-1 athletes from 15-23 years old, I'd be saying and doing a lot of the same things. Fleck is a very very smart football coach and I think he's doing a great job of running this program.

Outside of a few people that aren't really crazy about his particular style, I think he's got the support of just about everyone that cares about Gopher sports and Gopher Football

 

[MplsGopher]

Still not sure why fans would care what the coach is going to do as he addresses the team and how he handles education and awareness within the program?

The people that would care are people who would write things like:

I know we all love to think that we're smarter and more woke and more in tune with the 'proper' culture than other people

 

[STPGopher]

Still not sure why fans would care what the coach is going to do as he addresses the team and how he handles education and awareness within the program? What the coach does with his team and his players and his coaches is his business. If I were him and my target demographic were D-1 athletes from 15-23 years old, I'd be saying and doing a lot of the same things. Fleck is a very very smart football coach and I think he's doing a great job of running this program.

Outside of a few people that aren't really crazy about his particular style, I think he's got the support of just about everyone that cares about Gopher sports and Gopher Football

Look, This isn't about me nor you, but the program. I think(?) we agree. Regarding a few fans(?). There are a few that are opposed to what Fleck is doing, and what is currently going on in the world. Some have voiced it here. Even to the point of questioning why such things are necessary.

Go Fleck, Go Gophers!!!

 

[STPGopher]

"Why would he lose a fan or two?".....and then proceeds to whine and complain about why this is bad.

I admit that I find it odd as well. I choose to be careful with my words and just say that change for some is hard.

 

[fan of Ray Williams]

Whenever PJ does something like this it's not uncommon for me to get an earful from some of my middle-aged to old-aged acquaintances who have a great disdain for change, and anything PJ Fleck. "Ope!...your hyper, little hipster head coach is at it again!"...or, "How many acronyms do they need to get motivated to play football?!", and the list goes on. Their misery over things that they should easily be able to block out gives me a secret satisfaction.
I think this is a good idea for reasons that don't even need to be explained.

I'm an old guy and like you say, had reservations about Fleck when he arrived. Really grown to admire him, especially the last year or so and the way he handles the off field stuff.

 

[WoodburyTim]

If he truly wanted to show elite level of empathy, he would quit to open the job up for an African-American candidate.

A lot of white people in positions of power talk a lot about lack of opportunities and fairness, but no one ever opens their own spot earned through whiteness and privileged? Probably because they think they got their own job through hard work and talent.

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

If he truly wanted to show elite level of empathy, he would quit to open the job up for an African-American candidate.

A lot of white people in positions of power talk a lot about lack of opportunities and fairness, but no one ever opens their own spot earned through whiteness and privileged? Probably because they think they got their own job through hard work and talent.

if you haven't, you should read guns germs and steel. Good book

 

[Catechol]

The initiative itself is great. Fleck saying “I want to be the most empathetic head coach in America” makes it, again, mostly about him and what he’s doing.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

The initiative itself is great. Fleck saying “I want to be the most empathetic head coach in America” makes it, again, mostly about him and what he’s doing.

I feel like this is an endless lazy criticism for a head coach that you could never avoid.

He is the head coach, yeah he's gonna mention what he is doing... that's how it works.

We're all on this forum... posting about what WE THINK.

 

[MplsGopher]

If he truly wanted to show elite level of empathy, he would quit to open the job up for an African-American candidate.

That's not empathy.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

I guess this is where I am -
If Fleck wants to be "the most empathetic head coach in America," fine. He is the head coach and can set whatever goals for the program he wants to set.

My question is why this needs to be publicized. Is this going to help the team recruit better players? (I suppose that's possible) or win more games?

This is where Fleck becomes a rorschach test of sorts. Some people look at this, and they see Fleck setting standards for his program and improving the team's culture. Other people look at this, and they see Fleck promoting how "woke" he is and making it about himself and not about the team.

I just want to know who the bleep is going to start at WR and whether the run defense is going to be better. Screw empathy - give me a nose tackle who can control the line of scrimmage.

 

[Taji34]

I guess this is where I am -
If Fleck wants to be "the most empathetic head coach in America," fine. He is the head coach and can set whatever goals for the program he wants to set.

My question is why this needs to be publicized. Is this going to help the team recruit better players? (I suppose that's possible) or win more games?

This is where Fleck becomes a rorschach test of sorts. Some people look at this, and they see Fleck setting standards for his program and improving the team's culture. Other people look at this, and they see Fleck promoting how "woke" he is and making it about himself and not about the team.

I just want to know who the bleep is going to start at WR and whether the run defense is going to be better. Screw empathy - give me a nose tackle who can control the line of scrimmage.

Y-You realize those things are not mutually exclusive, right?

 

[CentralGopher]

Results on the field matter to me more than other stuff he does. Win and I don't care how woke he is.

 

[Unregistered User]

Did he call a press conference to announce this, or did Shama dig this up while doing his job?

 

[gopherjay]

I just want to watch football and enjoy the day. I want everyone to be able to get along and work to progress on all forms of racism.

 

[GFBfan]

Did he call a press conference to announce this, or did Shama dig this up while doing his job?

Shama probably pulled this from the same place he pulled the Garcia, Holmgren, Reuvers, Thompson scoop....his a$$

 

[MaroonShaft]

Go gophers

 

[hungan1]

I guess this is where I am -
If Fleck wants to be "the most empathetic head coach in America," fine. He is the head coach and can set whatever goals for the program he wants to set.

My question is why this needs to be publicized. Is this going to help the team recruit better players? (I suppose that's possible) or win more games?

This is where Fleck becomes a rorschach test of sorts. Some people look at this, and they see Fleck setting standards for his program and improving the team's culture. Other people look at this, and they see Fleck promoting how "woke" he is and making it about himself and not about the team.

I just want to know who the bleep is going to start at WR and whether the run defense is going to be better. Screw empathy - give me a nose tackle who can control the line of scrimmage.

LOL! We wanted a transformative coach who can recruit and sell Gopher Football. I guess we can't shut his motor off.

A lot of it is PR. The more publicity, the more recruiting opportunities. He takes every opportunity to market the Gopher Brand seriously. He seizes and thrives on being a half and half guy. Half think he is far off flakey. The other half think he is the next best thing to slice bread.

There isn't a week especially during football season where you do not hear about Gopher Football. He gets National media attention. But, he had to work hard to achieve this.

He genuinely care about his players and about positive transformation.

In contrast, I was in Oklahoma on company assignment one week during the Barry Switzer era. There wasn't a single day or a sanctuary where you could escape the Sooner Schooner Blitz every single moment. It is like a religion down there - radio, TV, advertisement signs, people chatting about Sooner Football in flight, at Walmart, the gas station, at the On The Border Restaurant.

The hope is that when the Gophers win a title someday, the rest of the football world will take the Gopher Football seriously.

That is the fair standard for success for any coach. Until then, we have to keep listening and hoping.

 

[BilldGopher]

I'll offer that he is the pre-eminent D1 Football coach in Minnesota who's institution happens to be in located in "Minneapolis."

Whether like it or not after May 25, 2020, the reality is the home of our beloved University of Minnesota is now synonymous with the racial struggles that continue to challenge our country.

Coach Fleck is just staying ahead of the curve in the way he thinks elevates his FB program above it but very importantly without ignoring it. Not an easy task. Only time will tell if it will fully translate to the field.

My 5 cents is that it will.

 

[So_Money]

*sigh*

But if it gives an edge, whatever.