BleedGopher
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per Randy:
Saturday's game offers the Gophers a fork in the road: They can earn a signature victory in Fleck's first year or see their conference skid stretch to three games. If the latter happens, it's another sign that the installation of Fleck's program — from offensive and defensive identity, and especially his culture — will require time and patience. That's common in a coach's first year at a school.
"I call it Year Zero, and that doesn't mean you can't win in Year Zero," Fleck said. "It's just Year Zero, and you're ready for all the things that come with it. We haven't won a [Big Ten] championship in 50 years. This isn't an extension of anything else. This is brand-new, everything is different. … I got hired for a cultural build, so there's a process of that happening."
If anyone knows about a first year under Fleck, it's Zach Terrell. He was Fleck's quarterback at Western Michigan the past four seasons, and he saw the lows of Fleck's 1-11 debut to the highs of the Cotton Bowl. He also experienced the transition from an old-school coach in Bill Cubit to the new-age Fleck, who was 32 when he took the reins in Kalamazoo.
"The best thing to describe that first season is that it was a process. Rome wasn't built in a day or overnight," Terrell said.
"It's the same kind of things at Minnesota that they're going through," he added. "There will be growing pains, there will be resistance, but over time people begin to realize that the culture that he's bringing in is more than just a game. When you get buy-in from the whole team, community and everybody alike, that's when you start to see the program excel."
http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...r-results-in-year-zero-for-gophers/450788673/
Go Gophers!!
Saturday's game offers the Gophers a fork in the road: They can earn a signature victory in Fleck's first year or see their conference skid stretch to three games. If the latter happens, it's another sign that the installation of Fleck's program — from offensive and defensive identity, and especially his culture — will require time and patience. That's common in a coach's first year at a school.
"I call it Year Zero, and that doesn't mean you can't win in Year Zero," Fleck said. "It's just Year Zero, and you're ready for all the things that come with it. We haven't won a [Big Ten] championship in 50 years. This isn't an extension of anything else. This is brand-new, everything is different. … I got hired for a cultural build, so there's a process of that happening."
If anyone knows about a first year under Fleck, it's Zach Terrell. He was Fleck's quarterback at Western Michigan the past four seasons, and he saw the lows of Fleck's 1-11 debut to the highs of the Cotton Bowl. He also experienced the transition from an old-school coach in Bill Cubit to the new-age Fleck, who was 32 when he took the reins in Kalamazoo.
"The best thing to describe that first season is that it was a process. Rome wasn't built in a day or overnight," Terrell said.
"It's the same kind of things at Minnesota that they're going through," he added. "There will be growing pains, there will be resistance, but over time people begin to realize that the culture that he's bringing in is more than just a game. When you get buy-in from the whole team, community and everybody alike, that's when you start to see the program excel."
http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...r-results-in-year-zero-for-gophers/450788673/
Go Gophers!!