Hole Poll: 5 years to the day, what grade would you give the PJ Fleck hire?

Hole Poll: 5 years to the day, what grade would you give the PJ Fleck hire?

  • A

    Votes: 123 61.8%

  • B

    Votes: 73 36.7%

  • C

    Votes: 3 1.5%

  • D

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • F

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    199
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Hole Poll: 5 years to the day, what grade would you give the PJ Fleck hire?
 


I went with a "B."

1st - I don't think you can grade based on what you think might happen in the future. You can only grade on what has happened.

Under Fleck, the Gophers have gone:
5-7
7-6
11-2
3-4
9-4

That's two seasons below .500, one season just above .500, a 9-win season and an 11-win season.
But - no division titles or conference titles.

bottom line - Fleck was hired - as I understand it - with the goal of taking the program to a different level.

So the question is not whether the program is improved, but how much has it improved. And I would say as of right now that there is still a lot of room for improvement - IF the goal is to win a division or win a conference title.
 


MNVCGUY said:
This poll would be better with +/- options to go along with the grades. But without them, this is an A hire given where the program is at and seems to be headed compared to where it was under other coaches.
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I'd go with an A- due two crappy coordinators, which have been rectified and also that he is still becoming a finished project as a coach, his previous challenges with timeouts for example.

He will be an A when we win the west in the next couple of years and A+ when we win the B10 outright and/or Rose Bowl.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
I went with a "B."

1st - I don't think you can grade based on what you think might happen in the future. You can only grade on what has happened.

Under Fleck, the Gophers have gone:
5-7
7-6
11-2
3-4
9-4

That's two seasons below .500, one season just above .500, a 9-win season and an 11-win season.
But - no division titles or conference titles.

bottom line - Fleck was hired - as I understand it - with the goal of taking the program to a different level.

So the question is not whether the program is improved, but how much has it improved. And I would say as of right now that there is still a lot of room for improvement - IF the goal is to win a division or win a conference title.
Click to expand...
We did tie for the division title in 2019. We didn't get the trip to Indy due to tiebreakers but we were co-division champs. I know some don't want to count that as a division championship but it was.
 







FullBanana said:
Same. I would have gone with B+
Click to expand...
Yeah, lower grades (C and below) are wasted on this poll because the only people who would grade Fleck that low would be those that just hate him on principal and refuse to acknowledge any of the good things that have happened since he took over.

But there is a lot of wiggle room in the A/B level the the +/- added.

I voted A but with gradients I would have been more in the B+ to A- range.
 

I went with A, certainly could listen to an argument for B. Happy (and surprised) to see nobody has given C or lower.
 

Voted B, my thoughts are consistent with a lot of what has been said so far about B+/A- being the right range. Can't be an A until we make it to Indy (especially when we are 2-8 against Iowa/Wisconsin). We are also still under .500 in conference play during his tenure. That said, the two wins against Wisconsin are the first two in a very long time, and two of the last three (the last two full seasons) were the highest and tied for second highest win totals since 2003. Liking where we are, liking where we are going, and my prediction is if you ask me in 3 or 4 years, it will be A. I'm just in the group that says winning the B1G at least once is a prerequisite to breaking ground on the statute.
 




I gave an A, though A- is maybe more accurate. Two seasons of 9 wins or more, won the axe twice, and 3-0 in bowl games is pretty darn good. 4-1 against Nebraska is nice too, although that has just as much, if not more, to do with Nebraska being bad as Minnesota being good. 4 straight wins against Purdue after Brohm was getting pumped up as the REAL next big thing in the Big Ten West feels good too. Prior to 2015, we had what, 11 straight losses to Wisconsin and 6 straight losses in bowl games? Fleck has also been willing to part ways with coordinators that aren’t getting the job done. 0-5 against Iowa isn’t great, but we did actually finish tied for 1st in the division in 2019, and tied for 2nd this year. If we go at least 5-4 in the Big Ten next year Fleck will .500 in conference overall, and he’s already over .500 against Power 5 teams, and I imagine he’ll be over .500 in the Big Ten by the time he’s done here.

He’s been pretty great in general. I guess goals going forward might be landing some more big fish in recruiting, beating Iowa, and going to Indianapolis.
 

A is reserved for a BIG title, final four and A- for Rose Bowl.

I went with B-
 


I also went with a 'B'. While we've won 11 games, we still have not won any sort of championship (or won back the pig) and IMO the recruiting HAS gotten better, but it's still not where I thought we'd be in year 5 of Fleck.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I went with a "B."

1st - I don't think you can grade based on what you think might happen in the future. You can only grade on what has happened.

Under Fleck, the Gophers have gone:
5-7
7-6
11-2
3-4
9-4

That's two seasons below .500, one season just above .500, a 9-win season and an 11-win season.
But - no division titles or conference titles.

bottom line - Fleck was hired - as I understand it - with the goal of taking the program to a different level.

So the question is not whether the program is improved, but how much has it improved. And I would say as of right now that there is still a lot of room for improvement - IF the goal is to win a division or win a conference title.
Click to expand...
I went B as well, but based on 60+ year history of program, it's more of an A-.

He had the best 1st year since Guty. (Didn't Count Claeys as he had 6 games as IHC in 2015)
His other losing season didn't include any non-conference games, so it might be skewed a bit.

Can't give a Full A for not winning the West in 2019 or 2021.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I went B as well, but based on 60+ year history of program, it's more of an A-.

He had the best 1st year since Guty. (Didn't Count Claeys as he had 6 games as IHC in 2015)
His other losing season didn't include any non-conference games, so it might be skewed a bit.

Can't give a Full A for not winning the West in 2019 or 2021.
Click to expand...
This is a great point. I'm not saying 2020 wasn't disappointing, but we didn't have the cheap wins to boost the record either.
 

Went A but if i would have thought of his against Iowa record i would have voted B.
 


I went with A - the results have been pretty good and I really like the culture he has installed.
 

For his on the field results, I'd give Fleck a B+.

But his off the field results warrant an A+. Specifically, the number of academic all-conference and all -Americans the U has had under Fleck is unprecedented. Put the two grades together and he merits an A in my book.

(Fleck also gets extra credit points from me based on the out-sized number of hawkeye and badger fans who can't stand him.)
 

I think it's a miracle deserving an A that Fleck has been able to 1. recruit into a program that languished for decades in a pro market and more recently one with growing crime. and 2. get much out of the lower star recruits he does get through his optimism and energy. I can't imagine anyone doing better here. Not a guy I'd like to have dinner with, but doing an exceptional job.
 

Given that the standard set by his predecessors, not sure how he could get anything less than an A.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I'd go with an A- due two crappy coordinators, which have been rectified and also that he is still becoming a finished project as a coach, his previous challenges with timeouts for example.

He will be an A when we win the west in the next couple of years and A+ when we win the B10 outright and/or Rose Bowl.
Click to expand...
Who hired those coordinators?
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Per the inference in the post it is Fleck. Ergo the second part if the comment - “which has been rectified.”
Click to expand...
Still hired and is part of his assessment. Probably added 4-6 losses.
 


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