Fleck on NIL, Season Results, Next Year, & Indiana

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MGGopher

MGGopher

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A recent Minneapolis Times article was linked in another thread about Perich leaving - and the staff knowing that during the season - but I wanted to start another thread because there were some other interesting nuggets within that got lost in that thread.
  • He told the group that the 2025 year was “about what I expected” and a “pretty good season,” including an 8-5 win-loss record, regular season ending victory over arch-rival Wisconsin, culminating in a victory over New Mexico in the Guarantee Rate Bowl game, Fleck’s seventh consecutive post-season win here.
  • the team may be better next season because “the majority of the team will be back” headed by three key players: quarterback, Drake Lindsey, running back Darius, Taylor, and edge defender Anthony Smith
  • The team is fixing its “kicking situation” by bringing in through the portal Beckham Sunderland, described by Fleck as an “unreal kicker” who was a back-up at Michigan last year
  • Fleck lamented the “dysfunctional” nature of college football due to Name Image & Likeness (NIL)…With “no policing” and money being a dominant factor for recruitment of incoming players, college football today is “like a soap opera.”
  • Fleck deemed the success of Indiana University…“the greatest turnaround of an athletic team of all time” and “the greatest sports achievement in our lifetime.”
  • While the Gophers are “striving” to reach similar heights, Fleck said he is “striving to make it happen in a different way,” referring to a much greater emphasis on recruiting and developing high school athletes, who comprise about 80% of the roster, compared to 20% of players coming through the portal.
  • Despite rumors of his possible leaving for another school, Fleck expressed contentment with coaching and living here with his family, except for the cold winter weather. He appreciates the culture and academic environment…and he keeps his paddle in the academic waters of the institution by co-teaching a course in Leadership in the Carlson School of Business here.
  • (President) Cunningham lauded Fleck’s nine-year tenure…for his dedication to academic integrity for the football team, noting the high-grade point averages throughout the roster and in other Gopher sports.
Thoughts and feelings?
 



MGGopher said:
  • Fleck deemed the success of Indiana University…“the greatest turnaround of an athletic team of all time” and “the greatest sports achievement in our lifetime.”
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Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck.
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck.
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Each example was accomplished within the current rules and guidelines. Each team had the opportunity to compete equally. I have to agree with PJ on this one.
 


GopherTheJugular said:
Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck.
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Not the case. The transfer class ratings were in the mid 20s or worse. High school classes were rated much worse than that.
 


MGGopher said:
He told the group that the 2025 year was “about what I expected” and a “pretty good season,”
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What happened to the 2025 roster being the “best he’s ever seen” or whatever he said before the season started? Obviously Fleck is never gonna say that his team preseason will be mediocre to slightly above average, but if he truly never had insanely high hopes for the team this year I wonder why he opted for such strong language preseason. I guess that’s just who he is, but I don’t recall him saying anything that strong about other teams preseason. He usually goes for more standard “this is a really great football team” kind of talk.
 

BuiltFordTough said:
Each example was accomplished within the current rules and guidelines. Each team had the opportunity to compete equally. I have to agree with PJ on this one.
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Ok then, so by your logic, what Dan Marino accomplished in 1984 wasn't that special because QB's today are easily hitting those numbers?

The rule change is the precise reason for the success of Indiana, and rules changes are the precise reason why it's no big deal to put up almost 50 TDs and 5000 yards passing nowadays.

Doing it the harder way, before the rules made it easier, is more impressive to me.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
Not the case. The transfer class ratings were in the mid 20s or worse. High school classes were rated much worse than that.
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I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with? I never said they pulled in a top 20 class for transfers or high schoolers, so not sure why you thought that was relevant?
 

GopherTheJugular said:
Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck.
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Valvano and the Wolfpack finished 4th in an 8 team league
 

GopherTheJugular said:
I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with? I never said they pulled in a top 20 class for transfers or high schoolers, so not sure why you thought that was relevant?
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You heavily implied Indiana bought their team? Maybe I’m misinterpreting the point of the post:


MGGopher said:
  • Fleck deemed the success of Indiana University…“the greatest turnaround of an athletic team of all time” and “the greatest sports achievement in our lifetime.”
Click to expand...
“Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck.”
 

Fleck was 3 when NC State won and his players were -20.
GopherTheJugular said:
Kinda disagree here. Didn't the Florida Marlins pretty much buy their world series team? Granted, they gave up after one and went back to awful, but it's the same kinda turnaround.

Valvano and the Wolfpack beating Houston was head and shoulders above what Indiana did. Now if Indiana did what they did without NIL/transfers, then I'd agree with Fleck
Click to expand...
 






Pompous Elitist said:
Not the case. The transfer class ratings were in the mid 20s or worse. High school classes were rated much worse than that.
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Regardless of rank they plucked 55 players from the portal that they could plug in. Including one of the top qb transfers. It still took two years. In the old system I don’t even know what the equivalent turn around time would be, four or five years?
 

beatles said:
The Miracle on Ice is the correct answer to the greatest sports achievement in our lifetime.
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I agree with you, but I think the key phrase is “in our lifetime.”

A quick search finds that PJ Fleck was born in November of 1980, about nine months after the US hockey team won gold.

Hmmm… nine months afterward… coincidence?
 

btowngopher said:
Regardless of rank they plucked 55 players from the portal that they could plug in. Including one of the top qb transfers. It still took two years. In the old system I don’t even know what the equivalent turn around time would be, four or five years?
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The next time a team without a load of top end talent goes 16-0 and wins the natty we can rip on Indiana. Texas Tech OTOH did bring in highly rated players, top 3 or 5 in the nation IIRC and struggled some in the Big 12 before getting demolished in the tournament.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
You heavily implied Indiana bought their team? Maybe I’m misinterpreting the point of the post:
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You're not misinterpreting. It's just that, going out and getting/paying for the players you want doesn't necessarily mean that people will rank it high. It *could* correlate to a top 10 class or whatever, but it doesn't have to.

Transfers from James Madison aren't going to get your class ranked as high as transfers from Alabama, for example, but if those are the guys Cignetti identified that he wants in order to win, that's what matters.
 


Some guy said:
Valvano and the Wolfpack finished 4th in an 8 team league
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Which is why it was a great upset. Had they finished first in the ACC that year, their victory over Houston wouldn't stand out nearly as much.
 
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pk2 said:
I agree with you, but I think the key phrase is “in our lifetime.”

A quick search finds that PJ Fleck was born in November of 1980, about nine months after the US hockey team won gold.

Hmmm… nine months afterward… coincidence?
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The immaculate conception. Or at least one of them.
 

Okay, I'm accountable for reading through this thread but dang I'm disappointed in myself for doing so.
 


GopherTheJugular said:
Well, then instead of "all time" he should have said, "in my lifetime", no?

Are you really implying that he's never heard of that game cuz he's too young?
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  • Fleck deemed the success of Indiana University…“the greatest turnaround of an athletic team of all time” and “the greatest sports achievement in our lifetime.”
Greatest turn around of all time. NCSt. was 4th of 8 team conference and a 6th seed in the tournament. That's top 24. The previous year in 1982 NCSt. was top 20 at 26-10. So NCst. was not a turn around.

"Our lifetime" can be taken many different way.

NCSt. is no comparison on any level to what Indiana did as a program.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
The next time a team without a load of top end talent goes 16-0 and wins the natty we can rip on Indiana. Texas Tech OTOH did bring in highly rated players, top 3 or 5 in the nation IIRC and struggled some in the Big 12 before getting demolished in the tournament.
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It’s not a rip to put context to what they did. They obviously had a load of talent despite what the recruiting sites claimed. A bunch of them will be drafted. We can probably go back and time and find less talented teams that have won it all. It’s a great turnaround, but it was done by acquiring talent, not by going on some cinderella like run to the title. They were favored in the title game, it wasn’t a David vs Goliath story. They found and aquired the talent and became a Goliath.
 

Everyone paints the Indiana picture how they see it and that's fair. Indiana was basically "David" for 126 years and they became "Goliath". That is the turnaround, transformation, whatever keyword you want to use. They did it within the same guidelines every team has, regardless of perceived advantages that did or didn't exist for 126 years. The perception of a team shouldn't change when they win it all. Isn't that what makes anyone of these teams a true Cinderella in the first place?

Regarding the basketball comparisons wasn't Villanova in 85' just as big if not bigger than NC St.?
 
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GopherGuy82 said:
Everyone paints the Indiana picture how they see it and that's fair. Indiana was basically "David" for 126 years and they became "Goliath". That is the turnaround, transformation, whatever keyword you want to use. They did it within the same guidelines every team has, regardless of perceived advantages that did or didn't exist for 126 years.

Regarding the basketball comparisons wasn't Villanova in 85' just as big if not bigger than NC St.?
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It’s not perceived, it’s fact that you can change a roster much more quickly in the last 5 years. Yes everyone had that opportunity, but we aren’t comparing what they did to everyone else over the last five years, we are comparing it to the entire history.
 


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