Anonymous Players and Staff make unsubstantiated allegations

Donate To GopherHole
Spaulding!No! said:
Might as well tell the whole story- Jerry Kill realized his gopher teams were never going to get better so he quit before he could allow sun mediocrity to get him fired and unemployable at the BCS level. Since, everyone is throwing stuff out there.
Click to expand...
Just say Jerry Kill didn't want to put up with Toxic Academia.
 

Dateline Minneapols, MN
July 27, 2023

According to numerous public statements by Gopherhole posters, AJ Perez of easily overlooked Front Office Sports has continued his practice of toxic journalism in yet another blatant smear of the U of M Gopher football program. His personal vendetta against coach PJ Fleck displays cult-like obsession. Unnamed sources continue to be referred to without any attempt to present a balanced investigation. By the volume of statements made, on the record, by both current and former players in the program that have nothing but glowing support for coach Fleck and the program he runs, it is clear that Front Office Sports and “reporter” AJ Perez are cementing their place among the dregs of modern day media jackals. Apparently umsubstantiated , sensational click-bait accusations are the best they can do.
/
 

gopherjay said:
Still don't need it. Not a good look for the program no matter the the degree of fiction.
Click to expand...
Not a good look for UMN. It reeks of Toxic Academia. Intellect only people locked in a silo making judgements about those on the outside and not wanting their work to be subject to practical application standards.
 


Personally, PJ makes my teeth itch.
But because of Covid, redshirting, and injury years, he has players staying with his program for six to seven years so it seems most of the players like or tolerate his schtick.
All of this will be forgotten when the fall camp begins and the season starts.
 


Ewert86PC said:
Not a good look for UMN. It reeks of Toxic Academia. Intellect only people locked in a silo making judgements about those on the outside and not wanting their work to be subject to practical application standards.
Click to expand...
Say woke without saying woke brother! It's wokism run amuck, sing it from Witch's Hat Tower!
 


Plato said:
Personally, PJ makes my teeth itch.
But because of Covid, redshirting, and injury years, he has players staying with his program for six to seven years so it seems most of the players like or tolerate his schtick.
All of this will be forgotten when the fall camp begins and the season starts.
Click to expand...

Hard to imagine a Badger fan not vibing with PJ!
 





Plato said:
Personally, PJ makes my teeth itch.
But because of Covid, redshirting, and injury years, he has players staying with his program for six to seven years so it seems most of the players like or tolerate his schtick.
All of this will be forgotten when the fall camp begins and the season starts.
Click to expand...
We know because this seems to happen every year.
 

saintpauljeff said:
per ESPN, there is a retort from PJ

Click to expand...
Do we know who he might be referring to?

Fleck said the claims stem from a former Minnesota faculty member who he said "clearly has a personal vendetta against myself and our football program." He added that he believes the majority of players who speak to the former faculty member have been dismissed or removed from Minnesota's program.
Click to expand...
 

watched Fleck's presser at B1G Media Days. 2nd question was about the allegations. Fleck basically mirrored what he said in an ESPN article about the issue:

(from ESPN)

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck defended his program against what he called "baseless allegations" of mistreatment by former players and others in a recent report.

Fleck told ESPN that the claims in a Wednesday report from Front Office Sports have "been looked into multiple times since 2017" with no wrongdoing found.

Several former Minnesota players told Front Office Sports that Fleck would overlook positive drug tests and other team rules violations for players who had accumulated enough goodwill through a points system called Fleck Bank. The former players and others also claimed that excessive workouts were used as punishment, and they described a cultlike culture that contained significant intimidation.

Fleck said Minnesota has set up six channels where players can report mistreatment, including directly to athletic director Mark Coyle, who told Front Office Sports that he had never heard such claims from Gophers players. Fleck noted that Minnesota's athletic department followed the football program's lead in not permitting physical exercise to be used as punishment for athletes.

Our programming culture is proven to work on and off the field, and it's always done in a first-class manner," Fleck told ESPN. "There are tons of testimonials from past, current and future Gophers."

Fleck said the claims stem from a former Minnesota faculty member who he said "clearly has a personal vendetta against myself and our football program." He added that he believes the majority of players who speak to the former faculty member have been dismissed or removed from Minnesota's program.

"You are who you are, and you're running a very, very open, transparent program," Fleck said. "Our university knows that, our athletic department, our athletic director know that, and they experience it every single day."

on the "Fleck Bank" portion of the story - during his presser, Fleck said the Fleck Bank was an analogy he used during his first two years with the Gophers - the idea being that the more you invest in the program, the higher return you will get - like a bank. He said there were no Fleck coins.

the presser was only 15 minutes, and after Fleck's opening comments, he only answered three questions.
 








I hope there is a way to go after AJ civilly. This kind of stuff has to be stopped.
 


There is a lot about PJ I don't personally like, but this article made me laugh. First off, PJ does create and demand a bit of a "cult". Same thing as "culture" which is good - just a different word. I also have to laugh at "use workouts as punishment." So? I recall "running laps" or "lines" in basketball for punishment when I was like 6. This whole article is a complete sham.
 

goldenboy said:
Dateline Minneapols, MN
July 27, 2023

According to numerous public statements by Gopherhole posters, AJ Perez of easily overlooked Front Office Sports has continued his practice of toxic journalism in yet another blatant smear of the U of M Gopher football program. His personal vendetta against coach PJ Fleck displays cult-like obsession. Unnamed sources continue to be referred to without any attempt to present a balanced investigation. By the volume of statements made, on the record, by both current and former players in the program that have nothing but glowing support for coach Fleck and the program he runs, it is clear that Front Office Sports and “reporter” AJ Perez are cementing their place among the dregs of modern day media jackals. Apparently umsubstantiated , sensational click-bait accusations are the best they can do.
/
Click to expand...
#THIS
 

FireDaveLee said:
Biggest thing upsetting me about this: We & others now know who Front Office Sports is because none of us had heard of it before.

They got their name out there, and it's disgusting....
Click to expand...

PJ and Coyle didn't even need to refute the claims.....because current and former players have come out in droves against them. What I'm trying to say is that getting their names out there for the wrong reasons (because they are being exposed as BS) isn't really a good thing.
 

goldengophers said:
Say woke without saying woke brother! It's wokism run amuck, sing it from Witch's Hat Tower!
Click to expand...
Well, Toxic Academia is about being intellectually asleep at the wheel and only caring about your "tribe". I've always understood "woke" as having elements of reflectivity and compassion, which I don't consider anything toxic to have.
 

saintpauljeff said:
per ESPN, there is a retort from PJ

Click to expand...
Reading several articles written by Jason Stahl:
* He uses a lot of "I" statements
* He received his PhD in 2008 and then struggled to land a position worthy of his prestigious accomplishment
* As such, he became jaded against college athletics in general, and the vitriol festered for another decade
* In comes PJ Fleck, an imbecile by his standards, and now a highly compensated one
* Fleck's personality pushed all his buttons, and his ego came out swinging
* He is determined to take Fleck down to prove himself morally superior
* He seeks out disgruntled players to validate the conclusion he has already made to achieve the outcome he wants
* As an independent writer, his income relies on his stories getting air
* He found (or cultivated) a pawn in Front Office Sports
* He has an upcoming book on the secret underworld of college football and this is a primer to start generating interest (revenue)

Stahl's ego seems as huge as any college coach, but he's not recognized or compensated like one. He has fallen victim to believing his own bullshit. He also has a track record of being antagonistic.

I'm a self-proclaimed armchair psychologist. I have rendered my diagnosis.
 

DarthGopher said:
Reading several articles written by Jason Stahl:
,,,,,
Click to expand...
If Stahl is behind this certainly concur he is not a neutral observer of our Beloved Golden Gophers FB Program under Coach Fleck.

I would not enjoy sitting down and having a beer with him.
 



I feel like the thread title needs a rewrite. Instead of revealing troubling accusations it should be something along the lines off..... Annonymous Players and Staff make unsubstantiated allegations of toxic culture under Fleck.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom