Coach Impression Alert...

[hungan1]

Every parent that has a kid playing football that isn't offered by Minnesota is going to have hard feelings about the program. Fleck knows there are only half a dozen kids in any class from the state that are real difference makers. It's hard to focus on building relationships with people that in the end can't help our program get better.

Every parent who thinks their kids are D1 material that is.

It is a balancing act for the Gophers. They need to cultivate good relationships with instate HS football coaches and player prospects to get the pulse of who the best players are in the state. They only have so many scholarships available.

The Gophers will offer the best players available for each position of need regardless of whether they are from out of state or not. However, they make every effort to add as many home grown talent to their roster via scholarship or preferred walk-ons.

The Gophers Spring 2017 Roster has about 32% Minnesota kids, the most from any state. Illinois and Georgia follows.



There are some players like O Linemen who think Wisconsin will give them a better shot at making it to the pros or whose parents/relatives are die hard Badgers. It will be hard to change their minds.

I wonder where Bryce Benhart is leaning as it seems like Wisconsin is working him hard.

 

[goldy93]

How on earth does someone professing to be a metro football player not know the head coach's name? Really? Not impressed.

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[Word]

How on earth does someone professing to be a metro football player not know the head coach's name? Really? Not impressed.

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There are high school football players that don't really follow college football. Might just be into the NFL.

 

[Word]

In my anecdotal experience, talking to casual fans 90% will speak positively of Fleck. I haven't encountered a hardcore fan in real life with a negative opinion of Fleck. Both groups had a similarly positive opinion of Kill and a negative opinion of Claeys. The players I spent time with loved Kill, were generally neutral towards Claeys (he seemed aloof to them), and love Fleck. I'm in my early-to-mid 20s.

For what it's worth, I know a few players that played under Brewster and Kill. They all spoke highly of Kill and especially Claeys (they were defensive players).

 

[DMB123]

As if I care about what a couple of football parents from Robbinsdale/Crystal have to say about Fleck. I sure hope Fleck is bending over backwards to establish a relationship with that program. What a hotbed of prep talent that's been over the years!

Fleck has done a nice job so far with Minnesota kids and the results show that. But a thread started based on negative comments from parents in Crystal? Give me a break.

 

[Word]

As if I care about what a couple of football parents from Robbinsdale/Crystal have to say about Fleck. I sure hope Fleck is bending over backwards to establish a relationship with that program. What a hotbed of prep talent that's been over the years!

Fleck has done a nice job so far with Minnesota kids and the results show that. But a thread started based on negative comments from parents in Crystal? Give me a break.

I don't blame him for starting the thread. He's just sharing what for him was a surprising experience. I just wouldn't read too much into it though. There are a lot of high school kids that are clueless about college football and have no shot at playing college football. There are also a lot of high school coaches with biases for or against certain programs. I'm no Fleckster, but no one can really argue the PR machine that he has started. If a kid doesn't know who PJ Fleck is, he probably doesn't know much about college football. From what I can tell, at least on paper, Fleck has done plenty to recruit MN kids at least the same amount as previous staffs.

 

[hungan1]

There are high school football players that don't really follow college football. Might just be into the NFL.

The reason that many young people today probably don't know all the name and location of the fifty states. It is not integral to their daily comings and goings. Young boys probably are more worried about pimples and whether pretty Suzy Q even notices them at all.

 

[Vandy]

They are in denial about how many four and five star athletes Minnesota produces each year.

^ This.

Very, very few players are physically and athletically suited for P5 football... and watering it down from there at times are academics.
Many, MANY teams in Minnesota have ZERO players who will play at any level of D1 or even D2 football. This is not a slight by the University of Minnesota. It is reality.

If your team players are worth a look, they will get a look. If they are not worth a look, I don't want my recruiting staff wasting their time to make people feel good.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

Hate to break it to you, but there are some people who just don't give a rat's ass about Gopher Football. If you choose to take that personally, that's your choice.

Having said that, I do find it surprising that a HS FB player in the Twin Cities didn't even know the name of the Gopher FB coach. But, that is the difference between a message board and the broader population. Everyone on this board is here because they have a high level of interest in Gopher Football and Gopher sports - more so than the general public.

There is probably a message board somewhere for fans of Broadway musicals. If I said I couldn't name a single song from "Hamilton," they would likely have the same reaction as I would when someone can't name the Gopher FB coach.

But, back to the bigger point - the Gopher FB team has not won a B1G title for over 50 years. If the Gophers had won several B1G titles, or were playing in a January 1st Bowl game every year, I think more people would pay attention, and as least know the name of the head coach. This is the state of the program. This is what Fleck hired to change. After one year (or year zero.....), no one should be surprised that Fleck hasn't changed 50 years worth of indifference and apathy toward Gopher Football.

 

[highwayman]

I love the way Paul Chryst handles himself, down to earth, he is relatable and quite honestly reminds me of the guy Minnesota fired last year. But lest I forget, you can't be successful with someone like that.

...and he is not the head coach of Wiskomsin, nor were his three predecessors. It's a whole nuther arrangement.

 

[btowngopher]

There are maybe 20 programs in the state that have had players recruited by the U in the last 10 years. Players in all of the other programs have no real history of contact with the coaches at the U. Most all conference players (the best players in the area) throughout the state have no shot of playing for the U. Now if he was talking about Eden Praire or Cretin I would be worried.


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There have been way more than 20 programs in the state that have had players recruited by the U in the last 10 years. There are probably at least 20 every year where a kid is being recruited in some way, maybe they don't get a scholarship offer, but they are being watched, talked to, invited to camps, offered walk on spots, etc.

 

[Spoofin]

^ This.

Very, very few players are physically and athletically suited for P5 football... and watering it down from there at times are academics.
Many, MANY teams in Minnesota have ZERO players who will play at any level of D1 or even D2 football. This is not a slight by the University of Minnesota. It is reality.

If your team players are worth a look, they will get a look. If they are not worth a look, I don't want my recruiting staff wasting their time to make people feel good.

I disagree with this premise. Although true that MN doesn't turn out many 4* or 5* players - MN does turn out a very large number of walk-on players for the Gophers that are critical to our success. Further, relationships with local coaches/teams is what gives us the best chance to land the few 4* and 5* players MN does turn out - and let's be honest, we need all the help we can get in that respect.

Now, I'm not saying PJ doesn't do all this, I am only saying I disagree with the idea that it isn't important here because MN doesn't have enough high-end talent.


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[GoldenGopherTilTheEnd]

Any Metro player (or in-state, for that matter) who says he doesn’t know Fleck is the Gopher coach is lying. Spade a spade. And sorry, SON, your comparison doesn’t fit. If you said you were a fan of musicals but couldn’t name a single song from any musical, maybe that would be analogous to a MN high school player no knowing who Fleck is.


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[Frank Grimey Grimes]

Any Metro player (or in-state, for that matter) who says he doesn’t know Fleck is the Gopher coach is lying. Spade a spade. And sorry, SON, your comparison doesn’t fit. If you said you were a fan of musicals but couldn’t name a single song from any musical, maybe that would be analogous to a MN high school player no knowing who Fleck is.



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I tend to agree with the lying aspect. And let's be honest, if a player genuinely doesn't know who Fleck is, that player is making no effort to even make it into a D1 program and is not a player we want or need. I agree we need walk on players from MN, but those players are the ones going to camps and trying to market themselves and would know who Fleck is.

 

[MennoSota]

I tend to agree with the lying aspect. And let's be honest, if a player genuinely doesn't know who Fleck is, that player is making no effort to even make it into a D1 program and is not a player we want or need. I agree we need walk on players from MN, but those players are the ones going to camps and trying to market themselves and would know who Fleck is.

Believe it or not most high school athletes don't worship sports. They do it for fun and for comraderie. Most kids can tell you more about their favorite video game than they can tell you about a coach they don't pay attention to. Just cause a kid plays football at a high school it doesn't mean he actually follows college sports.

 

[btowngopher]

What I don't understand is how Iowa seems to have more B1G caliber prospects than Minnesota most years.

 

[hungan1]

What I don't understand is how Iowa seems to have more B1G caliber prospects than Minnesota most years.

Ferentz has been the Iowa head coach since 1999.

In that time, MN has gone thru a few coaches: Glenn Mason 1997-2006, Tim Brewster 2007-2010, Jeff Horton 2010, Jerry Kill 2011-2015, Tracy Claeys 2015-2016, PJ Fleck 2007-Present.

Iowa has been a stable program and has developed long relationships.

 

[mikelhotka]

Good God no.

FCS Div 3 or whatever the heck NDSU plays is crap. I watched one of their games the other night.
Any NDSU fan will talk about their recent win over Iowa like they are really something but fact is Rutgers has as many Big Ten wins this year than NDSU has in 15 years.

But when is the last time NDSU has lost against a Power 5 school?

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[goldy93]

Well, I did not follow college football when I was in high school, but I knew who the coach was for the Gophers, because I read the Sunday paper and watched the news. I forgot how ignorant kids are nowadays.

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[Rog]

Another BIG reason

What I don't understand is how Iowa seems to have more B1G caliber prospects than Minnesota most years.

HOCKEY - Yes Hockey. What other BT school finds their best State High school kids choosing hockey over football as they do here in MN?

 

[#2Gopher]

Ferentz has been the Iowa head coach since 1999.

In that time, MN has gone thru a few coaches: Glenn Mason 1997-2006, Tim Brewster 2007-2010, Jeff Horton 2010, Jerry Kill 2011-2015, Tracy Claeys 2015-2016, PJ Fleck 2007-Present.

Iowa has been a stable program and has developed long relationships.

We have another bingo on this thread! Hopefully Fleck will give us some stabilization within the program. Way too many coaches and I believe the kids see that along with their parents.

 

[dpodoll68]

HOCKEY - Yes Hockey. What other BT school finds their best State High school kids choosing hockey over football as they do here in MN?

That doesn't happen very often here either. Elite hockey prospects are not very often elite football prospects, and vice versa, with rare exceptions like Anders Lee and Mark Alt. And we have never once lost the "best" HS football prospect in the state to hockey.

 

[btowngopher]

Ferentz has been the Iowa head coach since 1999.

In that time, MN has gone thru a few coaches: Glenn Mason 1997-2006, Tim Brewster 2007-2010, Jeff Horton 2010, Jerry Kill 2011-2015, Tracy Claeys 2015-2016, PJ Fleck 2007-Present.

Iowa has been a stable program and has developed long relationships.

What does the tenure of the College coach have to do with the quality of H.S. football in the state? I'm saying that with the population differences you would think that Minnesota would produce more high school talent than Iowa, but that isn't really the case. Last year a whopping 17 kids from Iowa signed with power 5 schools, compared to 6 Minnesota kids, 5 of which were gophers.

 

[Iceland12]

What does the tenure of the College coach have to do with the quality of H.S. football in the state? I'm saying that with the population differences you would think that Minnesota would produce more high school talent than Iowa, but that isn't really the case. Last year a whopping 17 kids from Iowa signed with power 5 schools, compared to 6 Minnesota kids, 5 of which were gophers.

Since you looked it up how many of those 17 Iowa kids signed with Iowa or Iowa State?

 

[btowngopher]

Since you looked it up how many of those 17 Iowa kids signed with Iowa or Iowa State?

12. They had 15 three stars and 3 four stars. Compared to 11 three stars and 0 four stars in MN.

 

[60's Guy]

Believe it or not most high school athletes don't worship sports. They do it for fun and for comraderie. Most kids can tell you more about their favorite video game than they can tell you about a coach they don't pay attention to. Just cause a kid plays football at a high school it doesn't mean he actually follows college sports.

100% true or at least many don't...it comes back to what the coach emphasizes...I will bet all the Eden Prairie kids can tell you who the Gopher coach is. It gets back to painting visions and dreams where those kids might want to continue playing college football. It can come up in practice by asking questions...did you guys watch the gophers game? See the screen play where they gained 40 yards? Let me show you what they did we are not.... etc one example of how it becomes an important teaching point in many ways depending who is coaching...there is teaching points and motivation and bigger horizons for these kids if you expand their minds.

 

[stocker08]

That doesn't happen very often here either. Elite hockey prospects are not very often elite football prospects, and vice versa, with rare exceptions like Anders Lee and Mark Alt. And we have never once lost the "best" HS football prospect in the state to hockey.

I think his point is that many prototypical athletes in the state never play football or basketball and focus strictly on hockey.

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[Dano564]

We have another bingo on this thread! Hopefully Fleck will give us some stabilization within the program. Way too many coaches and I believe the kids see that along with their parents.

#Cultural Sustainability

 

[Word]

That doesn't happen very often here either. Elite hockey prospects are not very often elite football prospects, and vice versa, with rare exceptions like Anders Lee and Mark Alt. And we have never once lost the "best" HS football prospect in the state to hockey.

I think in Minnesota you have a lot of good athletes (and with parents that have resources) that choose hockey at a very young age and then never even try the sport of football. I can already see this happening with my son's peers (mid-late elementary years). Some of them would be amazing soccer players too, but when you're playing hockey year-round it's really difficult to do traveling soccer.

I'd be curious to see some stats, but I get the impression that youth football participation is much lower in Minnesota than Wisconsin or Iowa. The only reason I can think of why we'd be producing fewer top-end football players is due to competition with a different sport. Hockey? Soccer? Basketball?

 

[MennoSota]

I think in Minnesota you have a lot of good athletes (and with parents that have resources) that choose hockey at a very young age and then never even try the sport of football. I can already see this happening with my son's peers (mid-late elementary years). Some of them would be amazing soccer players too, but when you're playing hockey year-round it's really difficult to do traveling soccer.

I'd be curious to see some stats, but I get the impression that youth football participation is much lower in Minnesota than Wisconsin or Iowa. The only reason I can think of why we'd be producing fewer top-end football players is due to competition with a different sport. Hockey? Soccer? Basketball?

Considering that Minnesota produces the most NHL players in the US, I can hardly blame an athlete for taking the path of least resistance.
Basketball has come a long way in Minnesota. It's a sport anyone can practice on their own. Soccer is still viewed as a little kids sport just to give kids some exercise in the summer and parents just sign up the kids for football in August because it's fall and it's football season. The sport that you're forgetting is baseball, which has a bigger Minnesota tradition than most people imagine.