Danny Collins

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Gopher Mac said:
You hire a DC who has never been a DC at any level of football before to be your DC in the big ten. I don't think I can add anything to that.
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As I said in another thread or post, Collins appears to be guessing and reaching, and the defense is discombobulated because he is discombobulated. P4 is not the place for a greenhorn to cut his teeth being a DC. This is 100% on the guy who put him there - Fleck. I've asked this before - does the football program have a GM? If not, get one. Now. Someone needs to be able to be a voice of reason when it comes to personnel decisions. Leaving it to Mr. 17 On My ACT on his own accord seems risky. And I generally like Fleck. I think he has done a lot for the program. He is not an X's and O's guy, so he needs solid X and O lieutenants. His DC is hemorrhaging badly. A man has got to know his limitations, like Callahan said.
 

GreasyGopher said:
Go back and watch the crossing route to #80 that went for a long play in the 3rd quarter and try to tell what the hell Mike Gerald was doing…

They’re in man coverage and he doesn't go with his man…
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Too much of that this year. I believe part of the problem with Robb Smith when he was DC is that his system was so complex that players were making a lot of mistakes. I wonder if there’s something like that going on here.
 

DarthGopher said:
As I said in another thread or post, Collins appears to be guessing and reaching, and the defense is discombobulated because he is discombobulated. P4 is not the place for a greenhorn to cut his teeth being a DC. This is 100% on the guy who put him there - Fleck. I've asked this before - does the football program have a GM? If not, get one. Now. Someone needs to be able to be a voice of reason when it comes to personnel decisions. Leaving it to Mr. 17 On My ACT on his own accord seems risky. And I generally like Fleck. I think he has done a lot for the program. He is not an X's and O's guy, so he needs solid X and O lieutenants. His DC is hemorrhaging badly. A man has got to know his limitations, like Callahan said.
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Our DC slept in a closet and has his first experience ever with us. Ohio State’s was the DC for 2 Super Bowl champions (and an assistant for another). These two people and their resumes are somehow competing in the same conference.
 

DarthGopher said:
As I said in another thread or post, Collins appears to be guessing and reaching, and the defense is discombobulated because he is discombobulated. P4 is not the place for a greenhorn to cut his teeth being a DC. This is 100% on the guy who put him there - Fleck. I've asked this before - does the football program have a GM? If not, get one. Now. Someone needs to be able to be a voice of reason when it comes to personnel decisions. Leaving it to Mr. 17 On My ACT on his own accord seems risky. And I generally like Fleck. I think he has done a lot for the program. He is not an X's and O's guy, so he needs solid X and O lieutenants. His DC is hemorrhaging badly. A man has got to know his limitations, like Callahan said.
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The GM is Gerrit Chernoff. I have no idea what his responsibilities include. I’m assuming he is the guy talking money with the players representatives.
 





DarthGopher said:
When you put it that way......holy crap.
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The optimists view is he failed miserably as head coach of the Lions, his players hated him, and he had to observe practice via a golf cart. But yeah point taken. Would be hard to say Patricia isn't having pretty much the best possible year he could as Osu dc
 

GophersInIowa said:
Too much of that this year. I believe part of the problem with Robb Smith when he was DC is that his system was so complex that players were making a lot of mistakes. I wonder if there’s something like that going on here.
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Rossi unleased/better deployed his talent: Martin; Cashman; the Huff brothers; Durr among others who quickly thrived in his simplified schemes. (I believe Winfield was injured by the the time the change was made at DC.). Currently, the defense is a mess partially due to a talent deficit.
 



This is what happens when our AD refuses to pay our staff more. Our talented coaches leave and PJ is forced to pick a guy like Danny Collins. I’m usually hesitant to overly blame coaches but my goodness
 


flyingfish said:
The optimists view is he failed miserably as head coach of the Lions, his players hated him, and he had to observe practice via a golf cart. But yeah point taken. Would be hard to say Patricia isn't having pretty much the best possible year he could as Osu dc
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Patricia’s a great example of someone who wasn’t meant to be The Guy. He’s best as The Guy Behind The Guy (as they said in Swingers). His pedigree learning defense under Belichick, and the NFL system he runs, is a perfect fit for OSU and the lineup of NFL players they have. In my opinion he’s in the ideal spot.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Too much of that this year. I believe part of the problem with Robb Smith when he was DC is that his system was so complex that players were making a lot of mistakes. I wonder if there’s something like that going on here.
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From what I'm hearing, DC is making it way too complex trying to put his own stamp on things instead of doing what worked in the previous years. He's not ready to call plays.
 




It's more than talent on defense, when people are in the wrong spots, confused not understanding where to be, look un-prepared and lethargic there are problems on the play calls. One of the issues seems to be not being ready for the snap of the ball and making the call. It's not like all the players are inexperienced either. We have the wrong guy in Collins as DC, seems evident like it did with Robb Smith. People don't forget how to tackle, or where to be, unless your putting too much on the plate on what to look for. Making the players scared of shadows and looking for plays that are not happening is making a mess of things. We don't have much depth at linebacker either.
 

If Heathernan was still here we win the Cal and NW games. Listening to JG and Burns talk about the D this morning is making it worse for me today.
 


LeftofThaDial said:
The GM is Gerrit Chernoff. I have no idea what his responsibilities include. I’m assuming he is the guy talking money with the players representatives.
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He’s the keeper of acronyms. My guess is PJ‘s taking all that nonsense too far at the expense of real football work.
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
It's more than talent on defense, when people are in the wrong spots, confused not understanding where to be, look un-prepared and lethargic there are problems on the play calls. One of the issues seems to be not being ready for the snap of the ball and making the call. It's not like all the players are inexperienced either. We have the wrong guy in Collins as DC, seems evident like it did with Robb Smith. People don't forget how to tackle, or where to be, unless you’re putting too much on the plate on what to look for. Making the players scared of shadows and looking for plays that are not happening is making a mess of things. We don't have much depth at linebacker either.
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The thing too is it’s just not that complicated and or hard to figure out if you have a competent leader at DC.
 

Maybe we can go out and get an experienced DC and go the Co-DC route next year with Collins still on the staff but in a more secondary role.

Collins makes some decent in game adjustments but his game planning leaves a lot to be desired because in nearly every game it seems like teams are able to pick us apart early.

Need an experienced leader who is better at that aspect along with some talent upgrades to get the defense back on track.

Bend but don't break has worked in a handful of games but there is no world where Northwestern's offense should have been able to do what they did to us yesterday.....pathetic effort all around on the defensive side of the ball (players and coaches).
 

Igor95 said:
If Heathernan was still here we win the Cal and NW games. Listening to JG and Burns talk about the D this morning is making it worse for me today.
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Burns take here is pretty pointed.

 

DarthGopher said:
As I said in another thread or post, Collins appears to be guessing and reaching, and the defense is discombobulated because he is discombobulated. P4 is not the place for a greenhorn to cut his teeth being a DC. This is 100% on the guy who put him there - Fleck. I've asked this before - does the football program have a GM? If not, get one. Now. Someone needs to be able to be a voice of reason when it comes to personnel decisions. Leaving it to Mr. 17 On My ACT on his own accord seems risky. And I generally like Fleck. I think he has done a lot for the program. He is not an X's and O's guy, so he needs solid X and O lieutenants. His DC is hemorrhaging badly. A man has got to know his limitations, like Callahan said.
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Chernoff by all accounts is a great guy and a longtime PJ acolyte going back to WMU but I believe he was the basketball team manager at UMich (alma mater) before his director of personnel days. We can all argue whether he’s qualified for the GM label in the NFL sense of the word we’re all familiar with. I’m still unsure of the GM function in college football. Tangentially I’m not surprised a Michigan Man brought up their ACT in casual conversation 🤣 jk


Chernoff has worked with P.J. Fleck dating back to Western Michigan in 2016. He was the director of player personnel at Iowa State from 2009 to 2015, he held the same title with the Broncos in 2016, and he has been the general manager at Minnesota since Fleck arrived in 2017. His title was modified to assistant athletic director/general manager, according to the school.

"Gerrit Chernoff is the greatest GM in the country. Not only is he a really, really special friend to me, he got 35 on the ACT, he didn't have to retake, didn't want to retake it," Fleck said after Minnesota's win over Nebraska. "He's a Big Ten guy, but he's really, really creative. We come up with a lot of things together, but he deserves a lot of credit."

…According to the Gophers' website, "Chernoff oversees all off-field aspects of the Minnesota football program."

His place at No. 17 on USA Today's list is interesting because his salary is comparable, if not higher than many GMs are getting paid at some of the top programs in the country. Chernoff is higher paid than general managers at top programs like Clemson, Michigan, and Florida State, according to USA Today.

says#:~:text=Chernoff%20has%20worked%20with%20P.J.,since%20Fleck%20arrived%20in%202017.
 
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USAF said:
Besides being gifted great field position twice, as noted above, the offense contributed to this mess by falling behind--yet again.
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You're better than this. You still have to finish those drives, which they did. And you don't hold field position against them. He's had plenty of bad games, but this wasn't one of them.
 


mngolf said:
You're better than this. You still have to finish those drives, which they did. And you don't hold field position against them. He's had plenty of bad games, but this wasn't one of them.
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The offense did pretty good.
However they also played a part in losing.
Slow start yet again. Led to playing from behind. 2 of 8 3rd downs. Weak running game. Let a 15 point lead turn into a 7 point deficit with zero points in response.
The D was awful.
The O was pretty good. But not without lending a partial hand to the loss.
 

LeftofThaDial said:
The GM is Gerrit Chernoff. I have no idea what his responsibilities include. I’m assuming he is the guy talking money with the players representatives.
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That's my guess. Manages the contracts and has PJ tell him who and how much .
 

USAF said:
The offense did pretty good.
However they also played a part in losing.
Slow start yet again. Led to playing from behind. 2 of 8 3rd downs. Weak running game. Let a 15 point lead turn into a 7 point deficit with zero points in response.
The D was awful.
The O was pretty good. But not without lending a partial hand to the loss.
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I don't know why Ijeboi didn't get more opportunities today but Taylor has been a fail. Great talent, never available. And couldn't run hard today. Most important part of a PJ team and it's been bad this year. Hope we have something more coming next year. Would have helped alot of what you just mentioned.
 

dbrad29 said:
From what I'm hearing, DC is making it way too complex trying to put his own stamp on things instead of doing what worked in the previous years. He's not ready to call plays.
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Who are you hearing this from and why do you believe them? The defense doesn’t seem that complex at all just fundamentally and conceptually bad. DC is clearly in over his head— getting your back blown out by Oregon and Ohio state is one thing, but 525 yards to Northwestern and 456 yards to Purdue (at home)?
 

gopherdudepart2 said:
PJ had poor judgement on Collins. I know we have some injury's on defense and are struggling but this isn't just players. Concepts are not logical in design. The lack of adjustments is staggering. We do not have good secondary or linebacker coaching right now either. Poor decisions by PJ to go with first year coordinator, inexperienced linebackers coach, secondary coaching is not good. I don't know how you explain linebackers and cornerbacks being so dang out of position all game? It is tough when you lose confidence but that doesn't explain lack of effort at times. Honestly the melting down by the defenders getting out of position so often at cornerback when your already taking poor angles was hard to understand.
Complete breakdowns in gaps control or even understanding where to be. I do not like the linebacker or secondary coaching. It's not good enough to be effective in Big 10. Collins lacks the ability to make things better. Need to recruit better cornerbacks and defensive lineman. The timing of blitz calls is predictable and to easy to pick up.
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Don't you think the Gophers recruit the best players THEY CAN GET at every position?
 

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