Five years ago today, P.J. Fleck was named Gophers football head coach! What is your favorite football memory since then?!

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Some guy said:
I don’t have very many INSIDE sources but I have a lot of sources who at one point were inside and here is my take on the Fleck era vs the Kill/Claeys era. I have more people who were inside in the Kill/Claeys era than I do now. So I feel stronger about the first of the next two statements than the second.




Kill and Claeys thought they should be thanked for winning 7-8 games with our shitty ass football program

fleck thought we should try to make our shitty ass football program a great one and it would take a change of attitude to do it, but it is possible
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We’re witnessing the Metamorphosis as we post - I always wanted it, but never thought it would actually happen😎🤩🥳😍
 

Some guy said:
I don’t have very many INSIDE sources but I have a lot of sources who at one point were inside and here is my take on the Fleck era vs the Kill/Claeys era. I have more people who were inside in the Kill/Claeys era than I do now. So I feel stronger about the first of the next two statements than the second.




Kill and Claeys thought they should be thanked for winning 7-8 games with our shitty ass football program

fleck thought we should try to make our shitty ass football program a great one and it would take a change of attitude to do it, but it is possible
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I have zero inside knowledge, but that makes sense to me. I'm pretty sure I remember a player sharing a story of when he committed to the U and told Claeys he wanted to win a Big Ten championship, he said Claeys almost laughed at the idea, like it was ridiculous. Probably also explains why Jerry took any criticism so personally. PJ seems to take his criticism in stride, at least publicly.

And in fairness, I do appreciate what Jerry did with a program that was in terrible shape when he came in. His tenure was definitely a success for the most part. It's what he has done since then that makes me think so little of him as a person.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I have zero inside knowledge, but that makes sense to me. I'm pretty sure I remember a player sharing a story of when he committed to the U and told Claeys he wanted to win a Big Ten championship, he said Claeys almost laughed at the idea, like it was ridiculous. Probably also explains why Jerry took any criticism so personally. PJ seems to take his criticism in stride, at least publicly.

And in fairness, I do appreciate what Jerry did with a program that was in terrible shape when he came in. His tenure was definitely a success for the most part. It's what he has done since then that makes me think so little of him as a person.
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Same. Spot on. I shouldn’t have gotten into it though. Wrong thread
 

Definitely the Penn State win followed by the win over Auburn in Tampa Bay. The wins over Wisconsin tie for third place, but they were special, too.
 

Outback Bowl and Auburn for me. I don't get the opportunity to attend many games and this one I did...and Fleck and the Gophers gave me a memory that I will cherish forever!

Lots of others as well, but the in person experience put this one on top!
 


Absolute #1 was PSU in 2019. Might be the top moment for me attending a game. My long-suffering friend dlw4gophers and I just hugged and jumped up and down on Howden's pick. Crowd on the field after was just magical.
2. Auburn
3. Casey O'Brien vs. Rutgers
4. 2018 Wisconsin
5. 2021 Wisconsin
6. 2019 Fresno State
7. 2021 Colorado - like getting let out of the hospital
8. 4-1 vs. Nebraska, ave. margin 34-24, 36-17 in the four wins.
9. (tie) 2019 Georgia Southern 3rd and 29; 2018 Fresno State ("Oh, my goodness it's Winfield!!!”)
10. Seeing the Gophers play in my new home city Phoenix.
 
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Ope3 said:
I wouldn't say "favorite" but the most "pivotal" for me was 2018, responding to getting drummed in Champaign and getting the Def Coordinator canned prior to playing Purdue at the Bank.

I remember being as un-enthused as I have ever been before heading to the game, on chilly dreary day. Felt like a chore. Gophers responded by steamrolling the Boilers, 41-10 holding them to an "oh by the way" late TD. Cashman's strip-sack and score was awesome. Defense did a 180, and there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Favorite actually might be the Off-Line just pounding Nebraska in 2019.
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Yes! I try to come back to Minnesota for a mid-to-late November game and hope for interesting weather ( I live in San Diego). When the snow started flying in the 2nd half, the Boilers clearly did not want to be there. They played like a dome team or one from SoCal. Didn't like the consolation touchdown yielded at the end., though. I liked the ring of 41-3,
 

Penn Sate, Did not even think twice about it.
 

Auburn, Outback Bowl.

Specifically, getting the ball deep in our own territory with about 8 and a half minutes left, and methodically ticking off 1st down after 1st down to end the game with a victory formation. The 4th down completion to Witham was AWEsome.
 



Wisconsin win in 2018 followed up by the absolute drubbing of Ga Tech.
 


As much as ESPN annoys me, hosting Game Day was one of my favorite steps in our progression with PJ. The crowd was in full force for both the show and the game despite the “inclement weather”.
 

I feel like the most important games were the 2 WI games. We are not relevant until we beat our rivals. WI is the standard in the West and we hadnt beaten them in so long it was considered a joke, non rivalry.

I feel like I can wear my MN gear again when I'm around my WI friends. Also, alot less Badger gear being worn and 5x more MN gear than 5 yrs ago.
 



For me, it's not even close, it was the Penn State game. I had been to so many college football games at other places and that was first Gopher game that I had ever been to that felt like a big time college football game. It didn't feel like it was "big for us", it felt like a big game.

For me:
(1) Penn State
(2) Wisconsin 2018
(3) Wisconsin 2021
(4) Auburn
(5) Casey O'Brien game (Rutgers)
 

Thomasthetank said:
I feel like the most important games were the 2 WI games. We are not relevant until we beat our rivals. WI is the standard in the West and we hadnt beaten them in so long it was considered a joke, non rivalry.

I feel like I can wear my MN gear again when I'm around my WI friends. Also, alot less Badger gear being worn and 5x more MN gear than 5 yrs ago.
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I believe when Alvarez took over the BADger job one of the first things he was advised to do was make the the rivalry game with us a top priority. Beating the rivals gets fans interested even when a team is bad and if the rebuild works they are hooked by the time the team gets good.
 

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