Fleck is fired up on KFAN

[Bob_Loblaw]

Honestly, we are lucky he hasn't left yet. There is very little support for this program across the state IMO. MUCH more since he has been here than before he was.

He has a tough row to hoe here. Minnesota, if you ask fans across the country, is looked at as a mid to poor football program.

We pay him $6 million per year with extremely reasonable expectations. There are not 30 jobs better than Minnesota and there are not 10 jobs that could pay him anywhere near what we pay him that would be interested in him.

 

[50PoundHead]

This. There's plenty of talk on this forum of the big money and big corporations in this state implying that they have some kind of obligation or are some kind of untapped resources. But with very few exceptions, the "big corporations" have no interest in NIL. The money is going to come from small to midmarket businesses, owned by U of M sycophants, if such a thing exists. As a business owner myself, I see almost no value, if any value at all, to my business by paying an athlete at the local university for whatever qualifies as NIL. As a shareholder in some of the F500s or frankly any publicly traded company, I'd be pissed to learn that corporate resources were supporting NIL activity and I would guess I'm a much bigger sports fan that your typical BOD of these companies. NIL is going to have to come from fanatic car dealers, bar owners, etc. It's hard to see that happening in a lukewarm fan base of a mediocre football team.

I hate to sound like a broken record but what college football is missing is the parity of the NFL. NIL is only going to exacerbate that lack of parity. As much as I hate to see the loss of regionalism and regional rivalries, college football will need to nationalize, with the top tier consisting of 30 or 40 schools, who pay players a percentage of revenue with a salary cap. This would prevent an amalgamation of talent at a few schools. From there, the league is regionalized so that the playoffs have regional representation. The players will still have their NIL, and that might convince some players to play for the helmet schools for less, but increased parity and interest would eventually lead to a few fanatics ponying up at places like Minnesota.

And I think Minnesota is included in this league based on market size. But I think there are certainly a number of schools left out of this top tier. Iowa doesn't get two teams. Neither does Kansas or even Arizona or the Bay area.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of this but where we are now in college football and where we'll be next year does not excite me. In this current environment, the U couldn't win the Big 10 West with Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin all much worse programs than they've been in the last 20 years. How does the U ever become relevant in the new Big 18? It's better for CFB fans to follow FCS and lower divisions of football where there still exists some semblance of those things that make college football special.

Pretty much agree. Only big corporations that will be tossing in are those that are already tossing into national ad campaigns (thinking Heisman House) where Caleb Williams is now getting paid. But Williams, having won the Heisman, would be getting that money if he played for USC, Oklahoma, Minnesota, or Augsburg. Unless there is an absolute tie between a corporation and a school, NIL won't play into it at all and the money will be coming out of the existing ad budget and marketing strategy and if, after a couple of years, using NIL doesn't make any difference (or if sales or market share go down), corporations will abandon it.

I agree that smaller operators (bars, restaurants, local businesses) may throw some money in the NIL direction, but it's not going to result in multi-millions going out. You will have isolated examples of it moving guys--and sometimes really important guys--from one school to another. It's probably bigger in basketball, where the marginal benefit of a single player is much higher than in other sports.

Further agree that the bigger problem is the whole conference situation and the stress of a single national market at the expense of a network of smaller regional entities.

 

[tpbeight]

Why didn't Taylor go to Michigan this year then? Who have we lost to NIL besides Bucky? Didn't Cincinnati make the CFP 2 seasons ago? Didn't TCU make it last season? Clemson is going to miss it for the 3rd straight season. Alabama continues to look less and less dominant. When has Texas ever made the CFP?

Good lord this board has become a complete shit show this week.

NIL is only now taking root. I would consider Cincy & TCU pre-NIL. Nobody knew what the far-reaching ramifications would really be. We're only now seeing it with the combination of super conferences & NIL. In my estimation, this is the last season any smaller, non-traditional power has any hope of rising up and making the CFP. Next year, it's a whole new landscape. TX might have had a run of bad coaches or bad recruiting, but they'll never run out of money to pay better players. That alone could make all the difference in the world.

DT: Any kid could say "hey, Michigan's backfield is crowded right now. They have 2 studs returning. I'll go to MN & establish myself, then pick through the offers that come." Who knows what his thinking is? I guess we'll see. Maybe he wanted to play football this year instead of watch? Maybe playing & having success at MN will make his talents more marketable this off-season? Maybe.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Thinking more about this, why would you make that statement? Is it an assumption? Just because Irving left, you assume Taylor is gone as well? If so, that's a pretty lousy thing to do to Taylor publicly. Or has Taylor already declared to Fleck that he's going wherever the money is next year? That doesn't make a lot of sense either. I don't see a lot of good in telling everyone a player that's currently on your active roster won't be back 4 games into a season.

 

[dbmn]

At this point I'd write off football and just take the huge payday and spend on basketball and hockey. Just put out a collection of 85 walk-ons and lose big while getting PAID.

Couldn't the B10 decide the revenue split for TV and bowl games based on metrics other than you're a B10 school, e.g. TV viewers or ratings. In that scenario fielding a team of walk-ons would damage the entire athletic department since there's only 2 revenue sports.

 

[tpbeight]

Honestly, we are lucky he hasn't left yet. There is very little support for this program across the state IMO. MUCH more since he has been here than before he was.

He has a tough row to hoe here. Minnesota, if you ask fans across the country, is looked at as a mid to poor football program.

After Saturday, do you think Michigan State is really fired-up about PJ? He had the better team and found a way to lose. I used to worry about losing him but i don't anymore.

 

[tpbeight]

It's actually a tipping point in all sports. The professional sports love parity because it keeps all of their fans engaged as much as possible.

College football is treading into some strange territory where they are intentionally dissolving some of the things that make it great (conferences based on regional rivalries, etc.) then they are mixing in things like the transfer portal where we don't get to watch guys like Bucky go from being a FR to JR/SR in our program and now the NIL stuff is just gasoline on that flame.

All of these changes were probably inevitable but I in a sport that is so steeped in tradition, I'm not sure dramatic change is in its best interests. It'll continue to do well because football is king, but I think the next 8-10 years could be the beginning of the pendulum swinging here. I hope I'm wrong.

Agree. You need fans. They need a team to root for. If MN becomes irrelevant, who in this state is going to care that much about college football anymore? College football could become a regional sport down the road. Are Iowa & Wisconsin going to be able to hang with Michigan, Ohio State & USC in 3 years. Are they going to have the money to compete for players? You could lose regions or entire states where schools are turned into feeder programs. Those fans are going to be disillusioned. If you LOVE college football you're not just going to shrug your shoulders and start rooting for Alabama all of a sudden.

 

[Goldmember]

it sounds like PJ, like many of us, is overly emotional after a gut-wrenching loss.

PJ is just telling the truth about how college football works now. It’s others who are reacting emotionally.

 

[disco]

There was outrage over cutting gymnastics? I must have missed that.

Men's NCAA gymnastics has been a dying sport for years. Very few schools still sponsor it.

 

[disco]

Agree. You need fans. They need a team to root for. If MN becomes irrelevant, who in this state is going to care that much about college football anymore? College football could become a regional sport down the road. Are Iowa & Wisconsin going to be able to hang with Michigan, Ohio State & USC in 3 years. Are they going to have the money to compete for players? You could lose regions or entire states where schools are turned into feeder programs. Those fans are going to be disillusioned. If you LOVE college football you're not just going to shrug your shoulders and start rooting for Alabama all of a sudden.

I would say that in western MN, there is a LOT more support for NDSU, SDSU and to some extent UND for college football. Very little attention is paid to the Gophers. On the flip side, go into any small town bar in Wisconsin, and you'll likely see Badger swag just like you do the Packers and Brewers.

 

[SHGopher]

This is a Vikings town. And then Twins... Etc. Pro sports. That competes for financial support.

And then St Thomas with ties to the business community is trying to climb up.

On the other hand, Big Ten sports are big time sports. There's only one Big Ten school in town, so there's value and opportunity.

It is what it is.

 

[SHGopher]

Men's NCAA gymnastics has been a dying sport for years. Very few schools still sponsor it.

Nobody cares about men's gymnastics. Times change. Any new sports added would be different sports. Like Lacrosse. And bolster what we have first.

 

[Ewert86PC]

There was outrage over cutting gymnastics? I must have missed that.

You must not know anyone affiliated with the Men's Gymnastics program.

 

[btowngopher]

The answer is no one else in football, even though several could have left and didn't.

Evans has proven nothing on the court yet. He wasn't even dominant in high school.

This has just begun. You think it will never happen again? We haven’t had that many guys that teams would be coming for yet.

 

[btowngopher]

After Saturday, do you think Michigan State is really fired-up about PJ? He had the better team and found a way to lose. I used to worry about losing him but i don't anymore.

That game is irrelevant. What would make them think Fleck could elevate them to a team that can compete in the East? They have more recruiting pull then we do here, but it’s still behind the East powers. I don’t think Fleck is a top 3 choice for them.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

This has just begun. You think it will never happen again? We haven’t had that many guys that teams would be coming for yet.

This is the difference -$100M in 7 days and this is only from 30 donors- they wanted to move to the ACc as they now have the platform to compete for national tiles -

SMU raises $100 million in seven-day stretch from key donors to support upcoming ACC move

The Mustangs won't receive TV revenue from the ACC for up to nine years upon joining in 2024

www.cbssports.com

SMU will forgo television revenue for up to nine years upon joining the ACC in 2024, but the Mustangs' donor base is stepping up to curb any financial disadvantage. The university raised $100 million within a seven-day stretch to support the school's upcoming transition to its new conference, it announced Monday, centering on financial commitments from thirty individuals that include "trustees and key donors."

"This is an unprecedented financial commitment from a core group of donors who have understood from the beginning that moving to the ACC will be transformational for our University on both athletic and academic levels," SMU President R. Gerald Turner said in a statement. "While there is still much work to be done, the ability to rally this kind of support in just one short week demonstrates that SMU and Dallas recognize the excellence of this opportunity and are stepping up to support it."

SMU, along with Cal and Stanford, accepted an invitation in early September to join the ACC, though under the condition that none of the three schools will receive full television revenue shares out of the gate. While the Mustangs will be without TV revenue for the first nine years, the Golden Bears and Cardinal will receive 30% television revenue shares for the first seven years; that number increases to 70% in Year 8 and 75% in Year 9. The additions will bring an estimated $72 million in additional media rights revenue to the ACC, per multiple reports, with up to $60 million of that revenue distributed to existing members in a revised model.


This is not the first time that SMU's robust donor base has delivered. In the past year, SMU secured a $50 million commitment from the Garry Weber Foundation -- the largest gift in SMU athletics history -- to help fund a new $100 million end zone complex at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, set to open in time for the Mustangs' first season in the ACC next year. The school isn't expecting fundraising efforts to slow down anytime soon, either.

"When we announced on September 1 that SMU would be joining the ACC, I was highly confident that we would be able to cover the cost of the transition into what is one of the top three collegiate athletic conferences in the country," David B. Miller, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees, said in a statement. "To be able to raise this level of support in such a short period of time is astounding. It is an incredible start in our campaign to position SMU to compete for championships. I cannot express how grateful I am for the visionary leadership it demonstrates."


SMU's entrance into the ACC will put the Mustangs back in a major NCAA athletic conference for the first time since 1995-96, the final year of the Southwest Conference before it dissolved. Since 2013, the Mustangs have been members of the American, which already lost Houston, Cincinnati and UCF to the Big 12 before adding six new members earlier in 2023.

 

[howeda7]

Why didn't Taylor go to Michigan this year then? Who have we lost to NIL besides Bucky? Didn't Cincinnati make the CFP 2 seasons ago? Didn't TCU make it last season? Clemson is going to miss it for the 3rd straight season. Alabama continues to look less and less dominant. When has Texas ever made the CFP?

Good lord this board has become a complete shit show this week.

Even dropping down to the Summit League won't work. T Denny will fund SDSU into a powerhouse to spite the Gophers. Might as well disband athletics...

 

[Full Speed Ahead]

This. There's plenty of talk on this forum of the big money and big corporations in this state implying that they have some kind of obligation or are some kind of untapped resources. But with very few exceptions, the "big corporations" have no interest in NIL. The money is going to come from small to midmarket businesses, ...

In general, I agree with you, but that doesn't mean a big business won't do NIL. A simple example could be Taylor Corporation (180+ publishing companies with 10,000+ employees owned by Minnesota's Glen Taylor) doing something with Darius Taylor. Seems that that'd be a pretty easy sell for an AD that had an ounce of marketing skills (which Coyle does not) to make happen, at least in some small way. Or Mayflower Moving sponsoring the O-Line.

I also think a small amount of NIL money would make a big splash for a MN company - the positive publicity you'd get would be much larger than running commercials on TV. Take a MN-based restaurant chain like "Crisp and Green" - for something like $20K in NIL funding, they'd get a lot of mention and new brand awareness. It'd be easy to put together a campaign about healthy eating and Gopher athletes. Or Midwest Fence sponsoring players on "D-Fence". There are legions of such deals that could be put together, again, for a fraction of the cost of running TV ads.

It's like Coyle is waiting for the phone to ring vs reaching out to businesses with NIL concepts. We should have hired Najarian instead (and Najarian did want the AD job).

 

[howeda7]

Correct, and I agree on Evans. I'm not sure why everyone was so gung ho on the guy.

Wingspan....

 

[Schnauzer]

I feel like many of us have one foot out the door already. I just talked to my first season ticket holder that is actually giving his tickets up because of the extended advertising and resulting loss of in game, in stadium passion. If Bucky Irving becomes a trend, I’ll be voting with my feet long before I will be digging for the bottom of my pockets for NIL donations.

I already can’t imagine trying to be a fan of a MAC team. The power 5 is trending toward the power 2 and the Gophers are already a member of a conference poised to be one of two left with chairs in this game of musical chairs. It is awash in TV money. With all that wind at our back and we still become someone else’s AAA team? I’d be out. I suspect many others would lose interest too. Then let Ohio State, Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia negotiate their TV deals when the sport collapses upon itself. I suspect the new TV deals would be similar to AAA baseball tv deals. Good luck.

 

[SHGopher]

Glen Taylor went to Minnesota State (Mankato). And he's a major player in pro sport. I wouldn't expect him to help U of M. I could be wrong.

Taylor Center - Facilities - Minnesota State University - Mankato Athletics

The official facilities page for the Minnesota State University - Mankato Mavericks

msumavericks.com

Wolves and Lynx owner donates $7 million to MSU Mankato

Mankato businessman Glen Taylor and his wife Becky are donating $7 million to Minnesota State University Mankato. The money will establish an institute, a faculty position and a scholarship, all centered around nursing.

www.mprnews.org

Minnesota State - Glen Taylor offers up to $500,000 to help hurricane-affected students attend two MnSCU institutions

 

[Gopherchase]

Kinda interesting (or pathetic) for Fleck to bring up NIL this week of all weeks.

Galling after that abomination of a 4th quarter in Evanston, which has absolutely zero to do with NIL.

This

 

[PMWinSTP]

Oh my, the hot takes in this thread.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

He's on right now.

Says we are going to be a AAA club for somebody else if we can't get some NIL money.

Does anyone know of a elementary school looking for a social studies teacher?

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

This has just begun. You think it will never happen again? We haven’t had that many guys that teams would be coming for yet.

It will happen again. It will happen to every team. I'm sure no other teams could use a Tyler Nubin, Justin Walley, a John Michael Schmitz, a Mo Ibrahim. I know we're frustrated with Spann Ford right now and Lindenberg hasn't been healthy, but they would still start for a lot of P5 teams. I'm sure even AK could have had offers with guys like Graham Mertz, Payton Thorne, and Joe Milton all starting in the SEC this season. We didn't get to 9-4 the last two seasons lacking players who could start for a lot of other programs.

On the other side, fewer and fewer highly rated recruits will be willing to sit 2-3 years to play at schools like Alabama, Georgia, etc like they used to. You're seeing Clemson take a step back already. Alabama and the SEC in general no longer looks as dominant so far this season.

There's also a tipping point with NIL, and it will work itself out. Texas A&M pays everyone six figures and won 5 games last year. In basketball Florida Atlantic and San Diego St were in the Final Four. Kansas St lost their best player to NIL and still made the Elite 8. Calipari has payed his players for decades and he hasn't made the Final Four in 8 years.

 

[goldengophers]

Maybe the worst possible time for him whine about this. He needs to focus on in game coaching.

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

So, without reading this entire thread, I would hope Dinkytown Athletes has reached out to some of the most influential football alum to ask for money and get the ball rolling for NIL Gophers

Just a few names that come to mind: Pete Najarian, Rickie Foggie, Matt Spaeth, Eric Decker, Darrel Thompson, Tony Dungy....all the current players in the NFL

What happened to all those Fortune 500 companies that Fleck identified as potential NIL donors.

I have only a basic idea of how the Dinkytown Athletes thing works and I have no interest ingesting involved, but getting players like Taylor some real money shouldn’t an impossible ask.

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

Why didn't Taylor go to Michigan this year then? Who have we lost to NIL besides Bucky? Didn't Cincinnati make the CFP 2 seasons ago? Didn't TCU make it last season? Clemson is going to miss it for the 3rd straight season. Alabama continues to look less and less dominant. When has Texas ever made the CFP?

Good lord this board has become a complete shit show this week.

Shitty and embarrassing losses have directly contributed to this shit show of a week.

 

[GoodasGold]

So, without reading this entire thread, I would hope Dinkytown Athletes has reached out to some of the most influential football alum to ask for money and get the ball rolling for NIL Gophers

Just a few names that come to mind: Pete Najarian, Rickie Foggie, Matt Spaeth, Eric Decker, Darrel Thompson, Tony Dungy....all the current players in the NFL

What happened to all those Fortune 500 companies that Fleck identified as potential NIL donors.

I have only a basic idea of how the Dinkytown Athletes thing works and I have no interest ingesting involved, but getting players like Taylor some real money shouldn’t an impossible ask.

Burrito Loco can offer only so much.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

That's over a 17 year period, where we saw the Gophers get a new football stadium and a new athletes village/practice facility.

How do our football results compare to Indiana/Illinois? How about our stadiums? Are we that far behind Iowa as a football program?

Yes. Way behind Iowa. They've had one losing season since 2007. Multiple NYD bowl games. Averaged more than 60K per game every year for over 40 years. Gophers are way closer to Indiana or Rutgers than they are to Iowa as a program.