Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck on last season: 'I failed'

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BleedGopher

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per Randy:

His Gophers football team finished 9-4 last year, beat Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan's Axe and won a bowl game, yet coach P.J. Fleck had a blunt assessment of his work.

"I failed as a coach last year. I did,'' Fleck said Tuesday, the opening day of Gophers spring practice.

Fleck's main issue with his coaching was Minnesota's offense. Though the Gophers did some good things, such as rushing for 198 yards per game and ranking third nationally with an average time of possession of 35 minutes, 25 seconds, their passing game was lacking, producing only 12 touchdowns and 162 yards per game, which ranked 118th nationally.

"I did not do well enough, especially on the offensive side of the ball,'' Fleck said. "We were too inconsistent. We had way too many three-and-outs. It just didn't flow together.''

Fleck's big offseason change was firing offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. and replacing him with Kirk Ciarrocca, who'll be back directing the Gophers offense after running it from 2017 through the record-setting 2019 regular season. Ciarrocca's first task is to help quarterback Tanner Morgan, who'll be a sixth-year senior, find the form the allowed him to pass for 3,253 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2019.

Fleck said Ciarrocca returns with an expanded base of offensive knowledge following one-year stints as Penn State's offensive coordinator and as an offensive analyst at West Virginia. Ciarrocca will put it to use during the 15 spring sessions.

"This is the time to be able to mold that into what we are going to be able to become,'' Fleck said. "I love Kirk's organizational skills. I love the relationship he has with the offensive players.''

www.startribune.com

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck on last season: 'I failed'

Despite a 9-4 record and a bowl victory, he had a harsh assessment for how he handled an inconsistent offense.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 



from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
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Hold up. Are you trying to imply there are cynics here that look for the negative side of everything? :)
 





short ornery norwegian said:
from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
Click to expand...
The bolded made me laugh ... PJ sounds the same. And, Maybe it's just me? Has anybody noticed his eyes look different? :)

Speaking of change: I'm pretty sure two quarterbacks saw the writing on the wall and transferred because PJ was unhappy with the offense and told the QB room Athan would be taking over at QB
 



short ornery norwegian said:
from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
Click to expand...
I mean if he considers the failure caused by him having the wrong people in place that would be the right solution right?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
Click to expand...
Some would say thank you captain obvious, but he can't fire himself.

We will see tons of changes and the most important one is Kirk and health. Fleck points out the issues at WR last year with injuries. Mo was out. In the end they had all those issues and still managed to win 9 games with a terrible game plan. It felt like an internal struggle all year. Can only look forward at this point.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
from the cynics' point of view:

"I didn't do well enough, so I fired somebody else."

this falls into the category of coaches - not just Fleck - who come out after a loss and say "this is 100% on me."

it sounds good, but is it just words or will some real changes take place?

If Fleck means this, then we should expect to see changes in the offense this season, which could potentially include changes in formations, use of personnel, and play-calling.

we shall see.
Click to expand...
With a different OC it's a pretty good bet we'll see all of that. Kudos to Fleck to owning the obvious. That might also mean playing a good young QB a bit who brings more physical talent to the field.
 

60's Guy said:
The bolded made me laugh ... PJ sounds the same. And, Maybe it's just me? Has anybody noticed his eyes look different? :)

Speaking of change: I'm pretty sure two quarterbacks saw the writing on the wall and transferred because PJ was unhappy with the offense and told the QB room Athan would be taking over at QB
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Or he told the QB room nothing. Everybody sees what happens on the practice field.
 









Watch out they might give you a Will Smith if you tell the truth.
 

Boomtime said:
A kinder, gentler poster.

Still going to give honest opinions, not some "homer" tunnel vision.

Hope that doesn't offend the loyalists.
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Just giving honest opinions doesn't get you banned from a message board. Guess time will tell if you really have turned over a new leaf.
 

To clarify my remarks:

when a coach says "I failed," IMHO, the next thing out of his mouth should be

"and here is what I am going to do differently....A...B....C....D."

Yes, recognizing that you have a problem is the 1st step. But the next step involves doing something - taking some concrete action - to fix or address the problem.

I know that coaches guard their secrets and hate revealing information.

But to me, when a coach says "I failed," if I am a reporter, my first two questions are "why do you think you failed?" and "what are you going to do differently?"

the admission of failure is not the story - the response to failure is the story.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see the team play, and see if things look different compared to last year.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
To clarify my remarks:

when a coach says "I failed," IMHO, the next thing out of his mouth should be

"and here is what I am going to do differently....A...B....C....D."

Yes, recognizing that you have a problem is the 1st step. But the next step involves doing something - taking some concrete action - to fix or address the problem.

I know that coaches guard their secrets and hate revealing information.

But to me, when a coach says "I failed," if I am a reporter, my first two questions are "why do you think you failed?" and "what are you going to do differently?"

the admission of failure is not the story - the response to failure is the story.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see the team play, and see if things look different compared to last year.
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Last season's OC ended up the scapegoat.

That is pretty obvious.

Schedule says 9 wins to me.
 

Boomtime said:
Last season's OC ended up the scapegoat.

That is pretty obvious.

Schedule says 9 wins to me.
Click to expand...
Scapegoat or maybe he really was a big part of the problem.

Offense looked good under KC the first time around. Looked bad under Sanford. I feel confident we are going to see something much more similar to 2019 when we take the field in 2022 as opposed to the inconsistent mess the past few seasons have been on offense.
 

The schedule looks pretty soft this fall. NDSU beats the Illinois team most years by 40 points. Colorado, Rutgers, NW. I would like to see a few more challenging teams.
 

Tommyboy said:
The schedule looks pretty soft this fall. NDSU beats the Illinois team most years by 40 points. Colorado, Rutgers, NW. I would like to see a few more challenging teams.
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Big Ten Schedule is out of our control. Playing one power 5 team in the non-conf is plenty considering we play 9 conference games.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
To clarify my remarks:

when a coach says "I failed," IMHO, the next thing out of his mouth should be

"and here is what I am going to do differently....A...B....C....D."

Yes, recognizing that you have a problem is the 1st step. But the next step involves doing something - taking some concrete action - to fix or address the problem.

I know that coaches guard their secrets and hate revealing information.

But to me, when a coach says "I failed," if I am a reporter, my first two questions are "why do you think you failed?" and "what are you going to do differently?"

the admission of failure is not the story - the response to failure is the story.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see the team play, and see if things look different compared to last year.
Click to expand...
He fired the OC and hired KC. That is different. He said the offense failed because he made a bad hire then continued to give him a free hand through eight games. Ok, not in those direct words but the meaning is clear. Fleck has taken a very big step forward as a head coach.
 



Tommyboy said:
The schedule looks pretty soft this fall. NDSU beats the Illinois team most years by 40 points. Colorado, Rutgers, NW. I would like to see a few more challenging teams.
Click to expand...
Meh. Alabama plays non conference schools like Mercer every year. Nothing wrong with having a cream puff non conference game or two.
 

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