Gold Rush
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Dan Barreiro was trying to stir the pot as usual on KFAN today, but he raised an interesting question.
With the success that PJ Fleck has shown, at what point do you try to lock him down for a long term deal?
Do you let the season play out and risk some of the big teams potentially making a run for him at the end of the season? If the team keeps winning, this is likely. You can tell he is getting to be a hot commodity and is starting to draw national attention as a pretty good young coach with remarkable results. You can see other teams fans with problems are starting to mention throwing whatever money it takes to get him, and USC was mentioned as a good fit for him. Do you sign him to a 10 year deal to close him up or would that be panicing?
I say you lock him up and keep him as long as possible and the price tag right now would be a whole lot cheaper than if he runs the team to 10-2 and the Gophers are playing on New Year's Day somewhere. I know most Gopher fans like me just want to sit back and enjoy the fun season we are having but it is just about guaranteed by the end of the season we will need to deal with this, especially if they continue to win.
Long term Gopher fans remember the day Lou Holtz left for Notre Dame. This was a crushing experience to us as we were finally enjoying some success and were extremely hopeful for a bright future. We all know how that one played out - Lou went on and won a national championship with the Fighting Irish and we hired Gutey (instead of Bobby Ross who would ALSO go on to win a national championship!) and head to mediocrity then futility under the next hire Wacker. If we have to watch this play out again, it will be an epic disaster.
PJ Fleck is probably the first coach we have had since Lou Holtz (and that was 35 years ago!) that I felt gave us a chance for a bright future. The Mason and Kill years really weren't too bad and they were both good coaches, but I never thought either would be able to go in and land a 5 star recruit over an Alabama or Clemson. I think Fleck could, especially if he continues to elevate this team.
This team has FINALLY found a guy we can rally around and call our own. Some might say we probably don't have enough of a sample size to warrant a huge raise on a long term deal but I think you need to do whatever it takes to keep him happy and keep him at Minnesota. Or he will be gone, maybe even at the end of the year and we are starting all over again. Just get it done.
With the success that PJ Fleck has shown, at what point do you try to lock him down for a long term deal?
Do you let the season play out and risk some of the big teams potentially making a run for him at the end of the season? If the team keeps winning, this is likely. You can tell he is getting to be a hot commodity and is starting to draw national attention as a pretty good young coach with remarkable results. You can see other teams fans with problems are starting to mention throwing whatever money it takes to get him, and USC was mentioned as a good fit for him. Do you sign him to a 10 year deal to close him up or would that be panicing?
I say you lock him up and keep him as long as possible and the price tag right now would be a whole lot cheaper than if he runs the team to 10-2 and the Gophers are playing on New Year's Day somewhere. I know most Gopher fans like me just want to sit back and enjoy the fun season we are having but it is just about guaranteed by the end of the season we will need to deal with this, especially if they continue to win.
Long term Gopher fans remember the day Lou Holtz left for Notre Dame. This was a crushing experience to us as we were finally enjoying some success and were extremely hopeful for a bright future. We all know how that one played out - Lou went on and won a national championship with the Fighting Irish and we hired Gutey (instead of Bobby Ross who would ALSO go on to win a national championship!) and head to mediocrity then futility under the next hire Wacker. If we have to watch this play out again, it will be an epic disaster.
PJ Fleck is probably the first coach we have had since Lou Holtz (and that was 35 years ago!) that I felt gave us a chance for a bright future. The Mason and Kill years really weren't too bad and they were both good coaches, but I never thought either would be able to go in and land a 5 star recruit over an Alabama or Clemson. I think Fleck could, especially if he continues to elevate this team.
This team has FINALLY found a guy we can rally around and call our own. Some might say we probably don't have enough of a sample size to warrant a huge raise on a long term deal but I think you need to do whatever it takes to keep him happy and keep him at Minnesota. Or he will be gone, maybe even at the end of the year and we are starting all over again. Just get it done.