Matt Simon to call plays in Outback Bowl

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Greg's last name sounds familiar....
 

Well, I think that answers the question of which current staff member might be the most likely internal candidate.
I've seen this guy on film (in a BTN show) and he is both well spoken and high energy.
 


Certainly like the work done with the receivers...maybe time to upgrade the play of the TEs...;)
 



BilldGopher said:
Certainly like the work done with the receivers...maybe time to upgrade the play of the TEs...;)
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Probably got to have more faith in the line before releasing the TE to run.

Otherwise the whistle is gonna blow before he turns around for the pass...
 
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Simon would seem like a guy we would want to keep around long term based on the job he has already done with the receivers. If he can gameplan and do a good job as a play caller would be all for him getting the bump to OC if they think it is the best way to go.
 



We will mot miss KC. Simon will be better which will be evident after this game.
 


Very close with Fleck all the way back to his playing days at NIU. Looks like an up and comer.
 




Word said:
Greg's last name sounds familiar....
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It doesn't sound like he's a son or directly related. Maybe he is Cousin Greg and we get some sprinkles of his coaching acumen?

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Some guy said:
Even if we have a new good coach we will probably miss having KC

I hope in the off-season they reshuffle positions. I personally like having the OC being theQB coach
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You may have a very good point there about reshuffling coaching responsibilities to maximize individual strengths. Daniel House has alluded to this too in his article mentioned down below.

IMHO, you don't want to have a complete overhaul of the current Offensive scheme nor do you want to. PJ Fleck on the other hand is a spin master. He will keep the coaches and the players calm and cool. Promoting from within may makes sense.

PJ Fleck has a conundrum in his hands. He is facing a major important challenge in his coaching career - maintaining program/coaching stability. Who do you promote? How do you keep all your coaches from jumping ship too soon? How do you reshuffle responsibilities? Who is most likely going to stay for the long haul?

Is Matt Simon ready to take the next step from passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach to OC? He has been with PJ Fleck for five years and have been connected to the Northern Illinois days, and has been groomed under Kirk Ciarrocca's tutelage for some time.

Who will assume the Wide Receivers coaching responsibilities?

If you don't promote him you run the risk of him leaving for the NFL or other coaching opportunities. No doubt he is probably also a hot commodity. One of PJ's challenges is that his coaching staff if they continue to be successful are vulnerable to poaching. Simon, Patterson, Burns are probably the top three. Will Simon be the one most likely to stay home for the long haul?

What does Gopher Football do at offensive coordinator now?

The piece by Daniel House on TE Coach Clay Patterson as have the exclusive interview by Gopher Illustrated with Clay Patterson underscores his diverse experience as a coach running an RPO offense that mirrors Ciarrocca's RPO. Yes, it utilizes Tight Ends. Patterson laid out his intriguing coaching philosophy in his article, "Dump" RPO Offense vs Man Coverages, with HUDL's X&O Labs Football Trend Reports while he was coaching at JC colleges.

There is no doubt he is a rising star in the coaching world. Kudos to PJ Fleck digging deep from his experience trying to make it in the coaching world. He has experienced the same things Patterson is going thru and he has empathy and a willingness to give somebody whose talents he recognizes a shot. PJ Fleck has an eye for identifying coaching talent early. Patterson will more than likely leave the Gophers at some point when his stock value becomes super hot. But, let's hope he stays for a few years longer.

Running Backs Coach Kenni Burns turned down an opportunity to be a head coach at Eastern Illinois recently according to FootballScoop. He can really recruit so does Callahan, Simon, and Wenger.

PJ Fleck is eating difficult conversations right now. The pace of D1 Football in the Big Ten is a lot faster than in the MAC. I don't know how this guy keeps it all in. The price of a 10-2 season success is rearing its other side.

Good luck to him making THE DECISION. I think he can't go wrong if he promotes from the inside with either Simon or Patterson. On the other hand, should he be looking externally too?
 
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A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Why do you think that?
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Top 4 or 5 in every offensive category was awesome. I feel with the weapons we have, creativity could have gotten us just one more win and the Rose Bowl. We did nothing out of the ordinary to beat Wisconsin. They did dominate our lines but we still had chances to stay in the game and win.
 

kellyleeks said:
Then why wasn’t he the OC already? So Fleck screwed up by giving KC the big contract and persuading him to pass on WVA?
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Why did he hire Robb Smith? Best available guy for the job?

Loyalty and familiarity play a huge role in PJ’s coaching hires.

Heres an interesting piece about PJ’s hiring of Kirk at WMU, after he was fired by Schiano at Rutgers. Kirk’s offense was 114/120 in the country, yet PJ still gave him a chance that nobody else likely would have.

www.nj.com

Why did Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck hire ex-Rutgers assistants as coordinators?

The days working at Rutgers prepped P.J. Fleck for his first head coaching job, and it also gave the Minnesota coach an idea of who he wanted to call plays offensively and defensively.
www.nj.com www.nj.com
 

Not only will our coaches be poached as we do well, but seeing that your career can advance if you come to Minnesota will give PJ an easy time persuading his top choices to come here. I just wish this happened Jan. 2nd..it'd be a lot easier.
 
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gopherjay said:
Top 4 or 5 in every offensive category was awesome. I feel with the weapons we have, creativity could have gotten us just one more win and the Rose Bowl. We did nothing out of the ordinary to beat Wisconsin. They did dominate our lines but we still had chances to stay in the game and win.
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What does that have to do with Simon?

Simon will do those things you think that should have been done... just because?
 



Someone please correct me if this is incorrect, but I believe "quality control" positions are new-ish to the P5, while being in place in the NFL for some time, and are essentially similar to GA positions in that they're new coaches trying to learn the craft by shadowing current coaches. You also give them lower level tasks like breaking down opponent film, etc.
 

MplsGopher said:
Someone please correct me if this is incorrect, but I believe "quality control" positions are new-ish to the P5, while being in place in the NFL for some time, and are essentially similar to GA positions in that they're new coaches trying to learn the craft by shadowing current coaches. You also give them lower level tasks like breaking down opponent film, etc.
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This is more or less correct. It’s heavily focused on “prep” at most schools, which includes film breakdown, looking at analytics/trends, building briefing books, etc. The other big difference is that the QC folks can’t have contact with or engage recruits, so it’s a more “back office” function.

However, many teams view it as a grooming slot for future coordinator and position coaches.
 

There is some NCAA limit on the number of coaches (including assistants) you can have. Positions like QC, general manager, etc. must get around that some how.
 

MplsGopher said:
There is some NCAA limit on the number of coaches (including assistants) you can have. Positions like QC, general manager, etc. must get around that some how.
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There is a hard limit on how many coach's you can have and what they do with the players.

There is no limit on outside consultants and etc, they don't get to work with the player's like coaches... but you can have an unlimited number watching film and etc.
 

Word is Simon loves to call himself some Flea-Flickers!!!
 

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