Maybe I'm wrong, but this is how you know Fleck needs to go

Fleck needs to go now. Enough is enough. Head coaches at competitive schools get fired for a whole heck of a lot less, let alone being punched in the mouth by our rivals year after year. It’s pathetic and it’s time to pull the bandaid off!

Is Minnesota a 'competitive school'?
 

I just don't know how this gets better without him evolving his offensive strategy.
The evolution of human beings took less time. I might agree to keep Fleck if we re-work his contract to add that every time he loses, the head coach from the opposite team gets to kick him square in the nuts on the 50 yard line on live TV.
 

Fleck does need to go. We all know the many different skills a college football coach needs to have to be successful. Pre-NIL Fleck was a very solid recruiter and seemed to be good at creating a culture the kids liked to play under. But NIL money has changed recruiting dramatically. Trying to sell a program is outweighed by how much NIL money a kid can get. The recruiting aspect is all but gone and is now more a business arrangement. Fleck's glaring weakness has always been game day management. He is and has always been very weak here. If Fleck's strength is no longer relevant, than neither is he as HC. I do think that Fleck is a victim here of circumstances beyond his control with the exception of game day coaching which is all on him.
 

He chooses his coordinators because they are who he wants or because they are the only ones who will work for him. Neither is good. I am not sure which is worse.
 



He chooses his coordinators because they are who he wants or because they are the only ones who will work for him. Neither is good. I am not sure which is worse.
In his defense the coordinator budget is the worst in the B1G
 


Potentially, PJ Fleck's last season would be 2026-27.

Next season the team needs to sign veterans via the transfer portal. You can win now with transfer players.

Gophers probably have a good QB next season. Will need the young o-line guys to develop and start next season. Perich should be strong. Need to find some MAC and P-4 "stuck behind someone" transfer gems.

NIL budget is the #1 correlation to success but not everything. tOSU has a $20 M budget.
 

Really enough data now to just state that I-O-W-A under Ferentz has Coach Fleck's number. It's sad but true.

However, mostly they've had our number from Mason on...which I consider when the Administration under Yudof decided revenue sports mattered to the University's Mission. Here's brutal reality:

1727018329855.png
Way too much yellow on this chart regardless of the HC...
 



I think folks are shocked at how brutal the second half went after a competent first half on both sides of the ball.

It's really inexplicable
Again, zero ability to adjust. Iowa did that run play around the left end 4-5 times for 10-20 yards each time.
 


Fleck found success with momentum when his program was new. He reached a high in 2019. He lost the momentum during the Covid year and while occasionally competent does not have momentum nor any sense that the program will achieve 2019 again.

Oh, and as fun as 2019 was, it was getting punched in the mouth by Iowa that left that the Gophers short of the Rose Bowl. Win 2019 Iowa and the Gophers are in a new tier and perhaps the recruiting level goes up and sustained success is possible.

So, yeah apathy has set in. You can like Fleck, I do, but honestly is he going to recapture the upward trajectory?

Doesn’t help that the college game continues to be screwed to chase dollars. The University of Minnesota is a phenomenal asset not just to Minnesota but to the world. I don’t see how the Gophers get a shot at the top of college football but then again I don’t get how the direction of college football fits with the mission of the U of MN.
Great post. It does not help that we are at the bottom of NIL money in the Big. Until the NCAA enacts some equity into the system I am less engaged in the games. I always want our teams to win but have definitely taken a step back. I have supported PJF in his overall efforts to run a quality program but his lack of in game adjustments n coaching staff leave us falling further behind. It doesn’t help that we have a pathetic NIL budget.
 




Really enough data now to just state that I-O-W-A under Ferentz has Coach Fleck's number. It's sad but true.

However, mostly they've had our number from Mason on...which I consider when the Administration under Yudof decided revenue sports mattered to the University's Mission. Here's brutal reality:

View attachment 33694
Way too much yellow on this chart regardless of the HC...
I couldn't remember the last time we beat them at home. Now I know why. It's been a decade FFS.
 

Huh? Where did you get that number?

That only discusses what PJ were to pay if he leaves.

If PJ is fired, the Gophers owe him 65% of his remaining contract including retention bonuses, which even after this season is 65% of just under 31 million through 2029.
 


Great post. It does not help that we are at the bottom of NIL money in the Big. Until the NCAA enacts some equity into the system I am less engaged in the games. I always want our teams to win but have definitely taken a step back. I have supported PJF in his overall efforts to run a quality program but his lack of in game adjustments n coaching staff leave us falling further behind. It doesn’t help that we have a pathetic NIL budget.
BS
 

Really enough data now to just state that I-O-W-A under Ferentz has Coach Fleck's number. It's sad but true.

However, mostly they've had our number from Mason on...which I consider when the Administration under Yudof decided revenue sports mattered to the University's Mission. Here's brutal reality:

View attachment 33694
Way too much yellow on this chart regardless of the HC...
Ferentz is 19 and 7 against the Gophers. Talk about having a teams number!
 


2019 is ancient history. NIL and unlimited transfers- plus realignment- have made it a completely different situation. MN is taking a rusty knife to a gun fight against most of its conference opponents.
 


Per Scoogins:
“The job of the head football coach is to get his team to play hard for 60 minutes and I failed to do that,” Fleck said. “I told [the players] that same thing. It’s unacceptable and it won’t happen again.”
…and again and again and again…🥵
 

2019 is ancient history. NIL and unlimited transfers- plus realignment- have made it a completely different situation. MN is taking a rusty knife to a gun fight against most of its conference opponents.
Yeah I think flecks but issue is he is trying to figure out a new model that works

NIL and free transfer means building a program at a mid tier program is different than it was pre 2021
His model worked for him at western Michigan and pre 2020 Minnesota (free transfers). He is trying to figure it out. Hopefully he does.
 

Per Scoogins:
“The job of the head football coach is to get his team to play hard for 60 minutes and I failed to do that,” Fleck said. “I told [the players] that same thing. It’s unacceptable and it won’t happen again.”
…and again and again and again…🥵
I can’t understand how people could actually get annoyed by this line. relax a bit
 

Per Scoogins:
“The job of the head football coach is to get his team to play hard for 60 minutes and I failed to do that,” Fleck said. “I told [the players] that same thing. It’s unacceptable and it won’t happen again.”
…and again and again and again…🥵
‘Me and my vols’. Yelled i a high pitch voice with southern twang. This is our tc media. Just the worst.
 

well, I've heard Reusse and Scoggins both offer this explanation:

when Fleck says "it's all on me" or variations of the phrase, he never offers specifics.

what specifically does Fleck think he didn't do, or did wrong? he never says. it's just this vague acceptance of blame without ever explaining the who, what, when, where and why of the matter.

after a while, it ceases to have any real meaning. it feels as if Fleck is offering up this rote excuse as a way to deflect any serious discussion of what went wrong and why.
 




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