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.