Pompous Elitist
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How soon we forget all the allegations from Stahl and a few others of a toxic environment in Fleck’s program. Norton being worked through illness, etc. Do we take these at face value? Serious question. If so, ought he to be gone. Where is the line of acceptable behavior, oversight, responsibility. Personally I think the various allegations are exaggerated, misrepresented, or possibly “misremembered“. I don’t claim to know, though. Could be true.
From Stahl’s blog
As his mental health declined, the physical soon followed. Grant’s throat was hit hard during one practice and his overall health spiraled downward from there. Grant described waking up every morning so racked with anxiety about another day of practice that he would immediately begin vomiting which exacerbated his throat injury. The vomiting became so continuous and intense that he was eventually throwing up blood all the time and couldn’t keep any food down. This physical and mental toll led to rapid weight loss. Grant came into summer camp at 6 feet, 8 inches and 280 pounds. He said in about 4 weeks he had lost roughly forty pounds of this weight simply because he couldn’t keep food down and was vomiting so much.
Despite staff knowing all of this, Grant was not kept out of practice. Quite the contrary. Instead of being kept out of practice, he was practiced harderby the coaching staff, particularly Fleck’s longtime strength and conditioning coach Dan Nichol. Not only did he have to continue grinding out practices in his physical and mental condition, he also had to do five-minute planks after practice was over as punishment for not keeping on weight. Grant said at one point that Nichol actually apologized for having to do this but these were his orders.
A person affiliated with the University of Minnesota football program, and who prefers to remain anonymous so as to avoid retaliation, confirmed much of Grant’s story for me. This person said that they couldn’t believe what Grant was put through at Minnesota—particularly the fact that Grant was forced to keep practicing as his condition deteriorated. My source personally witnessed Grant throwing up blood and told me that with his shirt off Grant “had come to look more like a tight end than an offensive lineman” given his rapid weight loss.
…Finally, Coach Fleck created a culture of overwork among everyone in his orbit. Student-athletes said that every hour of their day seemed scheduled for in some way—whether or not the hours were “countable” within NCAA guidelines. One student told me that “he had no time for leisure at all.” Another player characterized sleep as his only leisure activity. Players who seemed destined to always be on the practice squad, and/or who were not on scholarship, told me that they felt like their bodies didn’t matter to coaches and that they were essentially tackling dummies for starters. Coaches were subjected to this culture of overwork as well. A player told me that he witnessed an assistant coach break down crying because he never saw his family given that he was always at work. I think this is one of the reasons why Coach Fleck sees such a high turnover in his coaching staff (9 coaches in 3 years). This might also be why nearly half of Coach Fleck’s first full recruiting class from 2018 has now left the program.
From Stahl’s blog
As his mental health declined, the physical soon followed. Grant’s throat was hit hard during one practice and his overall health spiraled downward from there. Grant described waking up every morning so racked with anxiety about another day of practice that he would immediately begin vomiting which exacerbated his throat injury. The vomiting became so continuous and intense that he was eventually throwing up blood all the time and couldn’t keep any food down. This physical and mental toll led to rapid weight loss. Grant came into summer camp at 6 feet, 8 inches and 280 pounds. He said in about 4 weeks he had lost roughly forty pounds of this weight simply because he couldn’t keep food down and was vomiting so much.
Despite staff knowing all of this, Grant was not kept out of practice. Quite the contrary. Instead of being kept out of practice, he was practiced harderby the coaching staff, particularly Fleck’s longtime strength and conditioning coach Dan Nichol. Not only did he have to continue grinding out practices in his physical and mental condition, he also had to do five-minute planks after practice was over as punishment for not keeping on weight. Grant said at one point that Nichol actually apologized for having to do this but these were his orders.
A person affiliated with the University of Minnesota football program, and who prefers to remain anonymous so as to avoid retaliation, confirmed much of Grant’s story for me. This person said that they couldn’t believe what Grant was put through at Minnesota—particularly the fact that Grant was forced to keep practicing as his condition deteriorated. My source personally witnessed Grant throwing up blood and told me that with his shirt off Grant “had come to look more like a tight end than an offensive lineman” given his rapid weight loss.
…Finally, Coach Fleck created a culture of overwork among everyone in his orbit. Student-athletes said that every hour of their day seemed scheduled for in some way—whether or not the hours were “countable” within NCAA guidelines. One student told me that “he had no time for leisure at all.” Another player characterized sleep as his only leisure activity. Players who seemed destined to always be on the practice squad, and/or who were not on scholarship, told me that they felt like their bodies didn’t matter to coaches and that they were essentially tackling dummies for starters. Coaches were subjected to this culture of overwork as well. A player told me that he witnessed an assistant coach break down crying because he never saw his family given that he was always at work. I think this is one of the reasons why Coach Fleck sees such a high turnover in his coaching staff (9 coaches in 3 years). This might also be why nearly half of Coach Fleck’s first full recruiting class from 2018 has now left the program.
