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PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO on Sunday with a taped interview.
Sid: January recruits?
PJ: signed 1 today. Owens - JUCO safety. Patterson was his HC. needed help at safety. Treadway - grad transfer from Notre Dame. There's one other player out there who will be eligible next year as a transfer.
Sid: Smith and Brooks.
PJ: rehab going well. look healthy. won't go through spring ball. work on individual drills.
Sid: walk-ons
PJ: announced 10 walk-ons. important for program. shows people want to come to U of MN. some of them gave up other opportunities - maybe scholarships other places. excited to add them to Gopher family.
Sid: free agents?
PJ: Treadway will help us. get him for 1 year - maybe for 2. we'll see if that happens. Get Owens for 3 years. need depth at secondary. the other one I can't talk about yet.
Sid: look back at last season. how did you turn this thing around from Illinois?
PJ: players matured. youngest team in America. young teams make a lot of mistakes. knew we would have a lot of highs, lot of lows. team grew up. matured. embraced past and applied to future. for what they accomplished, was a wonderful feat to finish the way they did. give them a belief of what we can accomplish. continue to more forward. players worked really hard. ended up (bowl) champions. beat WI at Camp Randall. maturing and growing up. becoming a FB team.
Sid: competition with offense. fight for positions
PJ: everyone has to earn their position. work hard to create competition within the program. the key is how you create competition, nurture competition. we do it a certain way. competition with each other, not against each other. players understand where they need to go. excited about future, new class we brought in. we've had 3 awesome weeks in weight room.
Sid: competition at QB?
PJ: always. need to create competition. all 4 QB very healthy, will be fun to watch.
Sid: will you Red-shirt any of the QBs?
PJ: went from 1 scholarship QB and 4 healthy linemen to having a lot of depth. think we have 13 scholarship OL now. keep working to create the numbers we want.
Sid: you recruited more for Defense this year
PJ: we will need a lot of young guys, newcomers to play on defense. going to have to have that. when we first got here, we said we needed more on offense. for our 2nd big recruiting class, wanted to swing more toward defense. took 7 DL this year to swing the pendulum back. from here out, future classes should be be more balanced.
Sid: did bowl practice help?
PJ: helped a lot. develop young people. get extra Spring Ball in December.
Sid: will some of the Red-shirts help this year?
PJ: definitely. Spann-Ford, Oliver, Dunlap Jr. with the incoming FR, we will have to red-shirt some, play some for 4 games.
Sid: what about new recruits?
PJ: Feel great about class. tremendous group. we hit our needs. some will come in and play right away. others will need to be developed. the players think about doing everything they can to get MN to the next level.
Sid: some people are picking you as high as #22 in country for next year.
PJ: can't control where people pick us. we're trying to be proactive. apply more pressure on team. use word "pressure" in off-season - expectation. put more pressure on players to perform at high level. train them how you respond to pressure. if people have high expectations for us, they're going to hear it - need to be prepared for it, so they know how to handle it.
(end of taped interview. No Murray's)
Bonus - AD Mark Coyle was on the Sports Huddle after Fleck for a live interview.
Sid: how do you stand with fundraising for new facilities?
MC: Athletes Village - had record fund-raising last 2 years. at about $125-million toward goal of 166-million.
Sid: will there be new track events at the new track?
MC: opened this fall. will have events this Spring. will host a track meet this Spring - not sure about dates.
Sid: hockey attendance
MC: men's side getting better. celebrated '79 championship team, had great crowd for WI games. something we pay attention to - men's and women's side.
Max: hockey coach at Penn State said their Athletic Department made $100-million last year?
MC: apples and oranges. differences in how different departments handle and report their budgets. In the B1G we get equal share from TV. Penn State has a big FB stadium, fill it each week. generates more revenue. that feeds other sports.
Mona: introducing FB ticket package for 1st-time buyers?
MC: we do surveys with fans. get good information after games. want to get more creative with ticket prices - the "get-in" price for games. when more people are there, it adds to excitement. need to be more creative.
Max: is it being Creative or winning?
MC: look at VB program. one of toughest tickets in town. they do it right. compete at high level. Winning is an important part for the FB team. get people here, show off campus. want them to come to a FB game, leave with feeling they had a good experience.
Sid: interest in more people buying cheaper tickets?
MC: renewals out. feel confident there will be an increase in ticket sales. won 3 of last 4 games. Coach Fleck generating enthusiasm with recruiting. good home schedule this fall- NEB, WI, PSU. will try to be creative.
Mona: pairing of games. give opp to purchase tickets to another game?
MC: make sure it's strategic. sometimes people lose sight -we're not a pro team. kids 18-21 years old. public doesn't understand. FB team had highest GPA. doing it the right way. love for people to come out and support our programs.
Sid: elevators by stadium. tearing them down?
MC: that's part of the campus master plan. I think they've moved forward with that project. for other uses, not athletics.
Sid: (calls him Glen Mason). Thanks, Murray's.
(OK, I'm done typing. time to start shoveling. getting about 3" show today (Sunday). expecting 4-6" Monday night and Tuesday.)
Sid: January recruits?
PJ: signed 1 today. Owens - JUCO safety. Patterson was his HC. needed help at safety. Treadway - grad transfer from Notre Dame. There's one other player out there who will be eligible next year as a transfer.
Sid: Smith and Brooks.
PJ: rehab going well. look healthy. won't go through spring ball. work on individual drills.
Sid: walk-ons
PJ: announced 10 walk-ons. important for program. shows people want to come to U of MN. some of them gave up other opportunities - maybe scholarships other places. excited to add them to Gopher family.
Sid: free agents?
PJ: Treadway will help us. get him for 1 year - maybe for 2. we'll see if that happens. Get Owens for 3 years. need depth at secondary. the other one I can't talk about yet.
Sid: look back at last season. how did you turn this thing around from Illinois?
PJ: players matured. youngest team in America. young teams make a lot of mistakes. knew we would have a lot of highs, lot of lows. team grew up. matured. embraced past and applied to future. for what they accomplished, was a wonderful feat to finish the way they did. give them a belief of what we can accomplish. continue to more forward. players worked really hard. ended up (bowl) champions. beat WI at Camp Randall. maturing and growing up. becoming a FB team.
Sid: competition with offense. fight for positions
PJ: everyone has to earn their position. work hard to create competition within the program. the key is how you create competition, nurture competition. we do it a certain way. competition with each other, not against each other. players understand where they need to go. excited about future, new class we brought in. we've had 3 awesome weeks in weight room.
Sid: competition at QB?
PJ: always. need to create competition. all 4 QB very healthy, will be fun to watch.
Sid: will you Red-shirt any of the QBs?
PJ: went from 1 scholarship QB and 4 healthy linemen to having a lot of depth. think we have 13 scholarship OL now. keep working to create the numbers we want.
Sid: you recruited more for Defense this year
PJ: we will need a lot of young guys, newcomers to play on defense. going to have to have that. when we first got here, we said we needed more on offense. for our 2nd big recruiting class, wanted to swing more toward defense. took 7 DL this year to swing the pendulum back. from here out, future classes should be be more balanced.
Sid: did bowl practice help?
PJ: helped a lot. develop young people. get extra Spring Ball in December.
Sid: will some of the Red-shirts help this year?
PJ: definitely. Spann-Ford, Oliver, Dunlap Jr. with the incoming FR, we will have to red-shirt some, play some for 4 games.
Sid: what about new recruits?
PJ: Feel great about class. tremendous group. we hit our needs. some will come in and play right away. others will need to be developed. the players think about doing everything they can to get MN to the next level.
Sid: some people are picking you as high as #22 in country for next year.
PJ: can't control where people pick us. we're trying to be proactive. apply more pressure on team. use word "pressure" in off-season - expectation. put more pressure on players to perform at high level. train them how you respond to pressure. if people have high expectations for us, they're going to hear it - need to be prepared for it, so they know how to handle it.
(end of taped interview. No Murray's)
Bonus - AD Mark Coyle was on the Sports Huddle after Fleck for a live interview.
Sid: how do you stand with fundraising for new facilities?
MC: Athletes Village - had record fund-raising last 2 years. at about $125-million toward goal of 166-million.
Sid: will there be new track events at the new track?
MC: opened this fall. will have events this Spring. will host a track meet this Spring - not sure about dates.
Sid: hockey attendance
MC: men's side getting better. celebrated '79 championship team, had great crowd for WI games. something we pay attention to - men's and women's side.
Max: hockey coach at Penn State said their Athletic Department made $100-million last year?
MC: apples and oranges. differences in how different departments handle and report their budgets. In the B1G we get equal share from TV. Penn State has a big FB stadium, fill it each week. generates more revenue. that feeds other sports.
Mona: introducing FB ticket package for 1st-time buyers?
MC: we do surveys with fans. get good information after games. want to get more creative with ticket prices - the "get-in" price for games. when more people are there, it adds to excitement. need to be more creative.
Max: is it being Creative or winning?
MC: look at VB program. one of toughest tickets in town. they do it right. compete at high level. Winning is an important part for the FB team. get people here, show off campus. want them to come to a FB game, leave with feeling they had a good experience.
Sid: interest in more people buying cheaper tickets?
MC: renewals out. feel confident there will be an increase in ticket sales. won 3 of last 4 games. Coach Fleck generating enthusiasm with recruiting. good home schedule this fall- NEB, WI, PSU. will try to be creative.
Mona: pairing of games. give opp to purchase tickets to another game?
MC: make sure it's strategic. sometimes people lose sight -we're not a pro team. kids 18-21 years old. public doesn't understand. FB team had highest GPA. doing it the right way. love for people to come out and support our programs.
Sid: elevators by stadium. tearing them down?
MC: that's part of the campus master plan. I think they've moved forward with that project. for other uses, not athletics.
Sid: (calls him Glen Mason). Thanks, Murray's.
(OK, I'm done typing. time to start shoveling. getting about 3" show today (Sunday). expecting 4-6" Monday night and Tuesday.)