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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO on Sunday.
Sid: changes in coaching staff. better deals?
PJ: some of these guys have been on staff for a long time. Matt Simon will be the passing game coordinator. he's been with Kirk a long time. ready to take next step. help Kirk with game plan. feel comfortable he's earned the opportunity. Kenni Burns has interviewed for head coaching jobs. he will probably be a head coach soon. good chance for him to see what the role is all about. help on administrative side. Callahan has been with me since WMU. He helps Kirk put run game together. necessary to take next step in development. Kirk is the OC. he has the most power on offense. he cares about development of staff. help young guys move up. really important for staff.
Sid: 2 RB's back healthy. Winfield. will they be in Spring practice?
PJ: Winfield is 100% Rodney and Shannon will not go through Spring ball. want to be careful. they had surgery at different times, and they're at at different times in their recovery. timetable will be different for both of them. take it day by day. get stronger, get better.
Sid: talk about transfers you signed. (Sid called them 'free agents....')
PJ: Treadway. from Notre Dame. he's enrolled. with OJ Smith going pro and Silver leaving for medical reasons, unfortunate. got to be able to replace guys quickly. Treadway is big, long and strong. fans will be excited to see him. wonderful young man. great student. big-time asset to program. mature. already leading young guys on DL. stepped into leadership role. 1st open practice March 15th - Sid's 99th birthday.
Sid: lot of starters from last year back?
PJ: 77% of team still FR and SO. won't be youngest team in America. still young, but do have some experience. got a lot of young guys with experience. got a lot of guys back. got some newcomers who will help us. guys who red-shirted last year.
Mona: kids came in early. QB's?
PJ: QB's came in early. Clark - really important to do that. Cole Kramer came in early. last year had 1 Scholarship QB. now we have 4. still young guys, but starting to build that room up. really important. the more practice time they have, the better. Kirk is doing great job developing those guys.
Sid: how much different will this Spring be?
PJ: last year had to find out what type of team we had. now we have an idea of what we can do. need to find out how good are the new-comers? how they combine with other players? there will be competition at every position. some of the new guys could come in and surprise us.
Max: can you get all 3 RB's reps in game?
PJ: one thing that will help us in terms of depth. help guys stay healthier. not have to have one guy run the ball 35 times a game. get guys a break. get enough reps to get in rhythm. have ability to get fresh guys in there. long way to go before we play. we'll see how that all comes together. could have multiple RB's on field at same time, or rotate. it's really coming together in that room.
Mona: TE as pass-catchers?
PJ: we're mainly an 11 personnel team. 1 back, 1 TE, 3 WR. last year with a young OL, wanted to give the most protection. have ability for play-action, RPO with TE in run game. we have to develop a pass-catching TE. we've recruited for that. we'll get ball to the best players we have. the scheme is the same for the last 7 years. there's been years we've gotten ball to the TE a lot. there's been years we haven't. we've got more experience at tight end - getting closer.
Sid: recruit more for defense. will any of the FR play?
PJ: two years ago, our first big recruiting class, went offense-heavy. the numbers with OL were really short. needed more numbers there. defense was more experienced when we got here. had some numbers. with this last recruiting class, needed to be defense heavy. brought in 7 DL. we have our own plan, time frame to build this. can't fix every problem in one year. feel good about the balance we're forming on this team.
Sid: new different ticket plans. Murray's certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers. Show support for Gopher Basketball team at the Barn on Tuesday.
Sid: changes in coaching staff. better deals?
PJ: some of these guys have been on staff for a long time. Matt Simon will be the passing game coordinator. he's been with Kirk a long time. ready to take next step. help Kirk with game plan. feel comfortable he's earned the opportunity. Kenni Burns has interviewed for head coaching jobs. he will probably be a head coach soon. good chance for him to see what the role is all about. help on administrative side. Callahan has been with me since WMU. He helps Kirk put run game together. necessary to take next step in development. Kirk is the OC. he has the most power on offense. he cares about development of staff. help young guys move up. really important for staff.
Sid: 2 RB's back healthy. Winfield. will they be in Spring practice?
PJ: Winfield is 100% Rodney and Shannon will not go through Spring ball. want to be careful. they had surgery at different times, and they're at at different times in their recovery. timetable will be different for both of them. take it day by day. get stronger, get better.
Sid: talk about transfers you signed. (Sid called them 'free agents....')
PJ: Treadway. from Notre Dame. he's enrolled. with OJ Smith going pro and Silver leaving for medical reasons, unfortunate. got to be able to replace guys quickly. Treadway is big, long and strong. fans will be excited to see him. wonderful young man. great student. big-time asset to program. mature. already leading young guys on DL. stepped into leadership role. 1st open practice March 15th - Sid's 99th birthday.
Sid: lot of starters from last year back?
PJ: 77% of team still FR and SO. won't be youngest team in America. still young, but do have some experience. got a lot of young guys with experience. got a lot of guys back. got some newcomers who will help us. guys who red-shirted last year.
Mona: kids came in early. QB's?
PJ: QB's came in early. Clark - really important to do that. Cole Kramer came in early. last year had 1 Scholarship QB. now we have 4. still young guys, but starting to build that room up. really important. the more practice time they have, the better. Kirk is doing great job developing those guys.
Sid: how much different will this Spring be?
PJ: last year had to find out what type of team we had. now we have an idea of what we can do. need to find out how good are the new-comers? how they combine with other players? there will be competition at every position. some of the new guys could come in and surprise us.
Max: can you get all 3 RB's reps in game?
PJ: one thing that will help us in terms of depth. help guys stay healthier. not have to have one guy run the ball 35 times a game. get guys a break. get enough reps to get in rhythm. have ability to get fresh guys in there. long way to go before we play. we'll see how that all comes together. could have multiple RB's on field at same time, or rotate. it's really coming together in that room.
Mona: TE as pass-catchers?
PJ: we're mainly an 11 personnel team. 1 back, 1 TE, 3 WR. last year with a young OL, wanted to give the most protection. have ability for play-action, RPO with TE in run game. we have to develop a pass-catching TE. we've recruited for that. we'll get ball to the best players we have. the scheme is the same for the last 7 years. there's been years we've gotten ball to the TE a lot. there's been years we haven't. we've got more experience at tight end - getting closer.
Sid: recruit more for defense. will any of the FR play?
PJ: two years ago, our first big recruiting class, went offense-heavy. the numbers with OL were really short. needed more numbers there. defense was more experienced when we got here. had some numbers. with this last recruiting class, needed to be defense heavy. brought in 7 DL. we have our own plan, time frame to build this. can't fix every problem in one year. feel good about the balance we're forming on this team.
Sid: new different ticket plans. Murray's certificate.
PJ: RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers. Show support for Gopher Basketball team at the Barn on Tuesday.