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Gopher FB Coach PJ Fleck appeared on the Sports Huddle on WCCO Radio.
Sid: anything new on Winfield?
PJ: No. not yet. he's earned the opportunity to test the waters. he's earned that right. support him 100%. now he needs to gather all the facts. make an educated decision. it's about what's best for him. for now and the rest of his life. we look forward to celebrating him at our banquet.
Sid: talk about WI - OSU game. WI 1st half -OSU 2nd half.
PJ: not sure if I'm qualified to analyze that game. I watched about three quarters of it. WI is a really good FB team. We lost to a team ranked 8th in the country, IA - I think is ranked 14th in the country. We lost to two really good FB teams. one away, one in a snowstorm. WI showed how good they are. They deserve credit. They earned the Axe. Those are two really good B1G FB teams.
Max: what's the last week been like?
PJ: Coaches out recruiting. players had list of things to do, make sure they're on top of. decompress. get healthy. today, we'll practice this aft. coaches back go out recruiting tonight. do another week of recruiting. players are excited no matter where we go.
Mona: how is recruiting going? how many spots open
PJ: more people are rowing the boat. every coach wants to talk to you. Our Brand nationally is on fire right now. that's the biggest key outside of the state. important for the future. look at spots, it all depends. getting grades back, reports back on players. It's a unique time. A lot of guys will join our team in January. We're looking at a lot of guys who are still not committed. it's organized chaos.
Sid: how many players played 4 games?
PJ: played some. Gordon, Willis, did not break their red-shirt. guys like that. others played 2, 3 games. Cam Wiley got some action. We'll look at that. see who might play in the Bowl Game. Bowl Prep is like an extra spring ball for those young guys. we will have specific practice periods designated for young players
Max: coaching changes happening around country. what happens? every program looks at who they had committed?
PJ: A lot of uncertainty when a coach leaves. As a recruit, you don't know whether the next coach will keep you. a lot of coaches will swoop in. kids want to find the right fit. We let nature take its course. we don't push the envelope. Some HS coaches will reach out to us - let us know a kid might be interested.
Mona: transfer portal. can you contact immediately? // Injury update on Paulson, Faalele
PJ: no word on injury progress. We don't play until possibly January. they've got time to get healed. rehabbing every single day. We have not made a decision. //On the transfer portal - that's a really long answer. player can enter, they become immediately eligible to talk to other people. that's where college FB is going. just a way for players to get to the right fit. It's very healthy as long as it's handled the right way. all about opportunities for young people. may look at the portal due to depth issues, fit issues. don't want someone to stick around if they're not going to get that opportunity.
Sid: Do you expect to have any transfers?
PJ: It's inevitable. the new way of life in college football. 100% that every team has someone leaving in some way. going to be used by everybody.
Max: video gets sent to coaches. don't you look at every one?
PJ: 100% we have a whole department for that. coaches, recruiting staff, player development, they look at that. doesn't mean that we're going to offer someone. got to pass the eye test and then we can start moving. if film isn't good enough, we don't move forward. like to have the opportunity to evaluate someone live.
Mona: heard more about Canadian players making impact. Caliber of FB better there?
PJ: we pay attention. Even internationally. Daniel Faalele is Australian. there are other guys we're recruiting this year who could be international. it's a different process getting them into school. NCAA has a way to do that. It's important to recruit everybody. FB is becoming a worldwide sport. we'll take a look at them.
Sid: Will you keep all your recruits?
PJ: it gets tough this time of year. look at people getting admitted to the U of MN. there are different factors. never stop recruiting. might not able to take a young man for a particular reason. they might de-commit and go somewhere else. your roster changes immediately. have to be able to see years ahead as a head coach.
Max: folks starting Rugby league. players coming from other sports. never played football and converted.
PJ: very difficult to do at our level. I've seen it a lot. Daniel is only in his 3rd year of playing football. One season at IMG and we have him in his 2nd year. Now he's an HM all-B1G. learning game, techniques, fundamentals. athleticism. lot of carry-over. there's so much more to our game. to really be good at it. one thing to play, it's another thing to dominate.
Sid: congratulations on all the awards you're winning. Murray's. Fantastic job.
PJ: talking about the bowl later tonight. RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
Sid: anything new on Winfield?
PJ: No. not yet. he's earned the opportunity to test the waters. he's earned that right. support him 100%. now he needs to gather all the facts. make an educated decision. it's about what's best for him. for now and the rest of his life. we look forward to celebrating him at our banquet.
Sid: talk about WI - OSU game. WI 1st half -OSU 2nd half.
PJ: not sure if I'm qualified to analyze that game. I watched about three quarters of it. WI is a really good FB team. We lost to a team ranked 8th in the country, IA - I think is ranked 14th in the country. We lost to two really good FB teams. one away, one in a snowstorm. WI showed how good they are. They deserve credit. They earned the Axe. Those are two really good B1G FB teams.
Max: what's the last week been like?
PJ: Coaches out recruiting. players had list of things to do, make sure they're on top of. decompress. get healthy. today, we'll practice this aft. coaches back go out recruiting tonight. do another week of recruiting. players are excited no matter where we go.
Mona: how is recruiting going? how many spots open
PJ: more people are rowing the boat. every coach wants to talk to you. Our Brand nationally is on fire right now. that's the biggest key outside of the state. important for the future. look at spots, it all depends. getting grades back, reports back on players. It's a unique time. A lot of guys will join our team in January. We're looking at a lot of guys who are still not committed. it's organized chaos.
Sid: how many players played 4 games?
PJ: played some. Gordon, Willis, did not break their red-shirt. guys like that. others played 2, 3 games. Cam Wiley got some action. We'll look at that. see who might play in the Bowl Game. Bowl Prep is like an extra spring ball for those young guys. we will have specific practice periods designated for young players
Max: coaching changes happening around country. what happens? every program looks at who they had committed?
PJ: A lot of uncertainty when a coach leaves. As a recruit, you don't know whether the next coach will keep you. a lot of coaches will swoop in. kids want to find the right fit. We let nature take its course. we don't push the envelope. Some HS coaches will reach out to us - let us know a kid might be interested.
Mona: transfer portal. can you contact immediately? // Injury update on Paulson, Faalele
PJ: no word on injury progress. We don't play until possibly January. they've got time to get healed. rehabbing every single day. We have not made a decision. //On the transfer portal - that's a really long answer. player can enter, they become immediately eligible to talk to other people. that's where college FB is going. just a way for players to get to the right fit. It's very healthy as long as it's handled the right way. all about opportunities for young people. may look at the portal due to depth issues, fit issues. don't want someone to stick around if they're not going to get that opportunity.
Sid: Do you expect to have any transfers?
PJ: It's inevitable. the new way of life in college football. 100% that every team has someone leaving in some way. going to be used by everybody.
Max: video gets sent to coaches. don't you look at every one?
PJ: 100% we have a whole department for that. coaches, recruiting staff, player development, they look at that. doesn't mean that we're going to offer someone. got to pass the eye test and then we can start moving. if film isn't good enough, we don't move forward. like to have the opportunity to evaluate someone live.
Mona: heard more about Canadian players making impact. Caliber of FB better there?
PJ: we pay attention. Even internationally. Daniel Faalele is Australian. there are other guys we're recruiting this year who could be international. it's a different process getting them into school. NCAA has a way to do that. It's important to recruit everybody. FB is becoming a worldwide sport. we'll take a look at them.
Sid: Will you keep all your recruits?
PJ: it gets tough this time of year. look at people getting admitted to the U of MN. there are different factors. never stop recruiting. might not able to take a young man for a particular reason. they might de-commit and go somewhere else. your roster changes immediately. have to be able to see years ahead as a head coach.
Max: folks starting Rugby league. players coming from other sports. never played football and converted.
PJ: very difficult to do at our level. I've seen it a lot. Daniel is only in his 3rd year of playing football. One season at IMG and we have him in his 2nd year. Now he's an HM all-B1G. learning game, techniques, fundamentals. athleticism. lot of carry-over. there's so much more to our game. to really be good at it. one thing to play, it's another thing to dominate.
Sid: congratulations on all the awards you're winning. Murray's. Fantastic job.
PJ: talking about the bowl later tonight. RTB, Ski-U-Mah, Go Gophers.
