PJ Fleck on beating Wisconsin after losing to Iowa: ...well we’ve beaten Wisconsin twice and you all wanted me fired last week.

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Didn't see if this had been posted yet on here (because it's been a pretty active message board day) but there is a LOT of discussion about this on Twitter:

 




"I still remember people, Heather and I every time they’d see us, just beat Wisconsin and you can stay forever... Well we’ve beaten Wisconsin twice and you all wanted me fired last week. That’s how that goes."

So I remember seeing a booster say this to PJ live and the entire room applauded. The actual quote was something like, "If I go 1-11, but that 1 is Wisconsin, you all won't still want me around?" and someone yelled, "Yes!" Then PJ said, "I wish you were my boss."

Frankly, I think it's still true. UW is, and always will be, the comparison point. As long as Minnesota's FB program is better off than the Badgers, PJ will have a home here. Not great to see that the media is getting to him though. Nobody actually wants to see him gone. The Strib just wants fodder for its sports pages.

Frankly wish we would put a blanket ban on their content here.
 



hello-world said:
"I still remember people, Heather and I every time they’d see us, just beat Wisconsin and you can stay forever... Well we’ve beaten Wisconsin twice and you all wanted me fired last week. That’s how that goes."

So I remember seeing a booster say this to PJ live and the entire room applauded. The actual quote was something like, "If I go 1-11, but that 1 is Wisconsin, you all won't still want me around?" and someone yelled, "Yes!" Then PJ said, "I wish you were my boss."

Frankly, I think it's still true. UW is, and always will be, the comparison point. As long as Minnesota's FB program is better off than the Badgers, PJ will have a home here. Not great to see that the media is getting to him though. Nobody actually wants to see him gone. The Strib just wants fodder for its sports pages.

Frankly wish we would put a blanket ban on their content here.
Click to expand...
Ya, bolded above...stay strong, change your best, next play. Iowa is over, if that's still in his head...not good. What you think about is what you get.
Last thought is the next result.
 


hello-world said:
"I still remember people, Heather and I every time they’d see us, just beat Wisconsin and you can stay forever... Well we’ve beaten Wisconsin twice and you all wanted me fired last week. That’s how that goes."

So I remember seeing a booster say this to PJ live and the entire room applauded. The actual quote was something like, "If I go 1-11, but that 1 is Wisconsin, you all won't still want me around?" and someone yelled, "Yes!" Then PJ said, "I wish you were my boss."

Frankly, I think it's still true. UW is, and always will be, the comparison point. As long as Minnesota's FB program is better off than the Badgers, PJ will have a home here. Not great to see that the media is getting to him though. Nobody actually wants to see him gone. The Strib just wants fodder for its sports pages.

Frankly wish we would put a blanket ban on their content here.
Click to expand...
A ban on Strib content? Grow up. Win and more positive things are written. Lose and it skews negative. That's how big time sports work.

The "fire Fleck" sentiment wasn't coming from the Strib, but on social media. Lot's of Gopherholers included.

If you want a Gopher Football version of Pravda, unfortunately Sid Hartman has passed away.
 




I remember the quip about going 1-11 with the one win being against Wisconsin. Problem is he won the Axe too early in his tenure and people forgot what a big deal that was.

Wouldn't have wanted him fired had we lost yesterday....that's just silly. But there would have been a super sour offseason losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin after squandering what should have been a division title.
 

I know the Gophers are a little better but in these recent axe games I've noticed the badgers have gotten much worse talent wise... Not that that bothers me lol.
 

One can appreciate what PJ is doing with the program (especially Gopher fans that made it through the pre-Mason and Brewster years) and still understand that he has an Iowa problem. Iowa kept his teams out of two conference championship games in 2019 and 2021 and a tie for the West this year. All those with Iowa teams that were inferior to the Gophers IMO. He just needs to get them over the hump somehow.

Illinois and Purdue are better now than years past, and Nebby probably just got better yesterday, so beating Iowa and Wisconsin may be even more important now.
 



stocker08 said:
I remember the quip about going 1-11 with the one win being against Wisconsin. Problem is he won the Axe too early in his tenure and people forgot what a big deal that was.

Wouldn't have wanted him fired had we lost yesterday....that's just silly. But there would have been a super sour offseason losing to both Iowa and Wisconsin after squandering what should have been a division title.
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The funniest thing right now is all the local media claiming nobody said that.
“No reputable media said that” - Chad Hartman

It’s like Chad, hate to tell you, there are more people in this world than “reputable media”
If reputable media doesn’t say it it means nobody said it?
 


fan of Ray Williams said:
Heck, you can look at the threads on here, (I’m not going to name their titles), read the posts and many were thinking about a replacement. Doesn’t take much research.
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In fairness, there have been some on here looking for Fleck's replacement since he was hired.
 

Some guy said:
The funniest thing right now is all the local media claiming nobody said that.
“No reputable media said that” - Chad Hartman

It’s like Chad, hate to tell you, there are more people in this world than “reputable media”
If reputable media doesn’t say it it means nobody said it?
Click to expand...

Well...it WAS a joke. The idea that we'd go 1-11 with the single win being against the Badgers was outlandish. The point is that having lost thirteen in a row to our most hated rivals was soul crushing. Simply getting an Axe win was a super bowl type event at that point. People just have really short memories. They forget how bad the team was for nearly a decade prior to Kill righting the ship. But even Kill never won the Axe.

Expectations change though. 2019 gave people a glimpse of what could be. And all of the sudden....ugly entitlement and goldfish memory appeared.
 

stocker08 said:
Well...it WAS a joke. The idea that we'd go 1-11 with the single win being against the Badgers was outlandish. The point is that having lost thirteen in a row to our most hated rivals was soul crushing. Simply getting an Axe win was a super bowl type event at that point. People just have really short memories. They forget how bad the team was for nearly a decade prior to Kill righting the ship. But even Kill never won the Axe.

Expectations change though. 2019 gave people a glimpse of what could be. And all of the sudden....ugly entitlement and goldfish memory appeared.
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No, Hartman isn’t saying no one said just beat Wisconsin
He is saying no one was after the coach
 

Hmmm, reminds of the Jerry Kill quote about ‘if you all wanna take over be my guest, I have a lake house in so Illinois.
 

Some guy said:
No, Hartman isn’t saying no one said just beat Wisconsin
He is saying no one was after the coach
Click to expand...

Yeah...they weren't saying it. Just strongly alluding to it. :rolleyes:

Winning heals all wounds. Outside of 2019....Fleck has had a tough time pulling out tight games. This was another one where it seemed like our chances had plummeted when we lost the lead....and behind a good passing game....we rallied back. A 45 yard touchdown pass to take the lead with 3:40 remaining in the game is something that nobody expected to see. Really flipped the bad vibes around.
 

Panthadad2 said:
One can appreciate what PJ is doing with the program (especially Gopher fans that made it through the pre-Mason and Brewster years) and still understand that he has an Iowa problem. Iowa kept his teams out of two conference championship games in 2019 and 2021 and a tie for the West this year. All those with Iowa teams that were inferior to the Gophers IMO. He just needs to get them over the hump somehow.

Illinois and Purdue are better now than years past, and Nebby probably just got better yesterday, so beating Iowa and Wisconsin may be even more important now.
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Agree with everything you said -- but the full context is that there will no longer be a West to "win". So we will need to compare our program to all of the Big Ten programs.

30 years from now, "divisions" will just be a historical artifact of college football.
 

As to the subject brought up in the OP: :sneaky:


Summarized as:

"guy who raised the bar complains that he can't still be held to the lower standard"


Come on guy ...
 


Some guy said:
No, Hartman isn’t saying no one said just beat Wisconsin
He is saying no one was after the coach
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PJ was addressing those at post game Presser. I don't think any of those media members were calling for his job.

That's how I took the son of Sid"a Twitter response.
 


Ope3 said:
PJ was addressing those at post game Presser. I don't think any of those media members were calling for his job.

That's how I took the son of Sid"a Twitter response.
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He was talking generally and talking about the fan base and program

Chad Hartman should be less self-important
 

Oh PJF, we know you were joking (I think) but nobody was seriously (or nobody serious) was calling for your head. Some people were beginning to envision a time where it might be feasible to start to possibly consider discussing the future prospects of the wisdom of discussing a hot seat but the defeat of Wisconsin has put that talk to bed for at least another year.
 


Coming off a big win, this does come off as a little thin-skinned.

Whether he would admit it publicly or not, Fleck has to know that this year's team had a realistic chance to win the B1G West, and they came up short. People are going to be upset.

and believe me, Fleck knows that he is 0-6 against Iowa, and people are going to be upset about that.

it is unrealistic as a D1 Head Coach to expect that everyone is going to love you all of the time. He is in a position, and in a profession, where he is going to be criticized. and he is smart enough to understand that.

hindsight is always 20/20, but in this case, Fleck should not have made that comment. he would have been much better off talking about a big win and praising his players.
 

Some guy said:
He was talking generally and talking about the fan base and program

Chad Hartman should be less self-important
Click to expand...
His tweet specifically says "media", no reference to fan base.
 
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