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

Not big time? The Billion dollar media rights package just signed indicates it is. Every game is a multi-million dollar enterprise in its own right.

Not sure where you think their coverage makes me "mad", quite a befuddling statement. If an opinion is stated that I disagree with, sure I will call it out, but that's it.

I don't recall any Strib writer ever calling for Fleck's head, if you can show me otherwise, apologies in advance.

Also he didn't take over a "bad" football program. They won 9 games the season prior, with the a new football stadium and practice facility.

If it their coverage makes one angry, then I suggest anyone that hyper-sensitive should ignore it.

I like Fleck. I want him to remain in charge for the foreseeable future. He overreacted.
Major college football is second only to the NFL, when it comes to TV money. No doubt about that.

I do think certain post-seasons are also pretty valuable, NBA finals, March Madness, World Series, etc.
 


Major college football is second only to the NFL, when it comes to TV money. No doubt about that.

I do think certain post-seasons are also pretty valuable, NBA finals, March Madness, World Series, etc.
Yep, I'm always depressed when gopher football is done. There is no game next Saturday and that sucks!
 

You spelled “lots of gopher fans” wrong 😂😂😂
Bob is really thin skinned. He couldn’t get into a 3 post discussion on whether or not Pj is thin skinned without bringing up his eye surgery and calling him a girl.

So good point
 

Bob is really thin skinned. He couldn’t get into a 3 post discussion on whether or not Pj is thin skinned without bringing up his eye surgery and calling him a girl.

So good point
Shop Loblaws! No one around here has heard of that store
 



I'm disappointed by this quote from PJ, regardless of the manner in which it was spoken. For the most part, PJ has said the right things to the media since his tenure began, even if you aren't a fan of his culture rhetoric. He also claimed that Minnesota could be made into a Big Ten contender. PJ has built this program to be a consistent competitor in the Big Ten, which I'm absolutely thankful for. Consistency has been missing for this program most my life. That said, expectations change. The next step is to win the Big Ten West. A 5-4 Big Ten record is solid, but it's possible to have a fine season and be disappointing at the same time. The fanbase had high expectations with the players returning, knew that we had an advantageous schedule this year, and were ready for big things when the team stormed out to a 4-0 start. On top of that, Wisconsin and Iowa struggled for large portions of the year, opening the door for a special season. Telling the fanbase to be happy with a disappointing season because we beat Wisconsin is a slap in the face, especially a week after another Iowa loss. It also goes against his statement that Minnesota can be a Big Ten contender.

It's a good thing that we are all disappointed with an 8-4 season. It means the program has made progress. However, don't undermine the fans. We know that you're disappointed not to be in the Big Ten championship this year, and we are too.
 
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"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.
I saw a LOT of whining and pearl-clutching from Mackey, Judd, Reusse, etc about this comment from PJ. It's remarkable how much joy they seem to take from pissing all over MN sports, even when it is their job to cover those teams as members of the media.

We all want the Gophers to beat Iowa and we all have elevated expectations for the program, but fans should also have the context of history. And that's all PJ was trying to convey in a light-hearted comment.

Side-note tangent: I dislike when folks tell you how to be a fan. I hear comments like "we as fans should not and cannot accept this offense/WRs/lack of QB pressure/lack of special teams/etc" or "it's good for us to be angry with the team, it shows how far we have come." I will always root for the Gophers no matter what, but I will not have someone tell me that I need to be personally upset/angry about a certain position group of the team. The team will not improve/regress based on my personal feelings about them. I root for the Gophers because I went to the U, I love sports, and because it's fun!
 

I saw a LOT of whining and pearl-clutching from Mackey, Judd, Reusse, etc about this comment from PJ. It's remarkable how much joy they seem to take from pissing all over MN sports, even when it is their job to cover those teams as members of the media.

We all want the Gophers to beat Iowa and we all have elevated expectations for the program, but fans should also have the context of history. And that's all PJ was trying to convey in a light-hearted comment.

Side-note tangent: I dislike when folks tell you how to be a fan. I hear comments like "we as fans should not and cannot accept this offense/WRs/lack of QB pressure/lack of special teams/etc" or "it's good for us to be angry with the team, it shows how far we have come." I will always root for the Gophers no matter what, but I will not have someone tell me that I need to be personally upset/angry about a certain position group of the team. The team will not improve/regress based on my personal feelings about them. I root for the Gophers because I went to the U, I love sports, and because it's fun!
Reusse is a professional agitator whose negativity about any local sports is to gain clicks.
 






Not sure I’d attempt that snark if I was PJ. He’s won 4 of 16 rivalry games since he’s been here. We love beating WI (even if it is in a year they have fired their coach), but the sting of losing Floyd again, along with hope of a B1G West championship still hurts. Time to improve your best, PJ.
 




All B.S. from local media. I heard the press conference in real time (or close) and thought Fleck was being humorous and self deprecating. That's all it was. Everything else is just Twitter click bait for those looking for something to rage about.
 

PJ's salary has been increasing from $3.5m a year when he started, to $5.1 at the end of his current extension, if what I read is accurate. It seems to reflect that standards, and expectations have been elevated.

As far as the small proportion of the Gopher fanbase calling for him to be fired, they no more speak for the whole than whoever told PJ and Heather that "just beat Wisconsin" would be sufficient. Irrelevant.

I doubt you will ever hear Bill Belicheck or Urban Meyer publicly airing out grievances after being criticized by fans or media. Save the martyr act for locker room pep talks and act like the face of the program, FFS.
I hope this program can do better than 1 and 1 against two rivals when they are less than average teams. Wisconsin will get better and not sure about Iowa. We need to get considerably better with that kind of coaching fee. We played poorly against Purdue and Iowa which cost us the division.
 

"You all wanted me fired"!

No PJ! What we all want is you to beat Iowa more than once in six seasons and both Becky and the Hogeyes in the same season.
 


All B.S. from local media. I heard the press conference in real time (or close) and thought Fleck was being humorous and self deprecating. That's all it was. Everything else is just Twitter click bait for those looking for something to rage about.
yup. Anyone who thinks this is a big deal is one of 3 things:

1) click baiting via faux outrage
2) unaware of context
3) an idiot
 


yup. Anyone who thinks this is a big deal is one of 3 things:

1) click baiting via faux outrage
2) unaware of context
3) an idiot

I was going to type "socially unaware" but wanted to be nice.
 

I saw a LOT of whining and pearl-clutching from Mackey, Judd, Reusse, etc about this comment from PJ. It's remarkable how much joy they seem to take from pissing all over MN sports, even when it is their job to cover those teams as members of the media.
Know your audience.

Lot of the TC metro is people who didn't grow up but moved here for jobs, and/or they did grow up here but in households that rooted for other teams.
 



4) unenthusiastic about their head coach using a post game interview to air petty grievances
So you either fit 2 or 3
Because he was asked a question and he answered it and it was one line in a 15 minute press conference

But if you think that’s airing petty grievances you were either unaware of what I just said or are an idiot

Or

Unenthusiastic as you may be you don’t think it’s a big deal. To which my comment doesn’t apply to you
 

So you either fit 2 or 3
Because he was asked a question and he answered it and it was one line in a 15 minute press conference

But if you think that’s airing petty grievances you were either unaware of what I just said or are an idiot

Or

Unenthusiastic as you may be you don’t think it’s a big deal. To which my comment doesn’t apply to you
We're going in circles because you feel entitled (for whatever reason) to try to define the situation for everyone else. I watched the conference leading up to the comment. My previous experiences observing Coach Fleck led me to conclude that on some level, the criticism bothered him enough for him to verbally acknowledge it.

So despite your outlining of things, I see his comment as both as not a big deal, and also unnecessary griping.
 

We're going in circles because you feel entitled (for whatever reason) to try to define the situation for everyone else. I watched the conference leading up to the comment. My previous experiences observing Coach Fleck led me to conclude that on some level, the criticism bothered him enough for him to verbally acknowledge it.

So despite your outlining of things, I see his comment as both as not a big deal, and also unnecessary griping.
So you don’t disagree with me at all.
Not sure why you think you’re disagreeing with me
 


So you don’t disagree with me at all.
Not sure why you think you’re disagreeing with me
To be sure, I think we should set up a GHole cage match between you two with Fleck as the unbiased referee. It could be for the charity of his choice. Foreign objects welcome in the cage. One of you has to wear a one strap singlet.
 





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