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PJ Fleck is no Jerry Kill, he talks a LOT faster, so I got what I could. Will also be covering the signing day social in a few minutes. Go ahead and look at our Twitter for more videos, pictures and tibits too:
https://twitter.com/gopherhole
https://twitter.com/nadinebabu
https://twitter.com/e_sherman58
PJ Fleck:
• I'm sure you have a lot of questions, we're going to start with signing day, it's a monumental day for Gopher football. I want to thank my wife Heather for all that she does for me and our entire family, the past 2 weeks of no sleep. Thank Coyle, Kaler and the Board of regents, I'm living my dream right now. When you're living it everyday, it's very special. There's not a day that I go to work.
• It starts with recruiting, and that's why it's a monumental day. Are there nay-sayers, you bet. We went 13-1 and still had them. The fans have been warm to me, I want to say thank you to all of our fans out there. You're going to love the process of it actually happen, I want you to be very involved in it. Our staff is the most elite staff in America - Mo's got a wife that's 9 months pregnant now. Stacy just got out here last week - giving up your time with your family, when you should be given a break. You're going out recruiting, finding a new home, extremely stressful time. They were able to complete an elite recruiting class.
• Fleck on 1st few weeks - drinking out of a fire house, because it never stops. MN kids want to stay home at THEIR University.
• Talent - skill, plus, your heart, your soul.
Right now is the time to invest. Look at it as a stock market I'm not here to change tradition, I'm here to change a culture.
• We did an elite job of hitting our recruiting points, with our 6-7 hour radius. No surprises to us, no surprises either way. It went by 9:10am it was over, and we were on our way working on 2018.
• 214-72 is their combined record, they're winners. They need to be a winner before they can become a winner. 13 all state players, 11 that are over 6'4", 220lbs is the weight
• How-fers - you can't measure with a measuring stick, it's your will to be the best at anything you do. These players are them.
• O-Line - you need to have an Elite Line - that was a focus for us. 6 O-Lineman healthy for spring ball. We had a total of 19 surgeries in the off-season, that's a lot. We need to fix some area.
• Blaise Andries - All state 1st team, #1 recruit in MN. We want to keep our players here, period. 4.0 student. I've never had a student tell me, since 7th grade I wanted to be a blank….he said an actuary. I didn't even know what that was, he's way smarter than me. We're going to recruit 3 sport athletes. We want multi-sport athletes, I want to see them compete in many sports. He's an incredible athlete.
• Kyle Sassack - We brought over from WMU that was committed there, 2nd OT in MI, extremely smart, long. He holds his weight really well, will grow his weight until about 310. He's got 2 brothers.
• John Michael Schmitz - We knew this kid right out the gate, #1 center in the Midwest. He's one of the toughest football players you'll even be around. Tougher football players I've been around in 4 years. His Mom is a pet rescuer
• Nathan Bursch - #1 TE in MN, doing everything we can to get the top prospects out of MN. Plays O and D, part of keeping the best talent inside the state of MN
• Jake Paulson - he's fearless, absolutely fearless.
• Nate Umlor - 2 way player, 6 TD, 8.5 sacks, 107th recruit in the Midwest. He came to camp, set the record for unofficial visits for an institution ever. He's a "how" competitor".
• We have 2 elite RB's in Rodney and Shannnon
• Mohammed Ibrahim - ties in the DC area for a long time, watch this kid's highlight tape, he's explosive. He's a mix of Barry Sanders and Christian Exious. One of the more impressive running backs I've watched. His Dad is an Elite soccer player. Top 35 running back.
• Dominic London - Extremely productive back, and an incredible human being. 1st team all state as a Junior. #1 RB in MN, Keeping. Minnesota. Kids. Here. Period.
• Chris Autman-Bell: He came to camp, we knew he was going to be elite, and lit it up. He has hands that I've never even seen. Similar body control, freaky athleticism. He tore a ligament in his finger…so I could hide him for 12 weeks. Gym rate.
• Demetrius Douglas - His father is Omar Douglas, set the Big 10 record with 5 TD's. He's Mr. Everything.
• QB's - losing a senior QB, I can't sit there and say the answer is one of these, because I haven't worked with any specifically that was a true QB at MN. It's one of the open competitions in the country.
• Ray Estes - 14-0 championship team, he's in a phone booth with speed. He's 4.4 type talent, good student, 1st one to go to college in his family, starting point guard, his sister is in the national guard. His Mom dyed her hair maroon, that's how dedicated he is. That's committed!
• Neil McLaurin -
• Tanner Morgan - 36 hour window - anytime you leave a school, it's hard. You have people that loved you, that now hate you, and vice versa. You've got recruits that want to come, and don't want to come. I got interviewed Weds., but took it at 1am on Friday, and you take the job and call everyone, but it's 1:30am. I hit the ground running. One of those 1st calls was to Tanner Morgan. If you're going to take a QB, take someone you know a lot about. He's a leader, a champion, he is pure culture through and through. He's from Kentucky, his Dad also coached him, his team finished 12-1. #1 QB in the midwest. He is an incredible decisive decision maker, he's a gym rat, a leader, and makes everyone else around him better.
• D-Line was a need. We don't have a redshirt freshman, fresh, soph, and there's 1 jr at D-tackle. For 18, we're going to take 16 lineman. 1st of all you have to play with 2, and you need back-ups. Hardest position to find, let alone, in 2.5 weeks.
• Noah Hilcox - He's full of passion. Scout had him as 7th D-end in the state
• I haven't talked about stars yet. I was a minus 2 star, and found a way to play in the NFL.
• Big O - from Ben Davis HS, Ezezi Otomewo - #1 D-end in Indiana. Just wait until he's 275lbs, high ceiling, only played FB for 3 years.
• Boye Mafe - from Hopkins. 78 tackles, the key to an elite D, is Elite pass rushers. He was an all star team.
• Sleeper of the class - you talk about starts, I'm not a big star guy, Austin Schirck, 267 lbs, and arms that go down and touch his ankles. All state 1st team, he's special, that's all I have to say. He went to 2 camps, he didn't get invited to any other camp, I don't know how he got out of that state. From what I've seen and heard…this kid is a very very special young man. He couldn't wait to play in the Big 10. He's going to be living a dream
• Royal Silver - Run stopper, he's a pass rusher at the same time. We need D tackles. You're not going to see me recruiting 20 JUCOs in one class, if you have 1 in the program, you need someone with experience. I am a high school recruiter and develop them from the ground up, from the moment they come, to the moment they leave, and 40 years after.
• Who knows how many D-Backs we'll have? We had to hit needs. We got 3 D-Backs and I don't think we missed on any of them.
• Adam Beck - You can tell why their state champions. All district honors. Won the Texas State championship. He was the #7 safety in the state of Texas.
• Justus Harris: 1st team region honors, he has a 43 inch vertical at 5'10" so he plays 6'3". Explosive play maker, Mighty Mouse with buttery hips.
• Ken Handy-Holly: 72 tackles, 32 solos, and went to the state semi finals. #1 safety in the state of Alabama, happy we didn't have to worry about him. His nickname is Candy Handy - we've got a campaign ready to hand out candy when he makes hits. Blessed to have him in our culture.
• Linebackers - we love where we're at linebacker. Talk about pure leadership already, I thought the staff before me did a tremendous job.
• Trenton Guthrie - He already put 10 lbs on him. He's a "how-fer" he brings culture to the U of MN. We're not changing all these things, we're connecting people.
• One of my favorite players - Grant Ryerse - 4 year starter at kicker and punter. #4 kicker in the country, 4.31 GPA. He's an elite smart kicker.
• 25 new golden gophers - we're proud to present
• Had 28, and ended at 25, what happened? We still have a few left that we're possibly going to hold on to. We still have 1-2 of those left, that we wanted to save. There were some guys committed academically, and knew they weren't committed to us anymore, and we weren't public about that. Some said we can't sign you right now. But if you have opps, you can sign somewhere else. We wanted to save 1-2 here that we can do something with, that can address a need.
• On Playing freshmen - 4 years at WMU, the last 4 years, WMU had the Freshmen of the year. I love to hire coaches that have failed, and have grown from their failing. I love guys that respond in an elite way. I like guys that fail before they succeed. Most fresh need to come, look around, and fail. We started 1-11. You can embrace your past to create your future.
• Demetrius Douglas - I think he was already committed to Oregon before we got there, then Notre Dame came in, we had the home visit and to get to be around them and his family. Just because your Dad played here, doesn't mean you're coming. I think it was being able to give him the exact vision of what it's going to look like. I'm not for everybody, I understand that. I think they wanted that passion and energy instilled into their son. I think his family wanted him here, but he had to make the decision and feel comfortable with the staff. I played in the NFL, we've done it, here's where we've done it at.
• In 25 days, did you address the needs? I think 2.5 weeks, fair or not fair, it is what it is. That's what inspired me to take the job, the challenges, the holes we had to fill. Some people say, forget the issues, it's year one. Can I say we turned the world upside down, no? Would I like to have 8 more scholarships, yes. We did the best we possibly could have done, knocked it out of the park for the time and resources given.
• Recruiting is everything, everybody. You're part of the recruiting process. Everybody talks to the HC. It's all about us connecting, we're hopefully all for the U of MN football program. I'm so positive, because success comes to positive people, We are all in this together. I look forward to that challenge. Recruiting is going to take this entire city, entire state, everyone rowing the boat in the same direction. With all do respect, 50 years since a Big 10 championship, I can't wait until we win that, but It will take a lot of players to break a trend in a cycle. Somewhere in the back of your heart and soul. We want to. I don't know what we were ranked, 34th or so, we've already started on 2018's and 19's today. The minute we were done with 17, recruiting is everything in this program.
• The biggest thing - our 8 hour radius is everything to us. 70% of our kids will come from that area. This is going to be our area, we want people to come to campus a lot, that's the way you do that.
• We're going to have to do some things that are different. I have a lot of energy, but I want everyone to see how we're winning through the process of this. Look at how we won on signing day, look at the needs. 2.5 weeks. Let's go win winter conditioning, junior days, and 19's here for those, spring ball, what do we have to do to get better. The process of winning, taking little wins at a time. We want to continue to grow higher.
• I told everyone that I wanted to stay true to my team, and didn't talk to anyone until after the Cotton Ball. We didn't know anything before then.
https://twitter.com/gopherhole
https://twitter.com/nadinebabu
https://twitter.com/e_sherman58
PJ Fleck:
• I'm sure you have a lot of questions, we're going to start with signing day, it's a monumental day for Gopher football. I want to thank my wife Heather for all that she does for me and our entire family, the past 2 weeks of no sleep. Thank Coyle, Kaler and the Board of regents, I'm living my dream right now. When you're living it everyday, it's very special. There's not a day that I go to work.
• It starts with recruiting, and that's why it's a monumental day. Are there nay-sayers, you bet. We went 13-1 and still had them. The fans have been warm to me, I want to say thank you to all of our fans out there. You're going to love the process of it actually happen, I want you to be very involved in it. Our staff is the most elite staff in America - Mo's got a wife that's 9 months pregnant now. Stacy just got out here last week - giving up your time with your family, when you should be given a break. You're going out recruiting, finding a new home, extremely stressful time. They were able to complete an elite recruiting class.
• Fleck on 1st few weeks - drinking out of a fire house, because it never stops. MN kids want to stay home at THEIR University.
• Talent - skill, plus, your heart, your soul.
Right now is the time to invest. Look at it as a stock market I'm not here to change tradition, I'm here to change a culture.
• We did an elite job of hitting our recruiting points, with our 6-7 hour radius. No surprises to us, no surprises either way. It went by 9:10am it was over, and we were on our way working on 2018.
• 214-72 is their combined record, they're winners. They need to be a winner before they can become a winner. 13 all state players, 11 that are over 6'4", 220lbs is the weight
• How-fers - you can't measure with a measuring stick, it's your will to be the best at anything you do. These players are them.
• O-Line - you need to have an Elite Line - that was a focus for us. 6 O-Lineman healthy for spring ball. We had a total of 19 surgeries in the off-season, that's a lot. We need to fix some area.
• Blaise Andries - All state 1st team, #1 recruit in MN. We want to keep our players here, period. 4.0 student. I've never had a student tell me, since 7th grade I wanted to be a blank….he said an actuary. I didn't even know what that was, he's way smarter than me. We're going to recruit 3 sport athletes. We want multi-sport athletes, I want to see them compete in many sports. He's an incredible athlete.
• Kyle Sassack - We brought over from WMU that was committed there, 2nd OT in MI, extremely smart, long. He holds his weight really well, will grow his weight until about 310. He's got 2 brothers.
• John Michael Schmitz - We knew this kid right out the gate, #1 center in the Midwest. He's one of the toughest football players you'll even be around. Tougher football players I've been around in 4 years. His Mom is a pet rescuer
• Nathan Bursch - #1 TE in MN, doing everything we can to get the top prospects out of MN. Plays O and D, part of keeping the best talent inside the state of MN
• Jake Paulson - he's fearless, absolutely fearless.
• Nate Umlor - 2 way player, 6 TD, 8.5 sacks, 107th recruit in the Midwest. He came to camp, set the record for unofficial visits for an institution ever. He's a "how" competitor".
• We have 2 elite RB's in Rodney and Shannnon
• Mohammed Ibrahim - ties in the DC area for a long time, watch this kid's highlight tape, he's explosive. He's a mix of Barry Sanders and Christian Exious. One of the more impressive running backs I've watched. His Dad is an Elite soccer player. Top 35 running back.
• Dominic London - Extremely productive back, and an incredible human being. 1st team all state as a Junior. #1 RB in MN, Keeping. Minnesota. Kids. Here. Period.
• Chris Autman-Bell: He came to camp, we knew he was going to be elite, and lit it up. He has hands that I've never even seen. Similar body control, freaky athleticism. He tore a ligament in his finger…so I could hide him for 12 weeks. Gym rate.
• Demetrius Douglas - His father is Omar Douglas, set the Big 10 record with 5 TD's. He's Mr. Everything.
• QB's - losing a senior QB, I can't sit there and say the answer is one of these, because I haven't worked with any specifically that was a true QB at MN. It's one of the open competitions in the country.
• Ray Estes - 14-0 championship team, he's in a phone booth with speed. He's 4.4 type talent, good student, 1st one to go to college in his family, starting point guard, his sister is in the national guard. His Mom dyed her hair maroon, that's how dedicated he is. That's committed!
• Neil McLaurin -
• Tanner Morgan - 36 hour window - anytime you leave a school, it's hard. You have people that loved you, that now hate you, and vice versa. You've got recruits that want to come, and don't want to come. I got interviewed Weds., but took it at 1am on Friday, and you take the job and call everyone, but it's 1:30am. I hit the ground running. One of those 1st calls was to Tanner Morgan. If you're going to take a QB, take someone you know a lot about. He's a leader, a champion, he is pure culture through and through. He's from Kentucky, his Dad also coached him, his team finished 12-1. #1 QB in the midwest. He is an incredible decisive decision maker, he's a gym rat, a leader, and makes everyone else around him better.
• D-Line was a need. We don't have a redshirt freshman, fresh, soph, and there's 1 jr at D-tackle. For 18, we're going to take 16 lineman. 1st of all you have to play with 2, and you need back-ups. Hardest position to find, let alone, in 2.5 weeks.
• Noah Hilcox - He's full of passion. Scout had him as 7th D-end in the state
• I haven't talked about stars yet. I was a minus 2 star, and found a way to play in the NFL.
• Big O - from Ben Davis HS, Ezezi Otomewo - #1 D-end in Indiana. Just wait until he's 275lbs, high ceiling, only played FB for 3 years.
• Boye Mafe - from Hopkins. 78 tackles, the key to an elite D, is Elite pass rushers. He was an all star team.
• Sleeper of the class - you talk about starts, I'm not a big star guy, Austin Schirck, 267 lbs, and arms that go down and touch his ankles. All state 1st team, he's special, that's all I have to say. He went to 2 camps, he didn't get invited to any other camp, I don't know how he got out of that state. From what I've seen and heard…this kid is a very very special young man. He couldn't wait to play in the Big 10. He's going to be living a dream
• Royal Silver - Run stopper, he's a pass rusher at the same time. We need D tackles. You're not going to see me recruiting 20 JUCOs in one class, if you have 1 in the program, you need someone with experience. I am a high school recruiter and develop them from the ground up, from the moment they come, to the moment they leave, and 40 years after.
• Who knows how many D-Backs we'll have? We had to hit needs. We got 3 D-Backs and I don't think we missed on any of them.
• Adam Beck - You can tell why their state champions. All district honors. Won the Texas State championship. He was the #7 safety in the state of Texas.
• Justus Harris: 1st team region honors, he has a 43 inch vertical at 5'10" so he plays 6'3". Explosive play maker, Mighty Mouse with buttery hips.
• Ken Handy-Holly: 72 tackles, 32 solos, and went to the state semi finals. #1 safety in the state of Alabama, happy we didn't have to worry about him. His nickname is Candy Handy - we've got a campaign ready to hand out candy when he makes hits. Blessed to have him in our culture.
• Linebackers - we love where we're at linebacker. Talk about pure leadership already, I thought the staff before me did a tremendous job.
• Trenton Guthrie - He already put 10 lbs on him. He's a "how-fer" he brings culture to the U of MN. We're not changing all these things, we're connecting people.
• One of my favorite players - Grant Ryerse - 4 year starter at kicker and punter. #4 kicker in the country, 4.31 GPA. He's an elite smart kicker.
• 25 new golden gophers - we're proud to present
• Had 28, and ended at 25, what happened? We still have a few left that we're possibly going to hold on to. We still have 1-2 of those left, that we wanted to save. There were some guys committed academically, and knew they weren't committed to us anymore, and we weren't public about that. Some said we can't sign you right now. But if you have opps, you can sign somewhere else. We wanted to save 1-2 here that we can do something with, that can address a need.
• On Playing freshmen - 4 years at WMU, the last 4 years, WMU had the Freshmen of the year. I love to hire coaches that have failed, and have grown from their failing. I love guys that respond in an elite way. I like guys that fail before they succeed. Most fresh need to come, look around, and fail. We started 1-11. You can embrace your past to create your future.
• Demetrius Douglas - I think he was already committed to Oregon before we got there, then Notre Dame came in, we had the home visit and to get to be around them and his family. Just because your Dad played here, doesn't mean you're coming. I think it was being able to give him the exact vision of what it's going to look like. I'm not for everybody, I understand that. I think they wanted that passion and energy instilled into their son. I think his family wanted him here, but he had to make the decision and feel comfortable with the staff. I played in the NFL, we've done it, here's where we've done it at.
• In 25 days, did you address the needs? I think 2.5 weeks, fair or not fair, it is what it is. That's what inspired me to take the job, the challenges, the holes we had to fill. Some people say, forget the issues, it's year one. Can I say we turned the world upside down, no? Would I like to have 8 more scholarships, yes. We did the best we possibly could have done, knocked it out of the park for the time and resources given.
• Recruiting is everything, everybody. You're part of the recruiting process. Everybody talks to the HC. It's all about us connecting, we're hopefully all for the U of MN football program. I'm so positive, because success comes to positive people, We are all in this together. I look forward to that challenge. Recruiting is going to take this entire city, entire state, everyone rowing the boat in the same direction. With all do respect, 50 years since a Big 10 championship, I can't wait until we win that, but It will take a lot of players to break a trend in a cycle. Somewhere in the back of your heart and soul. We want to. I don't know what we were ranked, 34th or so, we've already started on 2018's and 19's today. The minute we were done with 17, recruiting is everything in this program.
• The biggest thing - our 8 hour radius is everything to us. 70% of our kids will come from that area. This is going to be our area, we want people to come to campus a lot, that's the way you do that.
• We're going to have to do some things that are different. I have a lot of energy, but I want everyone to see how we're winning through the process of this. Look at how we won on signing day, look at the needs. 2.5 weeks. Let's go win winter conditioning, junior days, and 19's here for those, spring ball, what do we have to do to get better. The process of winning, taking little wins at a time. We want to continue to grow higher.
• I told everyone that I wanted to stay true to my team, and didn't talk to anyone until after the Cotton Ball. We didn't know anything before then.
