PJ Monday presser

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Some Day...Maybe

Some Day...Maybe

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He just opens it up for questions right away when he knows there’s criticism. Then he gets that little smirk like bring it on.

Doesn’t have the juice he usually has. Seems a little more subdued. I’m sure he’s a little wore out, a little disappointed, and a little pissed off. Probably a little sick of the criticism.

The dudes a competitor though and he’s got the chip…crack on the shoulder. This season is done as far as I’m concerned, in relation to my preseason expectations. Will be really interesting to see what they look like next year if they keep Sanford. I just don’t see how anything would change from his first two seasons.
 

Some Day...Maybe said:

He just opens it up for questions right away when he knows there’s criticism. Then he gets that little smirk like bring it on.

Doesn’t have the juice he usually has. Seems a little more subdued. I’m sure he’s a little wore out, a little disappointed, and a little pissed off. Probably a little sick of the criticism.

The dudes a competitor though and he’s got the chip…crack on the shoulder. This season is done as far as I’m concerned, in relation to my preseason expectations. Will be really interesting to see what they look like next year if they keep Sanford. I just don’t see how anything would change from his first two seasons.
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Just what are your expectations for next year without Sanford? Without many of the offensive linemen? Without #47? Sometimes too many expectations kicks the crap out of a good fan who has great expectations.

And: just what was your expectation for this 2021 Gopher Team.

Too bad you didn’t stick around to see how this 2021 season will end. I mean, would 7-4 after the Indiana game help or hurt your disappointment with this season?
 

I read a transcript of this earlier today and was just incredibly disappointed with PJ. He continued with his garbage from the post game about getting "closer" to Iowa. While he didn't repeat his BS about Iowa being a top 15 team, he did mention they were no. 2 at one point like that matters at all. This same Iowa team got routed at home by Purdue, trailed at the half to Colorado state, Kent State was inside the 5 with a chance to make it like a 2 point game in the 3rd quarter, Penn State was in the process of boat racing them before their QB got hurt. You are in year 5. I'd argue you've had the better team the last 3 years, but certainly in 2019 and 2021. You are now are 0-5...and Iowa isn't Wisconsin much less the Alabama clone you are making them out to be PJ. Then you have PJ bring up scoring 22 points against such a great defense...but not mentioning giving up 27 to an awful offense with a QB making his first start. You also have PJ talk about missing the kick...like he didn't put a kid who has never attempted (to my knowledge) a college FG out there to attempt a 53 yarder and a "bad" sky punt as keys in the game...News flash your special teams suck and have sucked for most of your tenure. If any part of your hope to win the game was out executing Iowa on special teams, that's really alarming.

The talk about "drops" and "catch radius" in a game where Morgan struggled again, was baffling. I don't want PJ to throw Morgan under the bus, but deflecting the blame for Morgan's poor play on to others is worse than saying Tanner didn't play well.

The overall defense of the decision making by the coaching staff in the game has me pretty pessimistic about the chances of things being better next year. The risk taken to try that 53 yard FG was absolutely off the charts for what little gain would have been received. On the flip side things like bringing in Kramer to run if up the middle on 2nd and 9 in the red zone or not throwing a single pass on the drive before the end of the half are so wildly conservative that you should only find them in Facebook groups.

I would have loved for one of the reporters to ask this follow up question of PJ after he tried to talk about getting "closer" in year 5: "PJ you talk about getting closer yet you defeated Illinios 40-17 and 41-14 in the prior two years, how was a coach able to get over the hump of beating you in his first year?"
 

Pj protects his players and coaches. I don't expect much out of press conferences these days. Writers who Get too tough on the coach have your access restricted. I've heard PJ's message and I'm inspired but that crushes up against the unrealized expectations from this season.
Let's finish off the season and then make our final assessments. As weird as this season has been things still have a chance to break our way. I mean we win out, we win the West, although that means Nebraska has to get its act together. so it goes
 

EG#9 said:
I read a transcript of this earlier today and was just incredibly disappointed with PJ. He continued with his garbage from the post game about getting "closer" to Iowa. While he didn't repeat his BS about Iowa being a top 15 team, he did mention they were no. 2 at one point like that matters at all. This same Iowa team got routed at home by Purdue, trailed at the half to Colorado state, Kent State was inside the 5 with a chance to make it like a 2 point game in the 3rd quarter, Penn State was in the process of boat racing them before their QB got hurt. You are in year 5. I'd argue you've had the better team the last 3 years, but certainly in 2019 and 2021. You are now are 0-5...and Iowa isn't Wisconsin much less the Alabama clone you are making them out to be PJ. Then you have PJ bring up scoring 22 points against such a great defense...but not mentioning giving up 27 to an awful offense with a QB making his first start. You also have PJ talk about missing the kick...like he didn't put a kid who has never attempted (to my knowledge) a college FG out there to attempt a 53 yarder and a "bad" sky punt as keys in the game...News flash your special teams suck and have sucked for most of your tenure. If any part of your hope to win the game was out executing Iowa on special teams, that's really alarming.

The talk about "drops" and "catch radius" in a game where Morgan struggled again, was baffling. I don't want PJ to throw Morgan under the bus, but deflecting the blame for Morgan's poor play on to others is worse than saying Tanner didn't play well.

The overall defense of the decision making by the coaching staff in the game has me pretty pessimistic about the chances of things being better next year. The risk taken to try that 53 yard FG was absolutely off the charts for what little gain would have been received. On the flip side things like bringing in Kramer to run if up the middle on 2nd and 9 in the red zone or not throwing a single pass on the drive before the end of the half are so wildly conservative that you should only find them in Facebook groups.

I would have loved for one of the reporters to ask this follow up question of PJ after he tried to talk about getting "closer" in year 5: "PJ you talk about getting closer yet you defeated Illinios 40-17 and 41-14 in the prior two years, how was a coach able to get over the hump of beating you in his first year?"
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I looked up the rankings. 14 teams ranked right now were not in the preseason AP top 25. Only 3 teams are ranked higher than their preseason ranking. Coming out of COVID no one really knew what to expect and the season has proven that. A top 10 team has lost for something like 8 straight weeks.
 



I hope he's consulting with a diverse range outside perspectives on his offense. Everyone can agree he can't throw people under the bus in a presser but hopefully internally he's recognizing the issues.
 


Fleck's press conference content is essentially nil. Happy Talk.
 



imthewalrus said:
Just what are your expectations for next year without Sanford? Without many of the offensive linemen? Without #47? Sometimes too many expectations kicks the crap out of a good fan who has great expectations.

And: just what was your expectation for this 2021 Gopher Team.

Too bad you didn’t stick around to see how this 2021 season will end. I mean, would 7-4 after the Indiana game help or hurt your disappointment with this season?
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Walrus - beating BG was certainly an expectation. BB has Ill playing well.
 

goldengophers said:
I hope he's consulting with a diverse range outside perspectives on his offense. Everyone can agree he can't throw people under the bus in a presser but hopefully internally he's recognizing the issues.
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Yup, this is the key. Fleck can say whatever he wants to the media for all I care...it has zero impact on what happens on the field. All I care about is what's happening behind the scenes to actually fix real issues with this team. A full post-mortem needs to be done after the season, but I hope they're working their butts off to patch things up NOW and give the team a real chance to beat Wisconsin.
 

I'm a PJ #1 guy.
I think you all know that.

This press conference was his most disappointing for me. I think the disappointing part for me is the amount of perfect play he is expecting from WR's and from the defense and everyone but the QB.

I can only hope he's treating this differently behind closed doors and Tanner and Sanford are being held accountable. However the fact he's so loyal to certain people like Wenger, it makes me wonder if he has an inner circle of untouchables and Tanner and Sanford are in that group.

It's hard to judge right now, but in a couple more weeks we'll know more answers. If Tanner continues to throw passes at the borderline perimeter of every receivers catch radius, and that's good enough, we won't know if he was our best option until we see the play of whoever the next QB is.

Right now the assumption is that Tanner is still our best QB, which is a bit disappointing considering we have Zack Annexstad, and 3 other decently recruited QB's on roster.
 

Sorry but i do not like out chances of beating Wisconsin at this stage based on (i) relative recent performance of the two teams ii) Flecks demonstrated history of his inability to win these rivalry games and (iii) our long term record vs Wisconsin - we are like 1-15 vs them in the recent past -
 



You can really tell this season has greatly soured many Gophers fans and knocked the wind out of the sails. Frustrations are high and getting higher. Right now I would say we are a lot closer to being a 2-10 team next year than a 10-2 team if no changes are made. And there will be a lot of Gopher fans that will say they could see this coming a mile away.

For the first time, Fleck is getting some heat and deservedly so.....I think the honeymoon just might be over.
 

imthewalrus said:
Just what are your expectations for next year without Sanford? Without many of the offensive linemen? Without #47? Sometimes too many expectations kicks the crap out of a good fan who has great expectations.

And: just what was your expectation for this 2021 Gopher Team.

Too bad you didn’t stick around to see how this 2021 season will end. I mean, would 7-4 after the Indiana game help or hurt your disappointment with this season?
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7-4 is what I said I’d need to not call this season a disappointment after the BG game. Beat Indiana and I’m good knowing we had injuries and won a couple we didn’t expect and lost a couple we didn’t expect. It is what it is.
 

Gold Rush said:
You can really tell this season has greatly soured many Gophers fans and knocked the wind out of the sails. Frustrations are high and getting higher. Right now I would say we are a lot closer to being a 2-10 team next year than a 10-2 team if no changes are made. And there will be a lot of Gopher fans that will say they could see this coming a mile away.

For the first time, Fleck is getting some heat and deservedly so.....I think the honeymoon just might be over.
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I think we're just starting to get into that stage of understanding what Iowa fans complain about when they are tired of Ferentz.

Fleck isn't changing or going anywhere anytime soon. We'll probably continue to win 6-9 games a year.
 

restovich said:
Fleck's press conference content is essentially nil. Happy Talk.
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He has given fans what they wanted from a U of M coach, media access. Unforunately he gets asked all the same questions and gives all the same routine answers.

Weekly TV Show
Monday's with PA
Monday Media
Tuesday Radio Show
Does he still do WCCO at all?
 

Face The Facts said:
I'm a PJ #1 guy.
I think you all know that.

This press conference was his most disappointing for me. I think the disappointing part for me is the amount of perfect play he is expecting from WR's and from the defense and everyone but the QB.

I can only hope he's treating this differently behind closed doors and Tanner and Sanford are being held accountable. However the fact he's so loyal to certain people like Wenger, it makes me wonder if he has an inner circle of untouchables and Tanner and Sanford are in that group.

It's hard to judge right now, but in a couple more weeks we'll know more answers. If Tanner continues to throw passes at the borderline perimeter of every receivers catch radius, and that's good enough, we won't know if he was our best option until we see the play of whoever the next QB is.

Right now the assumption is that Tanner is still our best QB, which is a bit disappointing considering we have Zack Annexstad, and 3 other decently recruited QB's on roster.
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I had a very similar reaction as you did to this press conference. Fleck is working really hard to shield Morgan and putting way too much on the WR. An example of this is the 3rd down overthrow to CRAB in the second half. That one is not on CRAB at all, he was wide open, there was no tight window to deal with, Morgan just sailed the pass.

The Fleck/Morgan dynamic has become very similar to the Frost/Martinez dynamic. In both cases, those coaches are going to be in an interesting position if the QB elects to come back again next year.

All that said, it is silly to get too worked up about what is said in press conferences, especially ones immediately after and within a few days of a tough loss.

I have faith that Fleck can see the issues that are plaguing this team and is working hard with the staff to fix them, regardless of what may or may not be said in a press conference.

Coaches are work-a-holics who spend countless hours watching film and evaluating all aspects of the program. For as disappointed as the fans are in how this season has gone there is no doubt in my mind that the disappointment/frustration level at the football complex is significantly higher.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I had a very similar reaction as you did to this press conference. Fleck is working really hard to shield Morgan and putting way too much on the WR. An example of this is the 3rd down overthrow to CRAB in the second half. That one is not on CRAB at all, he was wide open, there was no tight window to deal with, Morgan just sailed the pass.

The Fleck/Morgan dynamic has become very similar to the Frost/Martinez dynamic. In both cases, those coaches are going to be in an interesting position if the QB elects to come back again next year.

All that said, it is silly to get too worked up about what is said in press conferences, especially ones immediately after and within a few days of a tough loss.

I have faith that Fleck can see the issues that are plaguing this team and is working hard with the staff to fix them, regardless of what may or may not be said in a press conference.

Coaches are work-a-holics who spend countless hours watching film and evaluating all aspects of the program. For as disappointed as the fans are in how this season has gone there is no doubt in my mind that the disappointment/frustration level at the football complex is significantly higher.
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I think Fleck is fiercely loyal, and he's extremely loyal to those in his circle. He really values those relationships. But at a certain point he can only accept so much.

This PJ this week seems like a guy who is close to a tough decision.
 

MNVCGUY said:
I had a very similar reaction as you did to this press conference. Fleck is working really hard to shield Morgan and putting way too much on the WR. An example of this is the 3rd down overthrow to CRAB in the second half. That one is not on CRAB at all, he was wide open, there was no tight window to deal with, Morgan just sailed the pass.

The Fleck/Morgan dynamic has become very similar to the Frost/Martinez dynamic. In both cases, those coaches are going to be in an interesting position if the QB elects to come back again next year.

All that said, it is silly to get too worked up about what is said in press conferences, especially ones immediately after and within a few days of a tough loss.

I have faith that Fleck can see the issues that are plaguing this team and is working hard with the staff to fix them, regardless of what may or may not be said in a press conference.

Coaches are work-a-holics who spend countless hours watching film and evaluating all aspects of the program. For as disappointed as the fans are in how this season has gone there is no doubt in my mind that the disappointment/frustration level at the football complex is significantly higher.
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I fully expect Morgan to stick with PJ as a graduate assistant in the years to come. I think there are a lot of coaches and fans searching for answers to a year that did not go as we hoped or planned. Sticking with Morgan through all this goes completely against his "next man up" philosophy Fleck is always talking about. The WR's can share some of the responsibility, but not all of it, that's for sure.

The coaches ARE trying different things and the game plan was a lot better than the one we saw vs. Illinois and Bowling Green. I think the Gopher coaches thought Illinois (and Bowling Green) would be an easy game so their plan was to just ram it down their throat. This cost them bigtime on both occasions. You never take an opponent for granted until AFTER you see what you are up against. Also -- you have got to be able to react and adapt your game plan after seeing what they are trying to do.

I hate saying this but many times Fleck looks like a rookie coach out there this year. He has been outcoached on several occasions with inferior talent than what he has and that is disturbing. For the first time it looks like the mistakes are piling up on him and he is constantly making the wrong decision. I know coaching is not easy, but to be one of the good ones, you have got to make the right call a lot more often than Fleck has made this year.
 

CentralGopher said:
7-4 is what I said I’d need to not call this season a disappointment after the BG game. Beat Indiana and I’m good knowing we had injuries and won a couple we didn’t expect and lost a couple we didn’t expect. It is what it is.
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I'm curious as to which games (and you did say a couple..?) that we won which weren't expected wins? I totally agree with your other point that we lost a couple we were expected to win.
 

The prez sez said:
Pj protects his players and coaches. I don't expect much out of press conferences these days. Writers who Get too tough on the coach have your access restricted. I've heard PJ's message and I'm inspired but that crushes up against the unrealized expectations from this season.
Let's finish off the season and then make our final assessments. As weird as this season has been things still have a chance to break our way. I mean we win out, we win the West, although that means Nebraska has to get its act together. so it goes
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Doesn't Iowa have to lose two and the Gophers win both for them to win the West?
 

When you lose there is nothing that a coach can say that will make him sound smart, or make the loss less bitter for the fans.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Doesn't Iowa have to lose two and the Gophers win both for them to win the West?
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Pretty sure we have to get into a 4 way tie scenario to win it with Iowa only losing one game. If MN, WIS, IA, PUR all have 3 conf losses, then I think the tiebreaker becomes record among tied teams.

MN - 2-1 (wins over PUR, WIS)
WIS - 2-1 (wins over IOWA, PUR)
PUR - 1-2 (win over IOWA)
Iowa - 1-2 (win over MN)

So if I am doing it right that would eliminate Purdue and Iowa, leaving MN and WiS at which point head to head would then come back into play. Looking at remaining schedules this is actually our best shot of ending up as West champs. But it requires quite a few things to go right.
 


Face The Facts said:
I can only hope he's treating this differently behind closed doors and Tanner and Sanford are being held accountable. However the fact he's so loyal to certain people like Wenger, it makes me wonder if he has an inner circle of untouchables and Tanner and Sanford are in that group.

It's hard to judge right now, but in a couple more weeks we'll know more answers. If Tanner continues to throw passes at the borderline perimeter of every receivers catch radius, and that's good enough, we won't know if he was our best option until we see the play of whoever the next QB is.
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I think this is pretty clearly the case. It's a pattern of constantly making excuses for the 5th year senior captain QB. Instead of expecting your QB to be the leader, to put things on his shoulders and pick up the mostly underclassmen receiving corps. Which I realize is easier said than done sometimes, but difficult circumstances require the veteran QB to take their game up a notch.

I can't think of a game this season where our QB has made a big difference (positive). Usually when we've been at our best, the O-line has been dominating and the next man up RB is getting it done. Lots of reason for optimism about the future though, with Thomas and Irving.
 


Six to Eight said:
I think this is pretty clearly the case. It's a pattern of constantly making excuses for the 5th year senior captain QB. Instead of expecting your QB to be the leader, to put things on his shoulders and pick up the mostly underclassmen receiving corps. Which I realize is easier said than done sometimes, but difficult circumstances require the veteran QB to take their game up a notch.

I can't think of a game this season where our QB has made a big difference (positive). Usually when we've been at our best, the O-line has been dominating and the next man up RB is getting it done. Lots of reason for optimism about the future though, with Thomas and Irving.
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Morgan was very good in the first half against Nebraska. Outside of that, tough to come up with a lot of other cases where Morgan was a true asset this year.
 

Rest assured....the season that Brohm beats Fleck.....the Gophers beat both Iowa and Wisconsin. But we still lose the West tiebreaker against Purdue.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Fleck defended his decision to kick the first field goal during the radio show by saying something like, "It's 4th and 2. That's further than you think it is. That's longer than your 8-foot Christmas tree."

Um...
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Well 4 times 2 is 8 fee...... Wait a minute, I don't even have an 8 foot Christmas tree! What's he talking about?
 

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