PJ was hired 8 years ago today. What grade would you give the Fleck era?

[Breakin' The Plane]

The student section is a big deal and a good indicator of how tuned into student life the program and particularly the head coach is. They've been great and get the place rocking no matter how many blue hairs decide not to show up

This is true, and it's not really on Fleck, but someone in that department needs to figure out what to do to get the salt and pepper hairs to fill that place up, and take over for the blue hairs. Those are the folks with cash to contribute.

 

[Gopherchase]

This is true, and it's not really on Fleck, but someone in that department needs to figure out what to do to get the salt and pepper hairs to fill that place up, and take over for the blue hairs. Those are the folks with cash to contribute.

Fewer clunkers would help. Iowa game this year great atmosphere big party not that many Iowa fans relatively — then they hit the fans with about the worst half of the PJ era. Folks get less apt to come back after getting kicked in the teeth like that. Gotta build momentum over time.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Fewer clunkers would help. Iowa game this year great atmosphere big party not that many Iowa fans relatively — then they hit the fans with about the worst half of the PJ era. Folks get less apt to come back after getting kicked in the teeth like that. Gotta build momentum over time.

Certainly part of it. I had season tickets for over a decade. I left when they added the scholarship "donation". I had the Gopher Pass last year. I'm in a much, much better place financially than I was when I left.
And there has been no effort at all to get me back. I'm willing to spend some money, but I kind of need a reason.

 

[EG#9]

I went with a C, though I think a B is certainly defensible position too.

What I find interesting is that if you did this poll when Fleck was hired and just stated a hypothetical record of a couple games below .500 in the Big Ten, 4-4 against Wisconsin, 1-7 against Iowa, a Top 10 season but that would be the only season of the 8 to finish in the top 25 how would people feel? I would guess there would be a lot more C's, but a lot of excitement over that top 10 season in the comments.

I am concerned about a couple positions for '25 (QB, OT, LB, CB) but overall I am much more encouraged for '25 than I thought I would be after that horrible loss to Iowa early in the season. Hopefully I can join some of you guys in the B range after year 9.

 

[Oneoldgopher]

I'm thinking PJ Fleck has motivation now that he was doused in mayo to win more games. Nobody, I mean nobody, wants a repeat of that experience. For that incident alone, I am giving Fleck an A. Anybody who takes one for the team for that lousy brand of mayonnaise deserves respect.

 

[caliGopher]

Grade him against this - when I do he gets a D at best

He's still probably the best coach in the MAC, so that's worth something.

 

[SeaBee_Gopher]

A-. He’s easily the best Gopher coach in a very long time and has brought about plenty of great moments, multiple good seasons and 1 great season in 8 years (and 7 full seasons). Undefeated in bowl games, has the upper hand on Wisconsin, and at the very least was able to win the pig last year. On top of all of that, he’s still growing as a coach and has brought an unprecedented energy to the program. Fleck is building something here, and I’m optimistic about the future with him at the helm.

I'm an A- like you. I just think it's a lot harder to win here than people realize. The worst 300 mile recruiting radius in the B1G is hard to get out of my head. Five pro sports teams competing for fan attention and dollars, something our regional rivals don't have to deal with. He has done a lot with a little.

I kicked him up from a B+ to an A- for I'm guessing the same reason you have, I'm optimistic about the future. I've seen him change and get better. He's been here for a long time compared to other head coaches and I think that will begin to pay dividends especially in the era of the transfer portal. Some players and parents will be drawn to his stability and the example he sets that some things take a while to build out. Patience is a virtue. He seems to be handling the portal and NIL well given his resources. The college football landscape has changed 100% from when he began and he adapted.

I do expect more from him moving forward however. NIL and the portal benefit the B1G more than most and makes our poor local recruiting less of a factor. He seems to have done very well so far getting good guys out of the portal and has lost very few high end players. He needs to continue and improve upon this when the big TV money starts flowing for use with players.

I very much like that he and his players seem to have very good character and act respectfully to others. He's representing our state and the U of M and doing it well. I don't really care that he's quirky, a lot of very successful people are and it's good he's showing kids that sometimes you need to swim against the stream and accept the criticism that come with it!

 

[Some guy]

Fewer clunkers would help. Iowa game this year great atmosphere big party not that many Iowa fans relatively — then they hit the fans with about the worst half of the PJ era. Folks get less apt to come back after getting kicked in the teeth like that. Gotta build momentum over time.

If you think the second half was the worst half of the fleck era you clearly missed Purdue both halves last year and second half of northwestern last year

 

[GopherWeatherGuy]

I went with a C, though I think a B is certainly defensible position too.

What I find interesting is that if you did this poll when Fleck was hired and just stated a hypothetical record of a couple games below .500 in the Big Ten, 4-4 against Wisconsin, 1-7 against Iowa, a Top 10 season but that would be the only season of the 8 to finish in the top 25 how would people feel? I would guess there would be a lot more C's, but a lot of excitement over that top 10 season in the comments.

I am concerned about a couple positions for '25 (QB, OT, LB, CB) but overall I am much more encouraged for '25 than I thought I would be after that horrible loss to Iowa early in the season. Hopefully I can join some of you guys in the B range after year 9.

If you did this poll when PJ was hired and said we'd be 4-4 over the next 8 years against Wisconsin, people would be shitting themselves with excitement.

PJ is the best coach we've had 60 years but has left some meat on the bone. Still a solid B.

 

[GopherJake]

If you think the second half was the worst half of the fleck era you clearly missed Purdue both halves last year and second half of northwestern last year

Word. Northwestern was God-awful.

 

[Gopherchase]

If you think the second half was the worst half of the fleck era you clearly missed Purdue both halves last year and second half of northwestern last year

Purdue and NW—meh. Letting Iowa kick your teeth that day if you were there in person couldn’t be any worse.

 

[Some guy]

Purdue and NW—meh. Letting Iowa kick your teeth that day if you were there in person couldn’t be any worse.

I was there in person for two of those three games

Second half of 2023 northwestern was worse IMO

 

[WindyCityGopher]

I was there in person for two of those three games

Second half of 2023 northwestern was worse IMO

I was in Evanston last year. I concur.

 

[GopherEnEspaña]

I gave him an A.

• Find me another Gopher season in several decades like 2019 (2003?)
• Builds the deepest and most talented roster across all position groups we've ever had.
• Gets us the Axe after building teams that can out-physical and out-athletic Wisconsin
• Builds a distinct culture on and off the field. I'd argue that his plan to implement a strict and unique identity and rulebook for the program has paid off.
• In the world of NIL and the portal, and seeing the rapidly changing CFB landscape, he has ultimately been a force for stability and consistency here. Even in the down years, his culture gave the program a backbone.
• I think it's a good sign that players, especially successful ex-players, are still very pro-PJ and happy to rep the U. It speaks well of him, his program, and that they take him seriously in terms of strategy and leadership. We haven't had many "core" players want to leave and talk negatively about the guy.
• Call me a homer, but I think he actually drinks the same Kool Aid that we as fans and Minnesotans do about the U being a sleeping giant/contender in the B1G.
• Regarding the really gut-wrenching losses and bad stretches: I think he's right on track and the program had real issues with talent and depth that take multiple recruiting cycles and graduations to cycle through. This was always going to be a several+ year rebuild.
• Lastly, and maybe it's a conspiracy, but I'm convince that PJ's trajectory was really screwed up by COVID happening just a few months after our 2019 season ends.

Go Gophs

 

[Some guy]

I gave him an A.

• Find me another Gopher season in several decades like 2019 (2003?)
• Builds the deepest and most talented roster across all position groups we've ever had.
• Gets us the Axe after building teams that can out-physical and out-athletic Wisconsin
• Builds a distinct culture on and off the field. I'd argue that his plan to implement a strict and unique identity and rulebook for the program has paid off.
• In the world of NIL and the portal, and seeing the rapidly changing CFB landscape, he has ultimately been a force for stability and consistency here. Even in the down years, his culture gave the program a backbone.
• I think it's a good sign that players, especially successful ex-players, are still very pro-PJ and happy to rep the U. It speaks well of him, his program, and that they take him seriously in terms of strategy and leadership. We haven't had many "core" players want to leave and talk negatively about the guy.
• Call me a homer, but I think he actually drinks the Kool Aid that we as fans and Minnesotans do about the U being a sleeping giant/contender in the B1G.
• Regarding the really gut-wrenching losses and bad stretches: I think he's right on track and the program had real issues with talent and depth that take multiple recruiting cycles and graduations to cycle through. This was always going to be a several+ year rebuild.
• Lastly, and maybe it's a conspiracy, but I'm convince that PJ's trajectory was really screwed up by COVID happening just a few months after our 2019 season ends.

Go Gophs

So he could be better

But if you get an A in algebra two that doesn’t mean you won a Nobel prize

He has an A as a gopher coach but I’m not trying to call him a hall of famer either

 

[GopherEnEspaña]

So he could be better

But if you get an A in algebra two that doesn’t mean you won a Nobel prize

He has an A as a gopher coach but I’m not trying to call him a hall of famer either

Sure. I think he has an A considering how mediocre-to-bad our program has been for so long

 

[caliGopher]

I was there in person for two of those three games

Second half of 2023 northwestern was worse IMO

In all fairness, it was only the 4th quarter of the NW game, which made the collapse worse. We never left the locker room for the second half against Iowa.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Grade him against this - when I do he gets a D at best

lol....there's one in every crowd.

See you haven't bothered to actually cast your D vote.....when you do you will notice you are the only one.....should tell you something.....probably won't....but should.

 

[Word]

I was there in person for two of those three games

Second half of 2023 northwestern was worse IMO

NW was worse because they were a terrible team. At least this year's Iowa was decent.

 

[btowngopher]

NW was worse because they were a terrible team. At least this year's Iowa was decent.

They weren’t terrible, they went 8-5. The Purdue game was by far the worst. They were a bad team and made us look like a bad one. NW we had multiple opportunities to put the game away and I felt more like NW was making plays, against Purdue it seemed like we didn’t know what sport we were playing at times.

 

[btowngopher]

In all fairness, it was only the 4th quarter of the NW game, which made the collapse worse. We never left the locker room for the second half against Iowa.

To get dominated from start to finish by a terrible Purdue team was bad, I guess it didn’t hurt so much since the NW game already happened and we knew we weren’t very good by then.

 

[Word]

They weren’t terrible, they went 8-5. The Purdue game was by far the worst. They were a bad team and made us look like a bad one. NW we had multiple opportunities to put the game away and I felt more like NW was making plays, against Purdue it seemed like we didn’t know what sport we were playing at times.

The Purdue game was the one where it seemed like the team had quit on Rossi or that Rossi had quit on the team.

 

[SeaBee_Gopher]

I am surprised by no D's, reading this board during the year would lead me to believe they are out there. Do they lose interest during the year and move onto things that bring them more joy?

 

[nitramnaed]

I give him a B right now, but as I've said before he owes us a 10+ win regular season (We could have done it this year), let's say every 5 to 6 years. I don't believe that's too much to expect from any B1G HC. If we win 7 or 8 regular season games over next 3 years, should we be satisfied? Mayo dumps Pop Tart bits aren't going to do it for me.