Ranking the Head Coaches in the Big Ten (9. PJ Fleck, Minnesota)

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BleedGopher

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Fleck usually finishes above 9th place in the standings (including this season) and does it with less resources than most other Big Ten coaches.

Seems like 9th is underestimating him. But this is one of those lazy lists with Day on top, Lanning from Oregon, James Franklin...as if all Big Ten jobs were the same difficulty level.
 

fmlizard said:
Fleck usually finishes above 9th place in the standings (including this season) and does it with less resources than most other Big Ten coaches.

Seems like 9th is underestimating him. But this is one of those lazy lists with Day on top, Lanning from Oregon, James Franklin...as if all Big Ten jobs were the same difficulty level.
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Hypothetically, if you swapped Fleck and Day, would the team results be any different? I doubt it...might actually be worse for the Gophers IMO.
 


Slim Tubby said:
Hypothetically, if you swapped Fleck and Day, would the team results be any different? I doubt it...might actually be worse for the Gophers IMO.
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I know most head coaches in major college football have paid their dues and climbed the ladder, but one day, I’d love to see a top-tier coach walk away from their helmet school, their endless five-star recruits, their built-in CFP appearances, etc., to take over a perennial bottom-feeder. Just to see how good they really are. Have they been geniuses all along, or have they been riding the machine that does much of the heavy lifting? You know, just for the fun of it.
 


FredCoxRocks said:
I know most head coaches in major college football have paid their dues and climbed the ladder, but one day, I’d love to see a top-tier coach walk away from their helmet school, their endless five-star recruits, their built-in CFP appearances, etc., to take over a perennial bottom-feeder. Just to see how good they really are. Have they been geniuses all along, or have they been riding the machine that does much of the heavy lifting? You know, just for the fun of it.
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It happens. Look at Butch Davis, Dennis Erickson, or Mack Brown for example.
 

fmlizard said:
Fleck usually finishes above 9th place in the standings (including this season) and does it with less resources than most other Big Ten coaches.

Seems like 9th is underestimating him. But this is one of those lazy lists with Day on top, Lanning from Oregon, James Franklin...as if all Big Ten jobs were the same difficulty level.
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His team just won the National title. Probably would be difficult not to place him on top.
 

FredCoxRocks said:
I know most head coaches in major college football have paid their dues and climbed the ladder, but one day, I’d love to see a top-tier coach walk away from their helmet school, their endless five-star recruits, their built-in CFP appearances, etc., to take over a perennial bottom-feeder. Just to see how good they really are. Have they been geniuses all along, or have they been riding the machine that does much of the heavy lifting? You know, just for the fun of it.
Click to expand...

Tubby won a Natty at a Blue Blood and was atrocious at High Point (where he presumably should have way better coaching acumen than others in the conference) not to mention mediocre results at MN, TT and Memphis.

Go Gophers!!
 




FredCoxRocks said:
I know most head coaches in major college football have paid their dues and climbed the ladder, but one day, I’d love to see a top-tier coach walk away from their helmet school, their endless five-star recruits, their built-in CFP appearances, etc., to take over a perennial bottom-feeder. Just to see how good they really are. Have they been geniuses all along, or have they been riding the machine that does much of the heavy lifting? You know, just for the fun of it.
Click to expand...

The only situation I can think of that went a little like that was Howard Schnellenberger who built a monster at Miami, won a National Championship and then left.

He took a year off and went to Louisville. 5 losing seasons in 10 years.
 
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This list comes out every year, and every year people complain about where Fleck is ranked. I like Fleck a lot. He is under .500 in the Big Ten, to me that seems like somewhere between 8th and 10th is fair. He does do more with less talent, but he's partially responsible for the talent level.
 





Slim Tubby said:
Hypothetically, if you swapped Fleck and Day, would the team results be any different? I doubt it...might actually be worse for the Gophers IMO.
Click to expand...

I honestly believe most of the people on this board could have gone at least 8-4 or 9-3 at Ohio State last year as head coach. Let the super experienced, top-dollar assistants cook with the X and O stuff and lean on the best roster.

A rando probably would have taken an L in the playoffs, but against most of the Big Ten? With their advantages?
 

fmlizard said:
I honestly believe most of the people on this board could have gone at least 8-4 or 9-3 at Ohio State last year as head coach. Let the super experienced, top-dollar assistants cook with the X and O stuff and lean on the best roster.

A rando probably would have taken an L in the playoffs, but against most of the Big Ten? With their advantages?
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Pretty much all you would have to do is know when to call your timeouts
 

Xerxes_ said:
The only situation I can think of that went a little like that was Howard Schnellenberger who built a monster at Miami, won a National Championship and then left.

He took a year off and went to Louisville. 5 losing seasons in 10 years.
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Schnellenberger had to go back to work. He was broke after bailing a bunch of his Miami players out of jail.
 

I think Fleck should be at #7 based on what he has done at Minnesota. Hard to argue about the top 3. #4 - #6 is understandable. Just my 2 cents.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
This list comes out every year, and every year people complain about where Fleck is ranked. I like Fleck a lot. He is under .500 in the Big Ten, to me that seems like somewhere between 8th and 10th is fair. He does do more with less talent, but he's partially responsible for the talent level.
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The two coaches ranked directly above him are 4-5 (Riley) and 6-12 (Rhule) in Big Ten play.
 

Slim Tubby said:
Hypothetically, if you swapped Fleck and Day, would the team results be any different? I doubt it...might actually be worse for the Gophers IMO.
Click to expand...
Does Day come with the $20 million of NIL? If so, then I’d say yes.
 

Slim Tubby said:
Hypothetically, if you swapped Fleck and Day, would the team results be any different? I doubt it...might actually be worse for the Gophers IMO.
Click to expand...
If anyone actually thought that would be the case for the better - Fleck would be at OSU right now.
 

Seems like a fair placement of Fleck to me. It seems odd that Rhule appears to get more credit for past success than Riley and Fickell do, even though their success was more recent. Seems unfair to put the UCLA coach behind the brand new Purdue coach when I think UCLA at least met expectations given their roster exodus in year 1.

Hopefully Fleck can be closer to #5 on a list like this next February.
 

Just keep beating Nebraska! They can have all their ratings and accolades, we will take the W's! I ran this in my head and would have P.J> 7th.
 


I could argue for 7-10. Legitimately could have gone 8-4 in 2024.
 

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You guys really worried about how this guy ranked Big Ten coaches?
 

NateDawgUM said:
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You guys really worried about how this guy ranked Big Ten coaches?
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He's also the guy that said the Chiefs were really dumb to draft Patrick Mahomes.
 

csom_1991 said:
If anyone actually thought that would be the case for the better - Fleck would be at OSU right now.
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May have been overstated a bit, but I think it’s safe to assume Fleck would probably have the better coaching record if they swapped spots.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
This list comes out every year, and every year people complain about where Fleck is ranked. I like Fleck a lot. He is under .500 in the Big Ten, to me that seems like somewhere between 8th and 10th is fair. He does do more with less talent, but he's partially responsible for the talent level.
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I would argue more recent seasons should dictate current rankings. He's 29-23 since his first two seasons. 26-19 if you take out the Covid season.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I would argue more recent seasons should dictate current rankings. He's 29-23 since his first two seasons. 26-19 if you take out the Covid season.
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Fair. He's 8-10 the last two years also. I think cherry picking years is kinda weak.

I say this as someone who likes PJ and has defended him on here lots of times. Regardless most rational people would agree he's a good coach and very good for the Gopher program.
 


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