Reusse: P.J. Fleck's sustained success with Gophers separates him from Lou Holtz's legacy

[Go4Broke]

Reusse: P.J. Fleck has three Gophers bowl victories now and could take the program down a path Lou Holtz might have paved, had he stayed.

... The mission in Arizona was to cover the Fiesta Bowl, featuring Notre Dame and West Virginia. The unbeaten Irish had defeated No. 2 Southern Cal 27-10 in late November, and a win the next day would give Lou Holtz a national title in only his third season after leaving Minnesota. Crushing though it was for [Sid] Hartman when Holtz left for Notre Dame on Thanksgiving weekend 1985, Sid remained emotionally linked to Lou.

Thus, when we picked up a rental car after 10 p.m. at the Phoenix airport, Sid directed me not to our hotel but to the one where the Notre Dame team was housed. Danged if Sid didn't charge in there near midnight, track down the coach of the No. 1 team in the nation, and spend a couple of minutes offering assurance to Lou that he wanted Notre Dame to win more than any O'Rourke, McDonough or O'Shaughnessy, any priest or nun, on the planet. The game was a blowout — 34-21, with a late gimme TD for West Virginia — and Holtz had the 1988 national championship, which remains Notre Dame's last.

I had no reason to again watch West Virginia play a football game in the Phoenix area until Tuesday night, this being on ESPN in what's now called the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Mountaineers were 6-6 and quarterbacked by the unathletic Jarret Doege, not 11-0 and quarterbacked by the ultra-athletic Major Harris as was the case vs. Notre Dame, but the mismatch was equal: The Gophers were never threatened, winning only 18-6 due to their own misdeeds and choosing to kneel rather than ram in another touchdown in the last two minutes.

This put coach P.J. Fleck at 3-0 in bowl games; a win not as impressive as beating Auburn in Tampa, and equal to beating Georgia Tech in Detroit. Those of us who have relished taking shots at Fleck's over-the-top style are accused of putting him in the same class as Tim Brewster, the failed salesman from the past. That comparison only works with the hard sell, not as a coach. I'm thinking he's more like Holtz — also a hard sell, but with a plan. Lou was 47, a veteran of four head coaching jobs (including a quick flameout with the Jets) and his own offensive genius, on arrival in Minnesota in 1984. He inherited a disaster, had the Gophers way better in Year 2 than his first, but Lou was a vagabond and Minnesota was going to be short-term.

Fleck had just turned 36 when hired in January 2017, inherited good defensive talent but not a quarterback, and made the mistake of calling it "Year Zero.'' He has a transfer portal to make up for the current slip to No. 42 in recruiting rankings, a 2022 schedule that includes neither Ohio State nor Michigan, and a cushy Big Ten West that sits there for the taking. Philip John Jr. never was going to be Brewster. He could be closer to what Holtz might have become at Minnesota, if Lou hadn't broken Sid's heart (but not his loyalty) those many years ago and decided to take his shot at a national championship.

P.J. Fleck's sustained success with Gophers separates him from Lou Holtz's legacy

P.J. Fleck has three Gophers bowl victories now and could take the program down a path that Holtz might have paved, had he stayed.

www.startribune.com

 

[Gophers7NatTitlesBadgers0]

 

[BTChamp]

Not a totally shitty recap, oddly. Sounds like Reusse = Deuce (Meaning I have to take a Deuce) is coming around a little to give some credit to the best coach Minnesota has had since Holtz.
He can still just go blow goats.

 

[FullBanana]

Waiting for the punch line...

 

[Unregistered User]

…but Lou was a cheater and Minnesota, Arkansas, Norte Dame and South Carolina all were hit with NCAA sanctions under his watch.

Fixed it for you, Fatprick.

 

[BleedGopher]

I’m surprised it took 5 years for Pat to realize Fleck isn’t Brewster.

Go Gophers!!

 

[Some guy]

I don’t get the obsession with Lou holtz

 

[Ope3]

I’m surprised it took 5 years for Pat to realize Fleck isn’t Brewster.

Go Gophers!!

I honestly think Reusse has been stating that since Day 1 (or Year Zero in Fleck parlance).

 

[#2Gopher]

I don’t get the obsession with Lou holtz

I did in the beginning until I learned more about the guy.

 

[btowngopher]

Nah I think Fleck is taking us down the path we might’ve gone down had Saban coached here.

 

[Some guy]

I did in the beginning until I learned more about the guy.

And it was like 40 years ago

The boomers need to let it go. Nothing before the BCS is recent history anymore. It’s ancient

 

[BilldGopher]

Actually believe this is complimentary...

 

[Gold Rush]

This is actually a good, complimentary piece. A lot of fans did not trust Fleck when he came in and thought he would either leave just after we were turning the corner like Holtz did or would just turn out to be another Brewster. Maybe --- just maybe -- he isn't either one and he will keep this program rolling. HIS TEAM HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IF HE STICKS AROUND!!!!!!

 

[SanDiegoGopherFan]

This is actually a good, complimentary piece. A lot of fans did not trust Fleck when he came in and thought he would either leave just after we were turning the corner like Holtz did or would just turn out to be another Brewster. Maybe --- just maybe -- he isn't either one and he will keep this program rolling. HIS TEAM HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IF HE STICKS AROUND!!!!!!

The day we land our first 5 star, is the day the sleeping giant has fully awakened.

I believe were close. My bet: in the next 3 years

 

[Ope3]

From reading the article, I was surprised that Holtz was only 47 when he took the Gopher job. Thought he older than that.

 

[Word]

From reading the article, I was surprised that Holtz was only 47 when he took the Gopher job. Thought he older than that.

He does seem a little older than 47. Check this out: https://tcmedianow.com/the-lou-holtz-show-with-bob-bruce-kstp-originally-aired-october-11-1985/

 

[PhillyGopher]

And it was like 40 years ago

The boomers need to let it go. Nothing before the BCS is recent history anymore. It’s ancient

Agree, best to ignore history cuz that way you don't have to, like learn or think or anything.

 

[Chicago Gophers]

Last one who is still reading Reusse please turn out the lights.

 

[Dances With Gophers]

Somebody should probably tell Patrick his work account was hacked.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

for younger fans, the Holtz era at MN was a very unique time.

with 20-20 hindsight, we know the less attractive aspects of Holtz's coaching career and personality.

But then, it was big news. A nationally-known coach actually wanted to come to MN!
Holtz had some really good teams at NC State and Arkansas. He was colorful and entertaining.

And then, just when it looked like he was ready to really take off at MN, he left. And he took most of his recruiting class with him, including QB Tony Rice.

That will always be the great what-if? What would have happened if Holtz had stayed at MN with those recruits?

it might have all come crashing down in the form of NCAA sanctions, but I can still imagine a Holtz offense with Tony Rice at QB playing for the Gophers, and wonder what that might have been like.

 

[DarrenTheGreek]

for younger fans, the Holtz era at MN was a very unique time.

with 20-20 hindsight, we know the less attractive aspects of Holtz's coaching career and personality.

But then, it was big news. A nationally-known coach actually wanted to come to MN!
Holtz had some really good teams at NC State and Arkansas. He was colorful and entertaining.

And then, just when it looked like he was ready to really take off at MN, he left. And he took most of his recruiting class with him, including QB Tony Rice.

That will always be the great what-if? What would have happened if Holtz had stayed at MN with those recruits?

it might have all come crashing down in the form of NCAA sanctions, but I can still imagine a Holtz offense with Tony Rice at QB playing for the Gophers, and wonder what that might have been like.

Holtz was also the one who went to the Board of Regents when they were debating what to do with Memorial Stadium and recommended they blow it up and commit permanently to the Metrodome. He was gone within a year of that and we were stuck with an albatross for the next 20+ years.

Holtz left us with sanctions, a broken fanbase and a lousy stadium. It's hard to believe considering how bad the Gophers were in 1983 but he ended up setting the program back further due to his tenure here.

 

[hungan1]

Is Reusse coming over from the dark side? He is gesticulating in a slobbery way. Is he is warming up to PJ Fleck? Why not come out straight to the point and say it?

 

[4four4]

Is Reusse coming over from the dark side? He is gesticulating in a slobbery way. Is he is warming up to PJ Fleck? Why not come out straight to the point and say it?

Come on he can't do that. lol

 

[West Fargo Gopher Fan]

How are Holtz and Flecks success at all connected in the first place?

 

[Ope3]

Holtz was also the one who went to the Board of Regents when they were debating what to do with Memorial Stadium and recommended they blow it up and commit permanently to the Metrodome. He was gone within a year of that and we were stuck with an albatross for the next 20+ years.

Holtz left us with sanctions, a broken fanbase and a lousy stadium. It's hard to believe considering how bad the Gophers were in 1983 but he ended up setting the program back further due to his tenure here.

Memorial Stadium was still standing after Holtz bailed and breaking ground on the Aquatics Center was still several years away.

They could have moved back but it was not viable as a Big 10 facility without a huge upgrade. It was a poorly designed structure (in terms of generating revenue), more than half the seats were in the end zone. I think it was probably easier to sell recruits on playing at the HHH Dome than it would have been to continue in Stadium Village. I was a student when there was a movement to bring them back to campus circa 1988.

I think it was the right move to reject that option at the time. I highly doubt Gutekunst or Wacker would have had any more success playing on campus than downtown Minneapolis.

 

[nitramnaed]

for younger fans, the Holtz era at MN was a very unique time.

with 20-20 hindsight, we know the less attractive aspects of Holtz's coaching career and personality.

But then, it was big news. A nationally-known coach actually wanted to come to MN!
Holtz had some really good teams at NC State and Arkansas. He was colorful and entertaining.

And then, just when it looked like he was ready to really take off at MN, he left. And he took most of his recruiting class with him, including QB Tony Rice.

That will always be the great what-if? What would have happened if Holtz had stayed at MN with those recruits?

it might have all come crashing down in the form of NCAA sanctions, but I can still imagine a Holtz offense with Tony Rice at QB playing for the Gophers, and wonder what that might have been like.

And we got John Guudiecooounsst out of the deal.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

This is actually a good, complimentary piece. A lot of fans did not trust Fleck when he came in and thought he would either leave just after we were turning the corner like Holtz did or would just turn out to be another Brewster. Maybe --- just maybe -- he isn't either one and he will keep this program rolling. HIS TEAM HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL IF HE STICKS AROUND!!!!!!

He’s staying, once and for all.

he is a not a schtick guy, though it can sound like it at times - he believes what he is doing in his heart and it is also honors his deceased child.

he was always the underdog and identifies more with a MN than an OSU. He wants to win big here = B10 West and being in the CFB playoff rather than doing so at a helmet school- that takes true skill.

my crystal ball tells me that we win the B10 west three times in the next five years with at least one outright B10 championship that leads us to the CFB playoff.

he is our Napoleon Hill

 

[gopherdudepart2]

Reusse: P.J. Fleck has three Gophers bowl victories now and could take the program down a path Lou Holtz might have paved, had he stayed.

... The mission in Arizona was to cover the Fiesta Bowl, featuring Notre Dame and West Virginia. The unbeaten Irish had defeated No. 2 Southern Cal 27-10 in late November, and a win the next day would give Lou Holtz a national title in only his third season after leaving Minnesota. Crushing though it was for [Sid] Hartman when Holtz left for Notre Dame on Thanksgiving weekend 1985, Sid remained emotionally linked to Lou.

Thus, when we picked up a rental car after 10 p.m. at the Phoenix airport, Sid directed me not to our hotel but to the one where the Notre Dame team was housed. Danged if Sid didn't charge in there near midnight, track down the coach of the No. 1 team in the nation, and spend a couple of minutes offering assurance to Lou that he wanted Notre Dame to win more than any O'Rourke, McDonough or O'Shaughnessy, any priest or nun, on the planet. The game was a blowout — 34-21, with a late gimme TD for West Virginia — and Holtz had the 1988 national championship, which remains Notre Dame's last.

I had no reason to again watch West Virginia play a football game in the Phoenix area until Tuesday night, this being on ESPN in what's now called the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. The Mountaineers were 6-6 and quarterbacked by the unathletic Jarret Doege, not 11-0 and quarterbacked by the ultra-athletic Major Harris as was the case vs. Notre Dame, but the mismatch was equal: The Gophers were never threatened, winning only 18-6 due to their own misdeeds and choosing to kneel rather than ram in another touchdown in the last two minutes.

This put coach P.J. Fleck at 3-0 in bowl games; a win not as impressive as beating Auburn in Tampa, and equal to beating Georgia Tech in Detroit. Those of us who have relished taking shots at Fleck's over-the-top style are accused of putting him in the same class as Tim Brewster, the failed salesman from the past. That comparison only works with the hard sell, not as a coach. I'm thinking he's more like Holtz — also a hard sell, but with a plan. Lou was 47, a veteran of four head coaching jobs (including a quick flameout with the Jets) and his own offensive genius, on arrival in Minnesota in 1984. He inherited a disaster, had the Gophers way better in Year 2 than his first, but Lou was a vagabond and Minnesota was going to be short-term.

Fleck had just turned 36 when hired in January 2017, inherited good defensive talent but not a quarterback, and made the mistake of calling it "Year Zero.'' He has a transfer portal to make up for the current slip to No. 42 in recruiting rankings, a 2022 schedule that includes neither Ohio State nor Michigan, and a cushy Big Ten West that sits there for the taking. Philip John Jr. never was going to be Brewster. He could be closer to what Holtz might have become at Minnesota, if Lou hadn't broken Sid's heart (but not his loyalty) those many years ago and decided to take his shot at a national championship.

P.J. Fleck's sustained success with Gophers separates him from Lou Holtz's legacy

P.J. Fleck has three Gophers bowl victories now and could take the program down a path that Holtz might have paved, had he stayed.

www.startribune.com

This article is proof that Reusse reads Gopherhole, and he knows what we are discussing here. That or more likely a Star Tribune intern does and than gives him the feeback.

 

[hungan1]

Cheatin' Carpet Bagger Lou, Medal of Freedom winner. What a joke.

 

[jamiche]

Is Reusse coming over from the dark side? He is gesticulating in a slobbery way. Is he is warming up to PJ Fleck? Why not come out straight to the point and say it?

As everybody knows, I'm one of the few folks around here who likes Reusse. However, I thought it was a crappy column. It took him even longer than usual to get to the point. More importantly, if you are going to praise somebody, then praise them. Reusse couldn't quite say something good about Fleck. It was all sideways.