SI: Gophers' PJ Fleck: Without NIL money, we can't keep team intact

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"... University of Minnesota is at a disadvantage because of all the other big sports in this town."

Yes.
 

Dano564 said:
You are over-emphasizing a loss to Purdue if you felt this was the point you had to make on this topic.
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The issue is that people don't pay any attention to context. The OP clearly states Fleck was asked a question about NIL and was responding to it.

He wasn't saying NIL is why we lost to Purdue.

Pay for Play (disguised as NIL) combined with free transfers with immediate eligibility has drastically changed the roster management part of college football and we are still right in the thick of it while everyone is figuring it out and adapting to what this new landscape looks like.

In regards to NIL, we might not have lost a lot of guys specifically due to that reason but I would bet the lack of available funds has played a role in who we can bring in. A lot of the higher end transfers and recruits are probably looking to cash in while they can so they are going to go to the highest bidder.

The roster churn across college football is off the charts. You have free agency with no restrictions. Nobody is going to feel sorry for highly paid coaches having to deal with these issues but I really think many fans are not grasping how difficult the roster management piece is right now.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
You need to reread what I wrote bud.

I never used the word @differece maker,” did I?

I said he was making an impact @ Texas😃. he’s a rotational player for the #7 ranked team in the land, ergo “impact” in my lexicon.

I’m not sure what scheme Texas runs, but I do know that a DL value is about a whole lot more than how many tackles he makes; to wit - we ran a 52 D in HS and as the call side backer, I lead the team in tackles as that was my job, the NT and DTs did great job, which allowed that to happen. I’m sure a football fan like yourself can appreciate that.

Additionally, Carter’s numbers last year wasn’t eye popping for the number of snaps, but Tejas knew what they were getting-

247sports.com

Texas picks up transfer portal commitment from defensive lineman Trill Carter

The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2022
247sports.com 247sports.com

Carter was named honorable mention All-Big Ten at the end of a 2022 season in which he recorded 19 tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, Carter’s 545 snaps played last season were the eighth-most by any interior defensive lineman in the Big Ten; he should provide experienced depth right out of the gate for the Longhorns behind projected starters Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat after playing 95.2 percent of his snaps lined up in the A and B gaps, according to PFF.
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HS leading tackler LOL. You could trip and fall over as a DT and have more than seven tackles after 10 games accidentally. I played DT in college.
 


Gopherchase said:
HS leading tackler LOL. You could trip and fall over as a DT and have more than seven tackles after 10 games accidentally. I played DT in college.
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Okay Johnny Randle.

Naturally, you didn’t address the fact that you incorrectly quoted me, which logically invalidates your whole argument; the elemental difference between having an impact and being a difference maker.

Have a great day, you middle aged bad azz you🥴
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
You need to reread what I wrote bud.

I never used the word @differece maker,” did I?

I said he was making an impact @ Texas😃. he’s a rotational player for the #7 ranked team in the land, ergo “impact” in my lexicon.

I’m not sure what scheme Texas runs, but I do know that a DL value is about a whole lot more than how many tackles he makes; to wit - we ran a 52 D in HS and as the call side backer, I lead the team in tackles as that was my job, the NT and DTs did great job, which allowed that to happen. I’m sure a football fan like yourself can appreciate that.

Additionally, Carter’s numbers last year wasn’t eye popping for the number of snaps, but Tejas knew what they were getting-

247sports.com

Texas picks up transfer portal commitment from defensive lineman Trill Carter

The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2022
247sports.com 247sports.com

Carter was named honorable mention All-Big Ten at the end of a 2022 season in which he recorded 19 tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, Carter’s 545 snaps played last season were the eighth-most by any interior defensive lineman in the Big Ten; he should provide experienced depth right out of the gate for the Longhorns behind projected starters Byron Murphy and T'Vondre Sweat after playing 95.2 percent of his snaps lined up in the A and B gaps, according to PFF.
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We are playing red-shirt freshmen in his place, so yes he was a big loss.
 


MaxyJR1 said:
We are playing red-shirt freshmen in his place, so yes he was a big loss.
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Baugh is really good and Eastern had six tackles in the Iowa game itself. He’s doing great. Dixon we miss terribly some of the linebackers who left would’ve certainly helped -/ Trill not so much. I don’t really care one way or another as DT is so far down the list of our problems. I just thought the DL lecture was funny.
 

There are also 33 P5 programs with class sizes over 20 for signing in 5 weeks. So Fleck is not the only one signing full classes expecting a bunch of transfers. There are only 14 seniors with no more eligibility on the roster. Oklahoma has a class of 28 coming in.
 




Gopherchase said:
Baugh is really good and Eastern had six tackles in the Iowa game itself. He’s doing great. Dixon we miss terribly some of the linebackers who left would’ve certainly helped -/ Trill not so much. I don’t really care one way or another as DT is so far down the list of our problems. I just thought the DL lecture was funny.
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I agree that the LB and DB issues were much more of an issue.

We lost Booker, Carter and Keys on DL and our DL has been ok but having those 3 likely makes the backend better with their experience.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
I agree that the LB and DB issues were much more of an issue.

We lost Booker, Carter and Keys on DL and our DL has been ok but having those 3 likely makes the backend better with their experience.
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For some reason, Kansas has been on TV a lot, so I’ve caught Booker playing. He’s really good.
 

It's funny we have to post retorts to people who don't believe having Bucky Irving on the Gophers offense against Purdue could have had an impact on the game.

That's just a really bold take and a conclusion the poster made on his own. Not something PJ said to take him down that path. The poster just took what was said, applied it to a single loss against Purdue, and then implied it wouldn't have mattered.


Errors:
1. Taking what PJ was discussing and applying it to something PJ wasn't saying
2. Implying it wouldn't have affected the game. Jordan Nubin led our team in carries BTW, someone who didn't play running back in high school.
 




Dano564 said:
It's funny we have to post retorts to people who don't believe having Bucky Irving on the Gophers offense against Purdue could have had an impact on the game.

That's just a really bold take and a conclusion the poster made on his own. Not something PJ said to take him down that path. The poster just took what was said, applied it to a single loss against Purdue, and then implied it wouldn't have mattered.


Errors:
1. Taking what PJ was discussing and applying it to something PJ wasn't saying
2. Implying it wouldn't have affected the game. Jordan Nubin led our team in carries BTW, someone who didn't play running back in high school.
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Based on the last two weeks, Nubin was a bit of a one hit wonder and has his limitations. Having Bucky would be huge, but also know that Fleck and our OC would never use him the way that Oregon does.

He carries the ball 13-14 times a game and catches the ball 4 times a game.
 


Gopherchase said:
For some reason, Kansas has been on TV a lot, so I’ve caught Booker playing. He’s really good.
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FWIW - the announcers in the game I saw against Texas IIRC, said they thought he would play on Sundays.

I wonder what kind of football cash Kansas has - unlimited for buckets I imagine. If schools like them are out NILing us in football, then we’re in deep 💩.

Outside of Mangino’s run, they’ve been worse than us.
 

The bigger problem is free agency, not NIL. That was big mistake number 1. The comedy of errors is gaining steam.
 

Agree with Pompous there.

Free transferring, really is what it is. None of the guys we lost last year, did so purely for NIL.

However, lack of NIL makes it harder for us to entice the flip-side of guys at other programs who want to try going elsewhere. That’s why we have had to pull upwards from the lower levels, guys wanting to give it a shot in the Big Ten.

I think that has to be more of our depth going forward. Identify 10/15 spots every offseason and hit the G5/FCS/even DII ranks hard for guys who want a shot.

The freshman we bring in …. they no longer are willing to stick it out here in year 3/4 if they aren’t playing a lot.

That’s a major step change from how Fleck wanted to run the “development” program.
 

@EG#9 excellent post but I do disagree quite a bit with what you talk about on the OL.

1) we did develop a tackle, and quite a good one: Ersery. Starting LT. That’s a pretty big deal??

2) we did develop Lewis. He’s a fine starting RG. It was correct for him to be there and Carroll to stay at RT. No idea why people got fixated on this illusion about Carroll moving to RG. You were wrong.

3) the OL is not why we lost NW, ILL, or Purdue.
 

PJ could embrace the situation as the Minnesota way.

However, I think he is trying to light a fire under his boss around the gray areas in NIL. Coyle has stated that they are moving slow and doing it right.

This is simply out of fear that the NCAA is going to crack down and other schools are going to get caught having cheated the system.

I don't know how the NCAA is going to be able to go backwards.
 

MplsGopher said:
@EG#9 excellent post but I do disagree quite a bit with what you talk about on the OL.

1) we did develop a tackle, and quite a good one: Ersery. Starting LT. That’s a pretty big deal??

2) we did develop Lewis. He’s a fine starting RG. It was correct for him to be there and Carroll to stay at RT. No idea why people got fixated on this illusion about Carroll moving to RG. You were wrong.

3) the OL is not why we lost NW, ILL, or Purdue.
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Cooper was at LG and Johnson at RG on Saturday. Not sure if I saw Lewis play.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The issue is that people don't pay any attention to context. The OP clearly states Fleck was asked a question about NIL and was responding to it.

He wasn't saying NIL is why we lost to Purdue.

Pay for Play (disguised as NIL) combined with free transfers with immediate eligibility has drastically changed the roster management part of college football and we are still right in the thick of it while everyone is figuring it out and adapting to what this new landscape looks like.

In regards to NIL, we might not have lost a lot of guys specifically due to that reason but I would bet the lack of available funds has played a role in who we can bring in. A lot of the higher end transfers and recruits are probably looking to cash in while they can so they are going to go to the highest bidder.

The roster churn across college football is off the charts. You have free agency with no restrictions. Nobody is going to feel sorry for highly paid coaches having to deal with these issues but I really think many fans are not grasping how difficult the roster management piece is right now.
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This is an overly broad statement.
 

PMWinSTP said:
This is an overly broad statement.
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How would you describe it? Any player that has not used their free transfer is essentially an unrestricted free agent at the end of every season.
 


BleedGopher said:
Per Joe:

"Things have completely changed and I think people have to put their head around them in college football of 2021 is not even close to where college football is in 2023. Especially in roster management, depth," Fleck said at his Monday press conference, 48 hours after his Gophers were crushed 49-30 by a Purdue team that had two wins and hadn't scored more than 14 points in a game in more than a month.

Fleck elaborated when he appeared as a guest on KFAN radio in the Twin Cities later Monday morning and was asked if Minnesota's NIL money is "non-existent."

"I wouldn't say non-existent. I think we have so many donors and boosters and friends of our program and alumni who care so much about us that have done a great job of donating to NIL. But in the new NIL world, if you're not the leader in NIL and not have the NIL funds, 1) you're not going to be able to keep your team intact and 2) you're not going to be able to bring anyone in. That's the facts of it. It's NFL free agency with no salary cap and no rules. That's the simple fact of it," Fleck said.

"You can look around the country and some of our best players that were here are best players somewhere else. And not only that, guys that are on our team right now, I hope we can hang on to. And we're going to do everything we can to do that. But the new world, like college football in 2023 and 2024 coming up with the new Big Ten, it's not even close to where college football was in 2021. It's a completely different era, and that's what matters. Whether you like it or don't like, you disagree or agree with it, that is what is driving college football right now.

"And people are stacking up and loading up on their rosters with massive NIL. I think [athletics director Mark Coyle], our athletic department, have done a great job of making people aware of it. This year was definitely better than last year in what we've been able to raise with NIL, our collective is doing a great job. That's the No. 1 most important thing right now in holding onto your roster and creating a roster right now as this whole new era of college football shapes into the future."


Go Gophers!!
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So kill the messenger! Gophers are
a AAA team whose NIL $ comes from pizza shops versus others getting NIL $$$$ from the likes of
Mercedes-Benz, Gatorade, Beats By Dre, Urban Outfitters and Under Armour.
And crying about how unfair NIL $ will not change the situation.
 

Dano564 said:
You are over-emphasizing a loss to Purdue if you felt this was the point you had to make on this topic.
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No, you are not getting it. NIL is not the reason we are in the situation we are in this year. It is not and issue for being competitive with the teams in the West and avoiding losses to bad teams like Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue.

Of course, NIL needs to change to be competitive at a top 10-20 level, but that's a systemic issue the NCAA will have to address or the system will cave in on itself. That has nothing to do with our performance this year.
 

PhiloVance said:
So kill the messenger! Gophers are
a AAA team whose NIL $ comes from pizza shops versus others getting NIL $$$$ from the likes of
Mercedes-Benz, Gatorade, Beats By Dre, Urban Outfitters and Under Armour.
And crying about how unfair NIL $ will not change the situation.
Click to expand...
None of the teams in the West have NIL $$$ like that. There are a handful of teams across the country with significant NIL $. We are a AAA team if the NCAA doesn't fix this, but so are 85% of the teams in the Big Ten. Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, and USC might be the only one's with huge NIL $, with a next tier of Penn State. Very few people are asking PJ to be competing for the playoffs this year, just to beat other bad teams in the West.
 

MNVCGUY said:
How would you describe it? Any player that has not used their free transfer is essentially an unrestricted free agent at the end of every season.
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You just described one restriction in your response. I've posted before that this will settle out in a few years. Also, I don't think the transfer portal is a viable lateral option for Gopher players who are not starters or are playing "out of position". Last I saw, about 40% who enter struggle to actually land at a new school. Of those who do find a new school, I believe roughly 40% of them are not offered a scholarship.
 

on NIL - in my experience, the really big money for "pay to play" NIL comes from the Boosters - like John Ruiz in Miami.

and for whatever reason, MN just does not seem to have those types of fans - the people who are both 1. really freakin' rich and 2. love their local college FB program.

Texas A&M just agreed to play $75-million to get rid of their FB coach. SMU essentially gave up $70-million in future revenue to join the ACC.

how can those schools do that - because they have Boosters who are really freakin' rich, love the program, and are willing to cough up the cash if they think it helps the program.

Maybe if the Gophers and T. Denny Sanford had not had their falling out, he might have been someone who could have thrown some money into the NIL pot.

Is there anyone else out there with that much money who is willing to help out the Gopher program? Are there any Gopher alums who are stinkin' rich? I don't know.
 

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