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

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It might be time to demote football to FCS and move to the Big East before St. Thomas has a chance. Change the mascot to the Holy Gophers.
 


Tucker32 said:
Based on what? Not who I am talking with. The only one with any kind of NIL in the West is Nebraska, and that's not in the league of top schools.
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I asked the original poster if he knew the break down of NIL$ by west teams. I am making an assumption that MN is in the lower 1/3. If you have data please post it...I'm not wrong unless you or someone can provide data that shows I'm wrong.
 


proudgopher said:
Don't expect Coyle to bail us out. Fundraising, relationships with donors and public speaking are not his strengths.
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At least he's not Mega-Tongue, but these (above) are the top three requirements of being an AD. How did he ever get his job??
 


Where is former Gopher Peter Najarian, the market analyst money guru? Maybe he would have interest in helping his former squad.
 

Panthadad2 said:
All the Gophers need to become like Oregon is find a mega billionaire entrepreneur in the branded athletics apparel industry that loves supporting the athletics program as a hobby. Easy.
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I agree but it hasn't helped Maryland.
 

MOGopher said:
PJ Fleck will be packing his bags and heading to Michigan State.
More money, bigger stage and NIL dollars to buy some talent.
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I'm in Lansing right now. They loved the guy but no way RTB works at MSU.
 




An NIL question... Did Mo Ibrahim make more money in 2022 at the "U" than most NFL rookies in 2022? or 2023?
 






Then they could've built the new one with 1k capacity?
 


I agree, it is right-sized for their near to mid-term future and in the Summit League.

If they ever hope to be in the Big East, it won't be large enough. But that's not at all a concern for the near future.
 

this week's edition of the PJ Fleck weekly radio show was interesting. Fleck spent a lot of time talking about the impact of the portal and NIL. He kept saying things like "if a school wants to buy a player from another school, they just go and do it." He must have said "buying players" 10 times.
either he's really trying to send a message, or this is something he thinks about a lot.

also talked about how players who are not starting will go to a smaller school in order to start - which impacts your depth. He talked about the players who have left through the portal impacting the depth at LB and RB especially.

a big chunk of the show was in the same vein - portal and NIL.

Fleck did say he thinks the Gophers have some good young players but they need to develop them and then need to keep them.

But, listening to the show did not give me a lot of warm fuzzies about the future of the program. Fleck made it pretty clear that if you don't have a lot of NIL, you're going to lose players every year, and then you can't afford to buy players from other teams to replace the ones you lost.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this week's edition of the PJ Fleck weekly radio show was interesting. Fleck spent a lot of time talking about the impact of the portal and NIL. He kept saying things like "if a school wants to buy a player from another school, they just go and do it." He must have said "buying players" 10 times.
either he's really trying to send a message, or this is something he thinks about a lot.

also talked about how players who are not starting will go to a smaller school in order to start - which impacts your depth. He talked about the players who have left through the portal impacting the depth at LB and RB especially.

a big chunk of the show was in the same vein - portal and NIL.

Fleck did say he thinks the Gophers have some good young players but they need to develop them and then need to keep them.

But, listening to the show did not give me a lot of warm fuzzies about the future of the program. Fleck made it pretty clear that if you don't have a lot of NIL, you're going to lose players every year, and then you can't afford to buy players from other teams to replace the ones you lost.
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I’m sure it’s frustrating for him especially when a lot of that is out of his control. Throw in a few frustrating losses and getting trashed in the media and PJ is probably looking to let off some steam. I don’t disagree with what he’s saying but I think he’d be better served not saying it out loud.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I’m sure it’s frustrating for him especially when a lot of that is out of his control. Throw in a few frustrating losses and getting trashed in the media and PJ is probably looking to let off some steam. I don’t disagree with what he’s saying but I think he’d be better served not saying it out loud.
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When you make a seven figure salary to do what would be a dream job to many, no one wants to hear you complain about the hard parts of your job (regardless of how legitimate your gripes may be).
 

Gophers1992 said:
I’m sure it’s frustrating for him especially when a lot of that is out of his control. Throw in a few frustrating losses and getting trashed in the media and PJ is probably looking to let off some steam. I don’t disagree with what he’s saying but I think he’d be better served not saying it out loud.
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bleedsmaroonandgold said:
When you make a seven figure salary to do what would be a dream job to many, no one wants to hear you complain about the hard parts of your job (regardless of how legitimate your gripes may be).
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I'd agree that this is a necessary message and that it would best be delivered by someone else, but I think that PJ is likely at the point where he realizes that there is no one else taking on the responsibility to do so--not in the athletic department, not in the business community, not in the media. If he doesn't "say it out loud" no one will ever hear the message. I love that the Dinkytown Athletes folks are trying to get something going, but even if we all drink Duck, Duck Beer until we pass out every night and we all sell our houses through their real estate entity, they are not going to raise a fraction of the kind of money that the real movers and shakers are putting together. If there is a desire to try to compete in the current marketplace, we are rapidly approaching the desperation point. That's true for PJ personally, but also for the football program and the other sports on campus.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
this week's edition of the PJ Fleck weekly radio show was interesting. Fleck spent a lot of time talking about the impact of the portal and NIL. He kept saying things like "if a school wants to buy a player from another school, they just go and do it." He must have said "buying players" 10 times.
either he's really trying to send a message, or this is something he thinks about a lot.

also talked about how players who are not starting will go to a smaller school in order to start - which impacts your depth. He talked about the players who have left through the portal impacting the depth at LB and RB especially.

a big chunk of the show was in the same vein - portal and NIL.

Fleck did say he thinks the Gophers have some good young players but they need to develop them and then need to keep them.

But, listening to the show did not give me a lot of warm fuzzies about the future of the program. Fleck made it pretty clear that if you don't have a lot of NIL, you're going to lose players every year, and then you can't afford to buy players from other teams to replace the ones you lost.
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I think he’s tone deaf to be talking about this right now, but he goes to the beat of his own drummer. I guess our option is to tune out the drums or deal with it.
 

I doubt it takes much NIL to pull guys up from Abeline Christian or SE Louisiana State. Both are FCS.

That’s Gibbens and Hendersen. That’s the kind of transfers we need to keep finding for depth and even starters. MAC and FCS, who are just happy to get a shot at playing in the Big Ten.
 

MplsGopher said:
I doubt it takes much NIL to pull guys up from Abeline Christian or SE Louisiana State. Both are FCS.

That’s Gibbens and Hendersen. That’s the kind of transfers we need to keep finding for depth and even starters. MAC and FCS, who are just happy to get a shot at playing in the Big Ten.
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But Fleck's point - as I heard it - is that the Gophers need to get the big-time NIL money - "pay for play" money - if they want to keep pace with other P5 teams.

If the amount of talent lost to the portal equals X, but the Gophers are bringing in talent that equals 60% of X, that is a net loss of talent. I think that is what Fleck is talking about. in the new NIL world, you are either a buyer or you're not. and if you're not, you are falling further behind.
 

Dano564 said:
By the way, on PJ's radio show today when asked about the transfer portal he said the transfer portal takes money.

This reminder doesn't seem like it's going away.
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Yep....we have fans saying we need to bring in a transfer QB for next year.....but the likelihood that we can get one of the top flight can't miss guys is low because those guys are going to go to the highest bidder.

Still may be worth bringing in a transfer to compete with Athan but fans should be prepared for whoever we bring in to not be the cream of the crop because that is who we are likely going to be able to afford on the open market.
 

Fleck can sell urgency all he wants. His spirit animal is a used car salesman.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to sign 3* and bring in MAC/FCS transfers.

It was only until this season, where Tyler and Selig (apparently?) flopped. Perfect storm of lost depth and injuries.
 

Fleck sank his boat back to Brewster levels and is now begging for NIL $. I don't see many people wanting to dump a load of $ into a sinking ship.
 

cuz…error…xuz
 
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I'd take the rankings with a grain of salt but of the transfers in and out at MN last year, 247 had Elijah Spencer as the highest rank. Other than Irving leaving the year before, I think the transfer portal has probably been a net positive so far. Or at worse a wash.

Booker is going to be a stud and having Oliver and Dixon for depth would have been nice, but overall I don't it's hurt us that much.
 

Well, what do you mean @GophersInIowa ?

If hypothetically we held onto all the defensive guys who left last offseason, and that allowed us to win the NW, ILL, and Purdue games … that would be very significant.

That’s the story that Fleck wants people to think, even if he won’t come out and say that explicitly.

I don’t know to what extent it is true. We can’t ever truly know.
 

Any explanation in here in why MN is in a worse position than say NW, Purdue, IL, and maybe two dozen other P5 schools that aren’t Ohio St and Texas etc?

Maybe MN is uniquely poor when it comes to donors and donations. I don’t know enough about NIL though.
 

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