BleedGopher
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per Sid:
While many college football coaches would view being hired only 26 days before national signing day as a big hindrance to landing a great recruiting group, new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said he and his staff viewed it differently at the news conference announcing the Minnesota Class of 2017 on Wednesday.
“Some people think it can handicap you. We looked at it as an opportunity, we really did,” said Fleck, who was hired Jan. 6. “We looked at it as an opportunity to continue to secure the players that we really knew from Western Michigan University that were willing to come to the University of Minnesota. Then we looked at it as an opportunity that we have to get to know players very, very quickly and cipher through which ones we wanted. It made it a lot of fun, I’ll be honest with you, it made it a lot of fun.”
Fleck’s first Gophers class brought in 25 players, including nine who previously had committed to Western Michigan. While some fans might wonder about those players’ ability to compete in the Big Ten, Fleck said it was not a question of their ability. Most had offers from other Big Ten schools when they committed to WMU.
“I think that was really critical,” he said. One good example is defensive end Esezi Otomewo of Indianapolis, who had offers from Illinois, Iowa State and Purdue among other Power 5 schools before committing to Western Michigan and eventually flipping to the Gophers.
Just as impressive for Fleck was his ability to sign some big-time recruits that could have gone to other major-conference schools. Cornerback Adam Beck had committed to Texas Tech, wide receiver Demetrius Douglas had committed to Oregon, all-around athlete Reyondous Estes had committed to Missouri and safety Kendarian Handy-Holly had offers from schools such as Florida and Louisville.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-p-j-fleck-was-up-to-challenge-of-short-recruiting-time/412500623/
Go Gophers!!
While many college football coaches would view being hired only 26 days before national signing day as a big hindrance to landing a great recruiting group, new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said he and his staff viewed it differently at the news conference announcing the Minnesota Class of 2017 on Wednesday.
“Some people think it can handicap you. We looked at it as an opportunity, we really did,” said Fleck, who was hired Jan. 6. “We looked at it as an opportunity to continue to secure the players that we really knew from Western Michigan University that were willing to come to the University of Minnesota. Then we looked at it as an opportunity that we have to get to know players very, very quickly and cipher through which ones we wanted. It made it a lot of fun, I’ll be honest with you, it made it a lot of fun.”
Fleck’s first Gophers class brought in 25 players, including nine who previously had committed to Western Michigan. While some fans might wonder about those players’ ability to compete in the Big Ten, Fleck said it was not a question of their ability. Most had offers from other Big Ten schools when they committed to WMU.
“I think that was really critical,” he said. One good example is defensive end Esezi Otomewo of Indianapolis, who had offers from Illinois, Iowa State and Purdue among other Power 5 schools before committing to Western Michigan and eventually flipping to the Gophers.
Just as impressive for Fleck was his ability to sign some big-time recruits that could have gone to other major-conference schools. Cornerback Adam Beck had committed to Texas Tech, wide receiver Demetrius Douglas had committed to Oregon, all-around athlete Reyondous Estes had committed to Missouri and safety Kendarian Handy-Holly had offers from schools such as Florida and Louisville.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-p-j-fleck-was-up-to-challenge-of-short-recruiting-time/412500623/
Go Gophers!!