So do we love PJ again?

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PJ'S not out of the doghouse until he beats Iowa and Wisconsin regularly.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I feel you sort of validated caligopher's post.
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I don’t. Do we get blown out of a lot of winnable games? Seems to me we win or are in position to win most of them against fairly equal or lesser opponents.
 

MNVCGUY said:
This is why there were those of us so adamant that it was not time to even be floating the idea of firing Fleck early in the season.

There are fans that get so over the top after wins and loses and want to make drastic decisions. Need to let the season play out and judge things on the whole body of work so that you don't over react to the good or bad in the moment.
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If the body of work is only the current season then the 2019 talk needs to stop.
 

swede2 said:
If the body of work is only the current season then the 2019 talk needs to stop.
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Not what I meant at all. In season firings should only happen in extreme cases, especially ones really early in the year. Those calling for Fleck to be fired were being foolish. You judge the coaches full body of work which would include the entire current season which unless I am wrong is still not over yet.
 

fair said:
I’m torn. On one hand, he’s given the Gophers more marquee moments than any coach in decades. On the other hand, his play style puts us on such a razor’s edge that one bad quarter can kill any chances of winning, even against the worst opponents. But, when that play style works, we get games like last night.

Ultimately, I feel like I need to see a reduction in “stinker” games; there seems to be one each year. If we can go the rest of the seasons with two losses or less (Illinois and Penn State), I’ll feel good about Fleck for the foreseeable future.
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I can’t fight the feeling that this Gopher team is built to cause all kinds of problems for Illinois this season. Just a hunch, of course, but I think this Gopher team will really brawl with the stinking illini when “…push comes to shove…”

Get the ball to the Gopher RBs in space and watch them do their stuff!
 


Again, still, always 😄

EDIT: Until I change my mind of course
 

Some guy said:
Disagree strongly.
Had the lead. Getting the ball at half.

His number one goal was to not give them the ball back. Once the math moved to them not getting the ball back he moved to his second goal of scoring.
If the best player on the offense hadn’t fumbled they’d have attempted a field goal attempt.

The fumble was a bad play but the clock management there was really good IMO. We just disagree about strategy I guess.
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If we have the ball, shouldn't us scoring be the primary goal?
 


Some guy said:
Not in all situations
Even you agree with that as I assume you say sometimes teams should punt
Sometimes teams should take a knee literally
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Absolutely. Punting obviously makes sense in many fourth down situations, and I can accept that there can be little enough time you'd rather kneel out the clock than chuck up a hail mary.

My thoughts relate more to 2-3 minutes at the end if the half. In that situation, I would rather a team run the two minute drill with the goal of maximizing the chances to get in the end zone. If we get stopped on a third down and kick a field goal, fine. But I'd hate to see a team settle for a field goal because they ran out of time after trying to milk the clock out of fear of the other team getting the ball back. If we don't have enough time to get to the end zone, why are we afraid that the other team would be able to use that same time to put together a TD drive of their own?

Just sharing my general thoughts on strategy in a certain situation, not looking to poo poo the coaching after a game where the staff put together a game plan that won us a big upset victory against a highly ranked opponent.
 



Ewert86PC said:
PJ'S not out of the doghouse until he beats Iowa and Wisconsin regularly.
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Then you have to give him multiple years to make that happen.

I look at it this way. Fleck is entering the time of his life where he could be (age wise) a father to these kids. IMO the era of NIL and having transient coaches or being a transient/transaction coach is not going to be the way to be successful.

Back to back sellouts, student section that loves him, and ability to fill holes on the roster through portal. There is no need to consider a change.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Then you have to give him multiple years to make that happen.

I look at it this way. Fleck is entering the time of his life where he could be (age wise) a father to these kids. IMO the era of NIL and having transient coaches or being a transient/transaction coach is not going to be the way to be successful.

Back to back sellouts, student section that loves him, and ability to fill holes on the roster through portal. There is no need to consider a change.
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He has had multiple years which is why the seat is hotter than people expect. It affects his ability to compete with recruiting against those schools. He is regionally deficient in this aspect. No amount of "good ol' dad"-ising counters that in recruiting.
 





MilosRevenge said:
Unless Fleck walks away, he's guaranteed to be the longest tenured coach since Warmath in 1971.
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Yep.

I'll throw in a random thought whose credit goes to the instant USC game reaction video posted this morning in its own thread. Basically, the 2nd attempt should have been called a TD on the field instead of just short again.

Had that happened and that call been affirmed by the replay, it would have given a whole different flavor to the go-for-it again or not debate we have now. Lord knows under this scenario the discussion if called a TD and reversed by the replay had that unfolded.

In the end we got the W, going for it twice was the right call, and all is good until the next Saturday. Funny how this game works, which is why we watch, cheer, cry, and so on every Fall.
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
This has been a roller coaster of a season already. Some have written PJ off (not a criticism). This was a great win and seems to rejuvenate things, but there is still a lot of season left. If we can build on this PJ’s seat cools off tremendously. But, we need to make a bowl for me to go all in on PJ.
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Fair. My post from last week is looking even better already.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah. I’m back. I know, I’m a hypocrite because I was out on him after Iowa but I’m back.

As annoying as he can be, he has provided more games like this to me than any other Gopher coach in my life.
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Enjoy the Maroon and Gold Rollercoaster! I think all of us have felt this way at least once during our Gopher fandom.
 



I think it's still okay to be frustrated with him. It's looking like this is a decent team. Which means we lost games we shouldn't have. Which has been the case for every successful season we have had with PJ...Just missing a shot at a Big Ten title by a single game multiple times.

When can we get a complete season?
 

Is it hard to overstate how much an exciting win over a ranked blue blood as a two score dog changes sentiments? It’s been a minute. This is exactly what all the detractors have been wanting and waiting for. Be kind to each other..
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Is it hard to overstate how much an exciting win over a ranked blue blood as a two score dog changes sentiments? It’s been a minute. This is exactly what all the detractors have been wanting and waiting for. Be kind to each other..
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It is kind of peculiar to see how many people are begging for this kind of win and then we finally get it and they are still unhappy.
 

Nax5 said:
I think it's still okay to be frustrated with him. It's looking like this is a decent team. Which means we lost games we shouldn't have. Which has been the case for every successful season we have had with PJ...Just missing a shot at a Big Ten title by a single game multiple times.

When can we get a complete season?
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Frustration is totally normal. Every fanbase gets frustrated with their coaches/team when their team loses a game they think they should have won.

The issue is that just changing the coach tends to not be the solution that the fire the coach crowd always wants to think it will be.
 

Word said:
It is kind of peculiar to see how many people are begging for this kind of win and then we finally get it and they are still unhappy.
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I’ve only had time to check a few threads but is that really true? I suppose some people just don’t like the guy, but most fans love an underdog/redemption/comeback story. Plenty of time for both “sides” to beat chests as the season unfolds, I’ll predict. Ultimately for me the team looks competitive.
 

Word said:
It is kind of peculiar to see how many people are begging for this kind of win and then we finally get it and they are still unhappy.
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You mean the....."the win over USC was great and all but it just makes me more angry about the UNC, Iowa and Michigan loses".....crowd?

Never ceases to amaze me how some will always try and find the negative way to look at things.
 

GO4INLALALAND said:
This has been a roller coaster of a season already. Some have written PJ off (not a criticism). This was a great win and seems to rejuvenate things, but there is still a lot of season left. If we can build on this PJ’s seat cools off tremendously. But, we need to make a bowl for me to go all in on PJ.
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I would love to hear PJ haters name a potential replacement that they believe can take a historically mediocre program, in a state and surrounding region that produces very few D-1 recruits, with a relatively small apathetic fan base, and turn it into a national power…life long Gopher fan and season ticket holder that loves the competitive program PJ has built that goes beyond just the w-l record.
 

Ewert86PC said:
He has had multiple years which is why the seat is hotter than people expect. It affects his ability to compete with recruiting against those schools. He is regionally deficient in this aspect. No amount of "good ol' dad"-ising counters that in recruiting.
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I mean he has beaten Wisconsin 3 out of the last six, that’s pretty regular.
 

Goldeng4 said:
I would love to hear PJ haters name a potential replacement that they believe can take a historically mediocre program, in a state and surrounding region that produces very few D-1 recruits, with a relatively small apathetic fan base, and turn it into a national power…life long Gopher fan and season ticket holder that loves the competitive program PJ has built that goes beyond just the w-l record.
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It is the backup QB thing.....there are fans that will always just assume there is a better coach waiting out there that can fix all the problems the current one has in the same way fans often think the backup QB is better than the starter.

That isn't to say there isn't a coach out there that could outperform what Fleck has done, but what some fans have a tough time grasping is that Fleck is struggling some to get back to the bar HE set in 2019 and then raised with back to back 9 win seasons in 21 and 22. You have to go back a LONG time to find a coach at Minnesota that has been successful here as Fleck has been.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
I’ve only had time to check a few threads but is that really true? I suppose some people just don’t like the guy, but most fans love an underdog/redemption/comeback story. Plenty of time for both “sides” to beat chests as the season unfolds, I’ll predict. Ultimately for me the team looks competitive.
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I don’t think it’s true. I think they’re pushing a false narrative.
 

We are a sleeping giant who still takes too many naps.

At least wide awake against USC that was great to experience.

Right now we have the one-game season against UCLA. Win this one and a bowl doesn't look as daunting but still not a gimme by any means.

As for Coach's seat, it's only warm because he turned on the seat warmer in his Yukon or Heather's Subaru. No heat at all from the AD, and if the new Prez was there Saturday night, she has zero issues with the HC at this time. Would take a major scandal to even get on her radar. Not happening.
 

MNVCGUY said:
It is the backup QB thing.....there are fans that will always just assume there is a better coach waiting out there that can fix all the problems the current one has in the same way fans often think the backup QB is better than the starter.

That isn't to say there isn't a coach out there that could outperform what Fleck has done, but what some fans have a tough time grasping is that Fleck is struggling some to get back to the bar HE set in 2019 and then raised with back to back 9 win seasons in 21 and 22. You have to go back a LONG time to find a coach at Minnesota that has been successful here as Fleck has been.
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We agree his seat isn’t hot for a few reasons but I think where you and some others disagree is on whether PJ would have achieved the nine wins if he played in the East division, for example, or played Wisconsin when they were good.

I think it’s pretty normal for sports fans to want to move on when things get stale or plateau at an average level or there is a perception of an inability to compete with top 20 teams, whatever the sport or level. This win should help change the narrative in a big way.
 

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