Souhan: Fleck has made this program all about him. His players have been asked to stand when he enters a room and are left to parrot his cliches

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Per Souhan:

This season, the Gophers had to play a true Big Ten schedule, meaning games against Michigan and Ohio State, although they were lucky to not face Penn State.

Fleck's buzzwords have not kept the 2023 Gophers from collapsing.

They fell apart in the second half against a bad Northwestern team, were embarrassed by Michigan, imploded in the fourth quarter against a bad Illinois team and were pounded by a bad Purdue team.

Fleck has made this program all about him. His players have been asked to stand when he enters a room and are left to parrot his cliches, from training camp to postgame interviews.

Those postgame interview sessions have prompted questions toward the coach about the direction of his backsliding program. Maybe Fleck could learn from some of his Minnesota peers and treat his players more like equals and less like indentured servants, and comport himself more like an employee than a king.

www.startribune.com

Vikings, Timberwolves among Minnesota teams winning with collegial coaching; P.J. Fleck's Gophers are not

P.J. Fleck's me-first approach stands in contrast to Kevin O'Connell, Chris Finch and other Minnesota leaders — both in style and success.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!
 









There's no doubt that some players have left because they didn't buy into PJ Fleck's philosophy... but there have been many, many who've willingly drunk the Kool-Aid, so to speak. Antoine Winfield is still rowing the boat in the NFL, as his TD celebration yesterday shows. As Fleck has stated, repeatedly, his philosophy isn't for everyone... but those players who embrace it do so whole-heartedly.

Souhan has an agenda and is purely trying to stir up shit... but that's his job, so I guess it's to be expected. He does seem to love that job, too.

I don't think PJ has made it "all about him," but has more likely made it "all about his philosophy." I will say, from my perspective, that I love seeing his players hand the football directly to the officials instead of just flinging the ball (maybe) in their direction. Is it too much, these days, to expect students to rise when an instructor (or coach) enters the room? Probably... but PJ has been going out and finding kids who'll do just that. The key question is can he continue to find enough to field a competitive squad? Time will tell on that one.
 




Even with this year's setbacks Floyd is home and The Axe is now almost a resident. That is progress.

But the question must be asked: Satisfied? No.

But a second question needs to be asked: Ready to jump ship...er...boat? Likewise, no.

Some things are predictable. Jim is one of them.
 

BilldGopher said:
Even with this year's setbacks Floyd is home and The Axe is now almost a resident. That is progress.

But the question must be asked: Satisfied? No.

But a second question needs to be asked: Ready to jump ship...er...boat? Likewise, no.

Some things are predictable. Jim is one of them.
Click to expand...
:) I agree with all of it with an edit... The Axe could and should still be a resident
There are lots of things to poke fun of PJ about but who would we hire, who could we hire that has any proven resume of being better?
 

It amazes me the guys who (still) have a voice in Twin Cities media. Souhan had a horrible take last year about how Minnesota should give Ben Johnson "more time". This time he suggests Minnesota was "lucky" to avoid playing Penn State. Who thinks he's even aware of how the B1G schedules and that teams play 3 crossover games a year? Yes, not going 3 for 3 with tOSU, Michigan, and PSU is clearly a fortunate break for PJ. I don't get the feeling he is informed on any Gopher sports, he just writes a hot take article when asked by his superiors to write something on the Gophers.

With Fleck being so different in comparison to many coaches, his schtick was always going to be blamed when/if things started turning sour. I think a better time for a column like this would have been last season when a bunch of veterans lost to Purdue, Illinois, and Iowa...if you were going to argue Fleck was wearing thin on players...that would have been the time to do it. Also, while Fleck may be different, what college coaches treat their players as "equals"? As soon as that happens and there are any off the field issues, the next column becomes about how the head coach has no control over his football program.
 




I quit reading after the very first statement on the schedule, and being lucky to not have also played Penn State. Just pure garbage in my opinion.
 


SomeGopherFan said:
I quit reading after the very first statement on the schedule, and being lucky to not have also played Penn State. Just pure garbage in my opinion.
Click to expand...

The people making this point are correct. Souhan made a gaffe here.

Souhan wrote: "This season, the Gophers had to play a true Big Ten schedule, meaning games against Michigan and Ohio State, although they were lucky to not face Penn State."


Here are the facts:

--Michigan is ranked #2 in the AP football poll. Ohio State is ranked #3. Penn State is ranked #12. They are the big three Big Ten power teams. Since before the season began, Penn State was considered 3rd in that group of 3.

--Minnesota this season played Michigan and now Ohio State this week. Minnesota's schedule has 2 of the 3 power teams. Minnesota played the strongest 2.

--Wisconsin played only Ohio State this season. Wisconsin did not play either Michigan or Penn State. Wisconsin played 1 of the 3.

--Iowa played only Penn State. Iowa played only 1 of the 3. Iowa played the weakest of the three.

--The power 3 teams faced each other twice. That's the same number the Gophers faced power 3 teams. Wisconsin and Iowa only faced power 3 teams once.
 





I have no idea if the Fleck-centric nature of Gopher Football has anything to do with the successes or failures on the field. Some of it is harmless management philosophy with a name, like the Fleck Bank, while other parts like standing up when the grand poobah enters the room are just things recycled from the military. Most of the approaches do have a common thread of a Focus on Fleck.

Even when things go wrong, the line is "It's all on me"

Personally, if I were a recruit, I would find it kind of off-putting. I would prefer the guy making over $5M to stand on the sidelines to defer credit and spotlight more to the guys putting their body on the line for a scholarship.
 

60's Guy said:
:) I agree with all of it with an edit... The Axe could and should still be a resident
There are lots of things to poke fun of PJ about but who would we hire, who could we hire that has any proven resume of being better?
Click to expand...

First off, respect to a 60's Gophers fan!

I am not in the "fire coach Fleck" camp...not one bit, I do think a season like this next year should absolutely warrant a very warm seat.

But, I just can't relate to the old "who could we hire" question as rationale for being afraid to make a move. It's not our job as fans to figure that out - it's our Athletic Director's job.

I can't tell you who we could hire, but I also don't believe it should be the reason we shouldn't try. There are extremely good coaches just waiting for their chance somewhere - historically, Black coaches have been showing this for years in both pro and collegiate level.

Fleck deserves the benefit of the doubt, but if we get to that space where we have to move on, it isn't a bare cupboard out there.
 








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