Souhan: P.J. Fleck and his Gophers look lost; team has not improved in its second yr

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metrolax said:
People are overlooking one small detail.....

The U decided to burn down the football program for reasons of political correctness. They found just
the coach who was willing to light the match. Any coach that would have simply built on what was already
there had no chance of being hired.
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Yes, being in the national spotlight, first, for the ugly scandal, and, second, for a boycott is no reason to think things should change. It's that damn political correctness and real men like you scoff at that pansy stuff.

It's not like P.J. was some obscure guy that Coyle was lucky to get because he was the only one willing to torch such a successful program. He was in the top echelon of available coaches and many viewed him as the top coach available. Claeys did a great job taking over and that bowl win was a hell of an accomplishment. Sorry, but many people believe that was his ceiling. Am glad Coyle decided to take a chance and bring in someone who has a better chance of getting the U to the top of the heap.

Who knows if he will do it? Don't get the sense that the team is turned off by the slogans and gimmicks yet. If he can have another recruiting year like last year, he just might get us to the top.
 

Mulligan said:
Yes, being in the national spotlight, first, for the ugly scandal, and, second, for a boycott is no reason to think things should change. It's that damn political correctness and real men like you scoff at that pansy stuff.

It's not like P.J. was some obscure guy that Coyle was lucky to get because he was the only one willing to torch such a successful program. He was in the top echelon of available coaches and many viewed him as the top coach available. Claeys did a great job taking over and that bowl win was a hell of an accomplishment. Sorry, but many people believe that was his ceiling. Am glad Coyle decided to take a chance and bring in someone who has a better chance of getting the U to the top of the heap.

Who knows if he will do it? Don't get the sense that the team is turned off by the slogans and gimmicks yet. If he can have another recruiting year like last year, he just might get us to the top.
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I was just stating some facts, not judgments. People I know are close to regents, and from their various comments the U seems to be more
inclined to pursue "firsts" and equality to a larger degree than other schools. Its a sentiment that has prevailed for a while. When that scandal reared its head, TC was toast. There was no way they were going to retain him. The program was gonna be burned down and they looked for a coach who would be willing to light that match and rebuild it, almost completely if need be.

In the Twin Cities, one is almost better off being accused of murder than of mistreating a woman. Not a snarky pov, just an observation. But insult me if it makes you feel better.
 

metrolax said:
I was just stating some facts, not judgments. People I know are close to regents, and from their various comments the U seems to be more
inclined to pursue "firsts" and equality to a larger degree than other schools. Its a sentiment that has prevailed for a while. When that scandal reared its head, TC was toast. There was no way they were going to retain him. The program was gonna be burned down and they looked for a coach who would be willing to light that match and rebuild it, almost completely if need be.

In the Twin Cities, one is almost better off being accused of murder than of mistreating a woman. Not a snarky pov, just an observation. But insult me if it makes you feel better.
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So how was this program ‘burned down’?
 

Its a figure of speech. The U was willing to clean house as much as possible to separate itself from exactly such
a scandal as that. Obvioulsy....and listen very closely, so you...understand......no fires were physically set. You see?
Not one thing was set on fire. The buildings were still there. What the U was looking for was a top-tier candidate, but
NOT one who would be more of a continuation of what was there before. They wanted as different an approach as
they could get. And, once you do that, that means as much a housecleaning as possible. The whole "Row the Boat" and "culture" things is
what sold the U on Fleck. Without those, MAYBE somebody else gets hired.
 



Souhan is a troll.

Dont bother to read his articles.

A trained monkey could produce the same garbage if he was angry.
 

metrolax said:
Its a figure of speech. The U was willing to clean house as much as possible to separate itself from exactly such
a scandal as that. Obvioulsy....and listen very closely, so you...understand......no fires were physically set. You see?
Not one thing was set on fire. The buildings were still there. What the U was looking for was a top-tier candidate, but
NOT one who would be more of a continuation of what was there before. They wanted as different an approach as
they could get. And, once you do that, that means as much a housecleaning as possible. The whole "Row the Boat" and "culture" things is
what sold the U on Fleck. Without those, MAYBE somebody else gets hired.
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Just curious, what new coach at his opening press conference would have said I am here to build on the legacy left by Tracy Claeys?
 

John Galt said:
Just curious, what new coach at his opening press conference would have said I am here to build on the legacy left by Tracy Claeys?
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Seriously, some of you people talk like Claeys was the one who was going to lead us to the CFP, or at the very least have us in contention for the Big Ten West championship every year. WRONG! He was never going to bring in the top players. Do you think Bateman, Falele, etc would be here if Claeys was the coach?
 

Whatever Claeys MIGHT have done is immaterial.

If your argument is: "Gophers would have gotten worse under Claeys," then does that somehow make Fleck a better coach, or make his record more impressive?

No.

Fleck was brought in to MN - according to the AD - to take the program to the next level, generate excitement for the program, and improve attendance. He's got work to do to accomplish those goals. He might. Or he might not.

He'll get at least 2 more years to see what he can do. Unless something really goes fubar.
 



Rickman55 said:
Seriously, some of you people talk like Claeys was the one who was going to lead us to the CFP, or at the very least have us in contention for the Big Ten West championship every year. WRONG! He was never going to bring in the top players. Do you think Bateman, Falele, etc would be here if Claeys was the coach?
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In the end I don't care who the players are - I want us to win games. I'd rather go 8-4 with a bunch of no-names, than 5-7 with a bunch of 4-stars.
 

metrolax said:
I was just stating some facts, not judgments. People I know are close to regents, and from their various comments the U seems to be more
inclined to pursue "firsts" and equality to a larger degree than other schools. Its a sentiment that has prevailed for a while. When that scandal reared its head, TC was toast. There was no way they were going to retain him. The program was gonna be burned down and they looked for a coach who would be willing to light that match and rebuild it, almost completely if need be.

In the Twin Cities, one is almost better off being accused of murder than of mistreating a woman. Not a snarky pov, just an observation. But insult me if it makes you feel better.
Click to expand...

Yes, the feminist kangaroo court process was set up by an Obama directive in 2011; this past week or so the fed Ed dept changed the rules: jurisdiction applies only to academic property and the accused must have the right of cross examination. In Caeys' case, though, the team boycott really was the nail in the coffin - what were they thinking? the poor guy was in San Diego setting up the bowl game. Terrible all around.
 

GopherGod said:
The responses in this thread clearly show he is not failing if that was his goal. Lazy appears to be the popular buzzword used repeatedly for any reporter or article that criticizes Fleck. When Fleck calls so much attention to himself, he opens himself up for tons of criticism when he struggles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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He is getting a couple dozen people fired up. This is a fan base that had 15,000 people show up on a Saturday afternoon. I would prefer that the article were riling up a passionate fan base, but I almost feel like it is lucky anyone is writing about the Gophers at all.
 

Half of the threads here deteriorate into arguments about how the Claeys regime ended. We do need to move on, but looking at the stands every game you can tell that many fans have not, not just those on this board. Losing does make people stay away, but I don't think you would see this level of apathy with a second year coach that hovers around .500 as they try to rebuild.

I think unfairly Fleck bears the brunt of many fans anger towards how the 2016 ended, but I also think it doesn't help that many of the Fleck supporters fell the need to take shots or support the system that removed Claeys, just to show allegiance to Fleck.

I hope that our fan base can move past the ugliness of 2016 before the Fleck's tenure ends, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Unfortunately they may be linked together through no fault of their own.
 



rockford said:
As usual, Souhan -- the Tim Brewster of Strib sports coumnists -- takes the path of least resistance.

It would have been possible to write a nuanced piece regarding the struggle to resurrect this program, the obvious promise of a freshman-laden offense, the awakening of a previously somnambulant defense, the hope and eventual frustration encapsulated in a pitched battle fought in the Minnesota elements.

You know, like an actual writer.

Instead, Souhan chose to take cheap shots at an easy target. Again. And again. And again.

I was a journalist for nearly 20 years. In the nearly 20 years since I left the field, I have purchased less than 20 newspapers. Souhan is a perfect example of why.

There's nothing there.

JTG
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Ummm no. Brewster was never that negative. Brewster's quality of work was also better than Souhan's. Most High school Newspaper writers are better.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Half of the threads here deteriorate into arguments about how the Claeys regime ended. We do need to move on, but looking at the stands every game you can tell that many fans have not, not just those on this board. Losing does make people stay away, but I don't think you would see this level of apathy with a second year coach that hovers around .500 as they try to rebuild.

I think unfairly Fleck bears the brunt of many fans anger towards how the 2016 ended, but I also think it doesn't help that many of the Fleck supporters fell the need to take shots or support the system that removed Claeys, just to show allegiance to Fleck.

I hope that our fan base can move past the ugliness of 2016 before the Fleck's tenure ends, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Unfortunately they may be linked together through no fault of their own.
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This is a well thought out post. We have a divided fan base and a coach that stoic Minnesotans have a hard time embracing.
 

WoodburyTim said:
Half of the threads here deteriorate into arguments about how the Claeys regime ended. We do need to move on, but looking at the stands every game you can tell that many fans have not, not just those on this board. Losing does make people stay away, but I don't think you would see this level of apathy with a second year coach that hovers around .500 as they try to rebuild.

I think unfairly Fleck bears the brunt of many fans anger towards how the 2016 ended, but I also think it doesn't help that many of the Fleck supporters fell the need to take shots or support the system that removed Claeys, just to show allegiance to Fleck.

I hope that our fan base can move past the ugliness of 2016 before the Fleck's tenure ends, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Unfortunately they may be linked together through no fault of their own.
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If and when Fleck puts up a 10 win season, I bet discussion of the 9 win 2016 will evaporate pretty quickly.
 


Goph33 said:
Fleck is going to turn this around MARK MY WORDS
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I have felt like this, but my lifetime of being a fan of most things Minnesota tarnishes my optimism. At this point however I feel the need to believe and emotionally buy into some program and Fleck's approach for football and life is something that compliments where I am right now.
 

Growing pains hurt...even for football programs.

Way too early to judge anything on the current "culture" and recruits...and not enough data collected on the previous regime's "culture" and recruits to reach a conclusion.

No choice now but to row and hope the compass or astrolabe is working...and that the charted course actually leads to championship level performance.

In the meantime waiting in line sucks...and certainly the Gophers Faithful knows about waiting in THIS line. Only joy is when you receive whatever it was you were waiting for...time will tell.

If the outcome is good then we'll have Coach Fleck until he elects to leave...if the outcome is bad then we'll have a new coach when Coach Fleck is shown the door...
 

The Gophers should find their way back from Madison but if they do get lost they can call Souhan and ask directions.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

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