Spring Practice: Speculation, Observation, Rumination

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After all the chaos of our recent basketball hire and meltdown on the basketball board, it’s comforting to see PJ back behind the mic looking dapper and tight as ever (get a load of that tie and pocket square)! All is well again in Gopher Land.
 


GopherJack said:
After all the chaos of our recent basketball hire and meltdown on the basketball board, it’s comforting to see PJ back behind the mic looking dapper and tight as ever (get a load of that tie and pocket square)! All is well again in Gopher Land.
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I don't get the BB meltdown rationale. Like yeah it's a speculative type of hire but ... we're not Kentucky.

Western Michigan took a chance on a guy a while back...
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I think he stays at running back this year and he surprises some folks. It'll be interesting to see what happens - - we essentially have 4 FR RBs (Williamson, Thomas, Wiley, Potts).
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I agree. I think they will want to give Williamson a legit shot at RB, especially since this will be Year 2 of his coming off the knee injury. Since last year didn't count for eligibility, I think he would still have 3 years after this season if he/they want to try a position switch.
 



saturdaytradition.com

P.J. Fleck convinced Minnesota has 'dangerous football team' entering 2021 season

Fleck believes his team can be really dangerous in 2021.
saturdaytradition.com saturdaytradition.com

Good to see some optimism from PJ here. It's still my belief that he was secretly hoping last season would have been cancelled and he wasn't exactly pumping his chest back then. To come out and say some of these this spring is real encouraging.

* Does anyone else out there read Saturday Tradition? Sometimes I feel like it's just me and about two other guys that accidentally hit "follow" on Facebook.
 






Urbandale said:
I hope so! Either way, I hope they don't pound Mo right into the ground with 35 carries a game.
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It's one thing when you set him up to give him a chance. Make a guy miss or smash a guy, and get to the second level.

But too many times Sanford sent him charging right into the teeth of a defense that was chomping at the bit to stop a big run play.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I don't get the BB meltdown rationale. Like yeah it's a speculative type of hire but ... we're not Kentucky.

Western Michigan took a chance on a guy a while back...
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Let's not get into it here ... but suffice to say: it is appropriate and expected that lower level schools do (and need to) hire guys who don't have (proven winning) head coaching experience. And that happens all the time. Guys gotta start somewhere and prove themselves.

On the other hand, it is not at all appropriate, nor should it be done, where a Big Ten program hires someone with no head coaching experience.


That's just that. Major foul up, with excessive risk. Hope they get lucky, but gut feeling is it's Brewster.
 

tmvander said:
Anyone else really struggle to listen to PJ talk? About 5 minutes into an answer I tend to tune him out when he's talking about castles and cubicles.
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Agreed.

You can just see it in his face, when someone asks what should be a relatively straightforward question, and he takes a second, looks down or takes a half second pause to gather and organize all the things that he is about to say.

Just not my style, at all, in what I prefer. But if it wins, that's what matters.
 






I actually think PJ gives a lot more away (maybe not everything people would want) than some coaches. It might be wrapped in a lot of motivational stuff and words that throw some folks off ... but it is there.


This is all relative to the land of coaching / leadership where you can't just say whatever and keep your job even if you're right.
 

tmvander said:
Anyone else really struggle to listen to PJ talk? About 5 minutes into an answer I tend to tune him out when he's talking about castles and cubicles.
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It's all just different communication styles, there's been a general move away from "This is the correct way to communicate ideas" to "There are many different ways to communicate, and it's on you and your coworkers to put in the effort to communicate effectively". When I was onboarding at my job we had a whole day dedicated to not only figuring out your method of communication (and what helps you work effectively) but also how to work together with someone with different needs.

I 100% believe a 1 on 1 with PJ feels entirely different than when he's giving the presser. The presser, while techincally having a Q&A part is less of a conversation and more a lecture.
 

Taji34 said:
It's all just different communication styles, there's been a general move away from "This is the correct way to communicate ideas" to "There are many different ways to communicate, and it's on you and your coworkers to put in the effort to communicate effectively". When I was onboarding at my job we had a whole day dedicated to not only figuring out your method of communication (and what helps you work effectively) but also how to work together with someone with different needs.

I 100% believe a 1 on 1 with PJ feels entirely different than when he's giving the presser. The presser, while techincally having a Q&A part is less of a conversation and more a lecture.
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Oh for sure. I listened to him speak in July and it was even way different. He answered the questions asked pretty normally without going off topic or only reverting back to character related things. He talked football which was good to hear.
 


PMWinSTP said:
That presser is as bullish that I've seen Fleck for the Springtime.
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That may be accurate, but let's face it - have you ever heard a D1 Coach come out at the start of Spring practice and be negative? Everyone is talking about improvement and growth.

If a D1 Coach came out for the start of Spring and said "we have no chance. We'll be lucky to stay out of last place," the fans would go bonkers.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
That may be accurate, but let's face it - have you ever heard a D1 Coach come out at the start of Spring practice and be negative? Everyone is talking about improvement and growth.

If a D1 Coach came out for the start of Spring and said "we have no chance. We'll be lucky to stay out of last place," the fans would go bonkers.
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Those are extreme examples you put in, but he absolutely has talked about being young, inexperienced, lack of depth, need for a lot of growth, etc. This one he basically said outside of the two who will be drafted, all starters from last season are back and they are in a really good place, and he sees others getting opportunities for solid playing time. That talk from him is new to me.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
That may be accurate, but let's face it - have you ever heard a D1 Coach come out at the start of Spring practice and be negative? Everyone is talking about improvement and growth.

If a D1 Coach came out for the start of Spring and said "we have no chance. We'll be lucky to stay out of last place," the fans would go bonkers.
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"I want to welcome you all to the official start of the Gophers 2021 campaign. Thank you for being here.

Let me start off by just coming clean: we SUCK. Thank goodness we have spring this year!"
 

short ornery norwegian said:
That may be accurate, but let's face it - have you ever heard a D1 Coach come out at the start of Spring practice and be negative? Everyone is talking about improvement and growth.

If a D1 Coach came out for the start of Spring and said "we have no chance. We'll be lucky to stay out of last place," the fans would go bonkers.
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I want to know who is in the top-5 rotation at WR.

1. Autman-Bell - For sure
2. Daniel Jackson - based on last season, almost certainly
3. Douglas Emilien - I thought he would play more last year. Does he spark this year?
4. Michael Brown-Stephens - He had a few catches in 2020. John Legend for the national anthem?
5. Dylan Wright - Does the former 4-star transfer show that he belongs?
6. Clay Geary and Jonathan Mann - Do the holdovers get buried on the depth chart?
7. Brady Boyd and Lemeke Brockington - Maybe the highly regarded rookies come to play.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
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LOL! I was just thinking about Steve Spurrier.

What's a coach supposed to say from the Football Pulpit? Oh, same $#@&, different day? I think he's been consistent with his messaging.

It's not easy in the Big Ten. Just when the Gophers improved in consecutive recruiting classes, so did the rivals. IMHO, the Gophers are closing the gap.

PJ Fleck has built a cohesive team that knows how to play team football. I just can't get over a decimated Gopher team missing thirty three players marching into Memorial Stadium and beating the Huskers!

That's a disciplined well coached team. His players will run through brick walls for him.

He may be annoying because he has genuine koolaide. Heck, I will drink whatever he's drinking if it will bring us a Big Ten Title! 🥰
 
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GoldenRodents said:
We live in a decadent age where the government is trusted to keep everyone perfectly safe from viruses that kill mainly the frail elderly and infirm, same government is charged to keep everyone from getting their feelings hurt, starting with the most sensitive.
Go Gophers
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Way to go apocalyptic right off the bat.

NEATO!!!!
 



For the sake of this thread (and most of our sanity) please nobody get into a pissing match with GR about lockdowns or anything like that. Take those battles somewhere else.

Fleck seems really excited about where the team is at depth wise. Let’s hope we hit the ground running in 2021 en route to a great season with a really deep and experienced roster.
 

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