STrib: Gophers, with Fleck fully in charge, get off to elite start for spring ball

Donate To GopherHole
I think Minnesota vs WMU would of been a good match up last year.
 

minibeaver said:
I don't see why it matters why it works on kids and not adults. Who cares? He's coaching kids, let him coach to the kids. He's got 4, maybe 5 years with them, not 10 or 20, less chance for them to get "worn out". I'm all for a wait and see approach, completely cool with that. What I get tired of, and think is counterproductive is when fans come on here just to be skeptical about his methods right now.

Another thing I find interesting is virtually everything I've read or seen on TV regarding the Fleck hire is positive, when coming from people other than Minnesotans or local media. You start getting closer to the Twin Cities, and it becomes more negative.
Click to expand...

If he's a clown, he's our clown. If he wins, we'll love his shtick. If Brewster had taken us to the Rose Bowl, that Rose Bowl turf would have become a sacred relic. If it motivates the players, that's what matters.
 

RodentRampage said:
If he's a clown, he's our clown. If he wins, we'll love his shtick. If Brewster had taken us to the Rose Bowl, that Rose Bowl turf would have become a sacred relic. If it motivates the players, that's what matters.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I feel like sometimes folks don't wanna jump on a bandwagon because if it wrecks they can say they were smart enough not to get on. I'm just gonna enjoy the ride from the wagon. It's more fun on the wagon.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Oh yeah? Where did he say that?

Would love to see what Gopher WR he thinks will be drafted in the top 10 next year, which OL will be drafted in rounds 3 or 4, and which starting QB could also be a late round pick? All things he had at Western Michigan this year.
Click to expand...

Could have been clearer, I didn't mean to infer he did...that's my observation. I explained why in response to a subsequent post. In a vast majority of players, college talent does not mean NFL talent. Having said that, at last count WMU have 7 players in the NFL, two from Fleck's time period. Gophs have 13, 11 from the same time period.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Could have been clearer, I didn't mean to infer he did...that's my observation. I explained why in response to a subsequent post. In a vast majority of players, college talent does not mean NFL talent. Having said that, at last count WMU have 7 players in the NFL, two from Fleck's time period. Gophs have 13, 11 from the same time period.
Click to expand...

Try 5 players currently in the NFL that played under Fleck at Western Michigan.

Corey Davis would be the best WR in Gophers history. Zach Terrell would also be close to if not the best QB in Gophers history. Taylor Morton would be the best OL the Gophers have had since at least the Mason era. No the Gophers do not have that type of talent on next year's offense. I fully believe they could 3-4 years down the road though.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Here's the thing:

If IA or WI hired a new coach - let's call him "J.P Flack" - and "JP Flack" was giving motivational speeches about sharks and farmers - I am 100% certain that this board would be ridiculing "JP Flack" and calling him a circus clown - or less complimentary terms.
Click to expand...

At the same time, Iowa or Wisconsin fans would probably love him just like most Gopher fans do now. It's just like when AJ Pierzynski was playing well. You loved him when he was on your team, then hated him when he was with someone else.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Look - Fleck is not my cup of tea. OK. I'll live with it. I just hope the Fleck acolytes can accept or understand that not everyone is going to buy into Fleck's style or approach. But, in the end, he will be judged on results. he may turn out to be a good recruiter at this level - but we won't know that for 2 or 3 years, until he's had time to go through a couple of recruiting cycles, and those players start showing up on the field.
Click to expand...

So in the meantime, are you (a general "you") going to take the optimistic view and think he'll get there in those two or three years or stay pessimistic because "he's just another Brewster" and we're in for a living hell until he crashes and burns?
 

MaxyJR1 said:
You are probably right on the 13-0 prediction.

Considering OSU is only team in Big Ten to ever win 13 or more games.

Since 1973 when they started playing 12 games, Michigan has won 12 games once, Penn State twice, and OSU, 7 times.

In the last 15 years here are the 12 game winners:
MSU 2
Iowa 1
WI 1
OSU 7

Michigan has 1 unbeaten/untied season in 60+ years
OSU has 4
Penn State has 5

So you're right, chances are slim.
Click to expand...

Minnesota was 14-0-1 in 1903, and 13-0 in 1904.
 

Halsey Hall said:
Taking care of the ball is huge in Fleck world. It requires concentration. If the Gophers had taken care of the ball last season they might have been undefeated. Fleck stresses concentration in everything and seeing Kiondre Thomas draw a blank the first time he was asked, and then coming up with all the answers the 2nd time shows this paying off."
Click to expand...

I remember last year at this time reading stories about how Jay Johnson was giving quizzes to the kids to make sure they were grasping material, about Johnson talking ball security...all coaches preach ball security, all coaches preach concentration. Gophers are actually very good at it, ranked 18th in nation in turnover margin. Gophers fumbled it five times all last year, WMU fumbled it four. The backs and rcvrs know how how to hang on. Terrell threw 4 picks; Mitch threw 12...if Ciarrocca can implement a nice ball control, short passing game and teach a guy how to make decisive decisions, we are gravy.
 



swingman said:
I remember last year at this time reading stories about how Jay Johnson was giving quizzes to the kids to make sure they were grasping material, about Johnson talking ball security...all coaches preach ball security, all coaches preach concentration. Gophers are actually very good at it, ranked 18th in nation in turnover margin. Gophers fumbled it five times all last year, WMU fumbled it four. The backs and rcvrs know how how to hang on. Terrell threw 4 picks; Mitch threw 12...if Ciarrocca can implement a nice ball control, short passing game and teach a guy how to make decisive decisions, we are gravy.
Click to expand...

Terrell threw 4 picks. Hell, Mitch threw 4 in the second half at Camp Randall.
 

I will get hammered for this, but even as an 18 yr old this would just wear me out. I'm sure as some have mentioned above, there will be some current players that just go along to get along. I sure hope he wins, but it just seems so sales seminar or televangelist or something. I continue to take a wait and see approach, I just don't think it's going to work, but will be the first to admit I'm wrong if it does.
 

leadpipegopher said:
I will get hammered for this, but even as an 18 yr old this would just wear me out. I'm sure as some have mentioned above, there will be some current players that just go along to get along. I sure hope he wins, but it just seems so sales seminar or televangelist or something. I continue to take a wait and see approach, I just don't think it's going to work, but will be the first to admit I'm wrong if it does.
Click to expand...

People want to succeed. Players want to get better on the field, in the classroom. Fleck is unique in that he is laying out an approach that goes beyond the football field to success and fulfillment in life in general.

I can see how this is very appealing, especially in the realm of football. J Robinson not that much different with the wrestling program.
 

Word said:
I find myself really torn on Fleck's methods. I hear the people that kind of roll their eyes at all the rah rah stuff, but I also think if I was an 18-year old football player it might work well as a motivational tool. The bottom line though is if it makes the players respond, it doesn't really matter if it works on me or not. I'd be curious to hear from some of our younger posters what they think of Fleck.
Click to expand...

Im 22 and a former college athlete. If i was going through my visits and seen a coach like Fleck i would have been sold pretty quick. Whenever he talks he brings out that fire inside, and also sounds very genuine. I know my friends and I really like Fleck. It would be refreshing seeing your coach sprinting down the sidelines or putting the pads on. Shows me that he's willing to do anything for the players.
 



Block M said:
People want to succeed. Players want to get better on the field, in the classroom. Fleck is unique in that he is laying out an approach that goes beyond the football field to success and fulfillment in life in general.

I can see how this is very appealing, especially in the realm of football. J Robinson not that much different with the wrestling program.
Click to expand...

I agree with your first two sentences, but not the third.
PJF is not unique in his approach of taking it beyond the football field. Many successful programs do the same things. The past two years on BTN they showed OSU and MSU during the preseason and both programs did things like what PJF has talked about. Not anything new here. What PJF brings is a different more enthusiastic approach to it all.
 


GFBfan said:
I agree with your first two sentences, but not the third.
PJF is not unique in his approach of taking it beyond the football field. Many successful programs do the same things. The past two years on BTN they showed OSU and MSU during the preseason and both programs did things like what PJF has talked about. Not anything new here. What PJF brings is a different more enthusiastic approach to it all.
Click to expand...

Agree. There was an earlier post that outlined Kill doing almost the exact same things, with links for reference. This is not unique at all.

Fleck became the G5 story last year, so already high profile and now in a new place so he's getting a lot of attention, which is to be expected. These players want to win. Some will eat up Fleck's style, some won't like it, and a majority won't care either way...they all just want to win.
 

I loved this article. I think it's really interesting how Fleck is trying to coach/educate/lead the kids of today. It might not be appealing to many on this board, but I think we all have to try to remember that we aren't the target audience. Personally, I am really impressed by the time and effort it takes to create these unique experiences. It's my belief that the attention to detail Fleck puts in to these team meetings and practices will likely correlate to a similar attention to detail when it comes to the play on the field.
 

Why do we act like this is different then every other coaching change. They all promote the "new sheriff in town". All this "culture change" BS is tiresome. Practice hard, play hard, win games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Spoofin said:
Why do we act like this is different then every other coaching change. They all promote the "new sheriff in town". All this "culture change" BS is tiresome. Practice hard, play hard, win games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Because he's a lot different than pretty much every other coach?
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
Because he's a lot different than pretty much every other coach?
Click to expand...

Not really. He talks in his own coach speak just like every other coach. He might be better at promoting his "brand" than some others in the BIG West.
 

GFBfan said:
Not really. He talks in his own coach speak just like every other coach. He might be better at promoting his "brand" than some others in the BIG West.
Click to expand...

I've been around a lot of coaches and that's not coach speak. To argue he's like pretty much every other coach is pretty insane. Not saying that's a good or bad thing
 

What determines individual athletic performance? One: God-given ability. Two: the motivation to hone your game, practice, lift, study, prepare. Every coach has their "method" of motivating players and Fleck's vocabulary while different (Howpher, Row the Boat, etc) is nothing new. But, he is a born motivational speaker and his energy is unique. Who doesn't want a motivational speaker getting them up for the grind of life every day?

Secondly, he is not only a motivational speaker but he is a good salesman. That brings us back to Ability/God-given talent. Fleck is incrementally building the talent level. He's garnering interest from four star players and chances are he will start to land some if not this year then next if he has on-field success.

Do we know if he's a good xs and os guys and tirelessly studies tape to find the best matchups on game day? I doubt it. He delegates that out which could be good or it could be bad. I think we'll be better on offense but the jury is out on the defense. Bringing in high-level talent will help especially if he can keep them motivated. Lazy prima donnas have sunk many a helmet school while Minnesota has had that underdog mentality helping to drive the guys.

Bottom line for me is that I'm cautiously excited about the state of the program but it's all a lot of talk until we see some results. There have been plenty of teams with higher talent level with high energy coaches (see Orgeron, Ed) that fall on their faces or underperform. It's going to be a fun and interesting ride either way.
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
I've been around a lot of coaches and that's not coach speak. To argue he's like pretty much every other coach is pretty insane. Not saying that's a good or bad thing
Click to expand...

When I walk into a new program, I do not change a great deal.

We build our program on these things. We want to play smart. We do not want to beat ourselves. Not turn over the football. We have all gotten into these wild schemes and we try to trick people. The bottom line is you win with fundamentals and you have to play smart. In addition, you have to have smart kids.

You want to make them understand, mentally, that when they get tired, they need to concentrate.

We talk about giveaways and takeaways. We define to our kids that this is who we want to be. We want to be the best-conditioned team and we want to play fast. I believe they need to hustle in practice. If I call the team together and they jog up, I make them turn around and we do it again. I want them to sprint up, get right on the line, and I want them to pay attention.

I want them to move fast all of the time. I think it is important because it sets the tempo. I tell our kids we want to practice fast. We are going to bang it out as fast as we can. We want them to be able to process things very quickly. Kids are not what they used to be. You have to adjust a little more today. Conditioning is very important. How you practice is important because you want to play the last game with the same speed that you played the first game of the year. If you looked at the team I coached last year they played as fast in the bowl game as they played at the beginning of the year. You develop that mentality and you have to talk about it.

You start that in the off-season. At the University of Minnesota... We do not go for very long, but we go hard and fast. We preach to them, "We are trying to help you, but you have to learn to play hard."

Consistency is important. I will meet with each kid before spring ball. I will tell them that we are going to have 15 practices. Can they be consistent and compete every play?

We talk about being a team. In this world today, it is hard to get players to play as a team. We live in an "I" society. The team concept is something that is hard to sell. At the end of our workout today, I told our team to go over and shake each other's hands. I told them that if they will care about their teammates more than they care about themselves, we will win. You have to talk about that. We also talk to them about being role models. We want them to be unselfish team players.

From the day I walked in, that was the first thing I said when we walked into the University of Minnesota. You have to teach your kids what you want.

I give our kids a player policy manual when I walk into a new program, so they know exactly what to expect and what it is going to take to win. I tell them if they will do these things, then we are going to be in good shape. You have to tell them what you want.

In this day and age, you cannot tell a player to do a drill without telling them why they are doing the drill. In the old days, you would just tell them to do the drill. They are not going to do it until they know it is going to benefit them.

When our kids enter the academic or athletic facility, they have to turn their cell phones off.

We put together a video of inspiration and motivation to show our kids. You have to show today's kids, through video, what you want.

I told our kids this year, "You have to give up something in order to be successful." To be a good team, you have to give up what some of those other kids are doing. It is hard to be different in this day and age. It is easier to go out and do the wrong things than it is to do the right things..

We coach ball security. I have been very fortunate in that my teams have not turned the ball over very often. It is a fact that if you look at teams that are winning in the NFL or college, you will see that they do not turn the ball over. You have to teach it. If you do not turn over the ball often, you have a chance to win. We talk about ball security equals job security. I will not play a running back, no matter how good he is, if he turns the ball over. We go over it every day and we teach the techniques of holding on to the football.

There is no substitute for playing hard. You have to teach that. The game is not as hard as we make it. If you can get them to play hard, you have a chance to win. To do that, you have to coach them hard in practice. You have to teach them to play hard. You cannot emphasize those things enough. Get them to play hard for six seconds. Make them compete and make them work. You need to find it out in the off-season if they are willing to work hard. You have to do things in the off-season to make them compete. Make up drills that will test their competitive level. Do not let them hide.

Now, we have to change the culture at Minnesota. I have been fortunate to where I can bring in my guys and change a culture. There is no magical answer to changing the culture other than this. You have to roll up your sleeves and you have to go to work. You have to outwork people. You outwork people by taking your work ethic, and your staff's work ethic, and the kids have to see you put in the hours. What you get out of life, the game of football, and your team is what you invest in it. This is how we try to change the culture.

Kill, Spring 2011.
 

SM_25 said:
Im 22 and a former college athlete. If i was going through my visits and seen a coach like Fleck i would have been sold pretty quick. Whenever he talks he brings out that fire inside, and also sounds very genuine. I know my friends and I really like Fleck. It would be refreshing seeing your coach sprinting down the sidelines or putting the pads on. Shows me that he's willing to do anything for the players.
Click to expand...

Really?
 

Who's this Fleck guy everybody's talking about?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Spoofin said:
Why do we act like this is different then every other coaching change. They all promote the "new sheriff in town". All this "culture change" BS is tiresome. Practice hard, play hard, win games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Hearing players that played for Kill/Claeys say that it's completely different.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
 

jonnyganas said:
Hearing players that played for Kill/Claeys say that it's completely different.

Sent from my SM-J700T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Exactly. Every coach does things different than the last.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Johnnyboy18 said:
I've been around a lot of coaches and that's not coach speak. To argue he's like pretty much every other coach is pretty insane. Not saying that's a good or bad thing
Click to expand...

So have I. Heard many of them speak. They are all trying to accomplish the same thing and that is to win as many football games as possible. Some are just like PJ (some successful and some not) and some are the complete opposite of PJ(some successful and some not). Neither method is better than the other.

I, for the most part, like what PJF is doing. Biggest plus I have seen so far is that the media is treating the Gophers with more positive coverage than at anytime during the Claeys tenure.
 

joshvanklomp said:
So in the meantime, are you (a general "you") going to take the optimistic view and think he'll get there in those two or three years or stay pessimistic because "he's just another Brewster" and we're in for a living hell until he crashes and burns?
Click to expand...

I don't think I'm being pessimistic. I think I'm being realistic. I've seen a lot of new coaches come into the U of M program. there was at least some degree of excitement for most of them. Some of them produced good teams - some of them produced bad teams. All I'm saying is I want to wait and see what Fleck's team looks like ON THE FIELD before I form an opinion about what type of coach he's going to be at this level.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I don't think I'm being pessimistic. I think I'm being realistic. I've seen a lot of new coaches come into the U of M program. there was at least some degree of excitement for most of them. Some of them produced good teams - some of them produced bad teams. All I'm saying is I want to wait and see what Fleck's team looks like ON THE FIELD before I form an opinion about what type of coach he's going to be at this level.
Click to expand...

Personally, I think Fleck will win here, that being said, I understand completely where you are coming from. This, obviously isn't your first rodeo on coaches. You have seen them come and go, all with various styles.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom