STrib: How have the Gophers fared in Big Ten games under coach P.J. Fleck?

[BleedGopher]

per Randy:

A look at how the Gophers have fared against Big Ten teams in coach P.J. Fleck's five seasons:

West

Illinois 3-2
Iowa 0-5
Nebraska 4-1
Northwestern 2-2
Purdue 4-1
Wisconsin 2-3
West total 15-14

East

Indiana 2-0
Maryland 2-3
Michigan 0-2
Michigan State 0-1
Ohio State 0-2
Penn State 1-0
Rutgers 1-0
East total 6-8

Big Ten total 21-22

How have the Gophers fared in Big Ten games under coach P.J. Fleck?

The record vs. the West is best as they head into perhaps the last season in that division.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[Go4]

that Iowa record

 

[Yah-E]

Not great for sure.

Fleck improved our program and had gotten us mentioned in the media, but we need to win more big games.

We’re still in the middle of the pack in B1G.

It’s hard to be a Gopher fan. Our football program isn’t great yet.

 

[RogueGopher]

Not great for sure.

Fleck improved our program and had gotten us mentioned in the media, but we need to win more big games.

We’re still in the middle of the pack in B1G.

It’s hard to be a Gopher fan. Our football program isn’t great yet.

2017-2018 they were 5-13

2019-present they are 16-9 (including a fake 2020 season)

 

[HoustonTXGopher]

I am only disappointed in a few losses in the Fleck era:

he 2019 loss to Iowa was a heartbreaker in which I think we win if Tyler Johnson catches that fourth down pass that undoubtedly would have lead to a TD and a win.

Should have beaten Maryland in the covid season of 2020, missed extra point. Ugh, but in the end, that entire season was a complete cluster.

The 2021 season was full of disappointing losses.....I think we may have pulled that Ohio State game out of Ibrahim doesnt go down for the season. That was deflating. In addition, the BG and Illinois losses were just completely unacceptable, I know our running game was in shambles, but I put those losses directly on PJ and Sanford, our guys just weren't ready to play and had no direction on offense at all.

Through 5 seasons PJ has made the Gophers relevant, IF Minnesota comes up with a west division championship this year, Fleck deserves nationwide respect.

Go Gophers!

 

[Great Plains Gopher]

.500 - that's better in the B10 than any coach since Warmath, half a century ago.

 

[BilldGopher]

Minnesota is back on the national FB map under PJ. Still much more winning to do, but just that fact is worth celebrating.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I am only disappointed in a few losses in the Fleck era:

he 2019 loss to Iowa was a heartbreaker in which I think we win if Tyler Johnson catches that fourth down pass that undoubtedly would have lead to a TD and a win.

Should have beaten Maryland in the covid season of 2020, missed extra point. Ugh, but in the end, that entire season was a complete cluster.

The 2021 season was full of disappointing losses.....I think we may have pulled that Ohio State game out of Ibrahim doesnt go down for the season. That was deflating. In addition, the BG and Illinois losses were just completely unacceptable, I know our running game was in shambles, but I put those losses directly on PJ and Sanford, our guys just weren't ready to play and had no direction on offense at all.

Through 5 seasons PJ has made the Gophers relevant, IF Minnesota comes up with a west division championship this year, Fleck deserves nationwide respect.

Go Gophers!

There's a couple in 2017 as well, but given those, I can't argue with the conference record. He has a very good chance to get it over .500 this season. Just think, an Illinois win last year could have put him at .500 in conference games and gave him another season of double digit wins here.

 

[RememberMurray]

I don't know if the Strib piece included any other Gopher coaches records for perspective, but here they are.

B1G records:

Claeys .......... 6-8
Kill ............... 14-21
Brewster ...... 6-21.
Mason ......... 32-48
Wacker ........ 8-32
Gutekunst ... 18-28-2
Holtz ........... 7-10
Salem ......... 12-32-1
Stoll ............ 22-29
Warmath ..... 65-57-4

If you consider his trending trajectory, Fleck is definitely breaking new ground here at Minnesota.

Also, this is Exhibit A as to why I chose my moniker and a photo of Warmath for my avatar.

 

[Some guy]

.500 - that's better in the B10 than any coach since Warmath, half a century ago.

Minnesota hasn’t had back to back winning conference records since 68-69

Minnesota hasn’t had winning conference records in 3 of 4 seasons since 67-70

Minnesota hasn’t been more than 1 game over .500 in 3 of 4 seasons since 65-68


I am hoping for at least 6-3 in big ten play to make those stats turn over

 

[RememberMurray]

Barry Alvarez, B1G conference record: in 16 seasons at Wisconsin, Alvarez was 65-60-3 in conference play. That's a winning percentage of 50.8%.

50.8% is good enough to make Alvarez a living legend in Madison.

Does anybody besides me think Fleck will probably top the 50% mark in career winning percentage in conference play by the end of the 2022 season?

 

[HitMeAgainIAmStillMoving]

The record for both Mason and Alvarez really surprises me. I need to drive to PJ's house and see if he needs his car washed or maybe his driveway swept.

 

[Schnauzer]

It’s hard to be a Gopher fan.

I find it very easy to be a Gopher fan.

I also love the direction of the program right now and the 2019 season was wonderful and part of the reason it was wonderful is because it felt like the start of something better and not the pinnacle of what to expect going forward.

Fleck’s start up season of 2017 and the 2020 Covid season skew those numbers in ways that anyone that follows the program understands.

 

[BleedGopher]

Beat Iowa. It’s time.

Go Gophers!!

 

[BigTenGuy]

Barry Alvarez, B1G conference record: in 16 seasons at Wisconsin, Alvarez was 65-60-3 in conference play. That's a winning percentage of 50.8%.

50.8% is good enough to make Alvarez a living legend in Madison.

Does anybody besides me think Fleck will probably top the 50% mark in career winning percentage in conference play by the end of the 2022 season?

Alvarez won his 3 Rose Bowls, which cemented his legacy. Fry lost his 3 Rose Bowls, but finished 96-61-5 in conference play. Many (most?) people rate Alvarez higher than Fry. Perhaps a close call.

 

[RememberMurray]

Alvarez won his 3 Rose Bowls, which cemented his legacy. Fry lost his 3 Rose Bowls, but finished 96-61-5 in conference play. Many (most?) people rate Alvarez higher than Fry. Perhaps a close call.

Rose Bowls are great. Obviously they were a major achievement for him, no question.

The topic of the thread is Fleck's conference record. I thought Alvarez's conference record would be a worthwhile comparison, to add context to the discussion regarding record in the conference.

 

[Otis]

Let’s take a look at the schedule:

New Mexico State: 95% win
Western Illinois: 96% win
Colorado: 75% win

B1G:

@ MSU: 40% win
Purdue: 65% win
@ Illinois: 60% win
@ PSU: 25% win
Rutgers: 80% win
@ Nebraska: 51% win
Northwestern: 70% win
Iowa: 50.5% win
@ Wisconsin: 49% win

These are the odds of winning each game with current lineup factoring in later game improvement in PJ”s teams performance.

Figure a 6-3 B1G record as most likely with a “Dumb and Dumber” shot at 9-0.

5-4 is also a very good possibility.

Hope for reduced injuries and catching some breaks Lyod!

 

[BilldGopher]

Beat Iowa. It’s time.

Go Gophers!!

Would be nice to flip the recent W-L record in Kirk's last days...starting with this year.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Alvarez won his 3 Rose Bowls, which cemented his legacy. Fry lost his 3 Rose Bowls, but finished 96-61-5 in conference play. Many (most?) people rate Alvarez higher than Fry. Perhaps a close call.

Ranked in the Top 5 those three seasons as well. Wisconsin was pretty bad the preceeding 25 years before his arrival. For sure getting to and winning the Rose Bowl game in his 4th season gave him a lot of grace with the fans and admin.

 

[denguegopher]

Alvarez won his 3 Rose Bowls, which cemented his legacy. Fry lost his 3 Rose Bowls, but finished 96-61-5 in conference play. Many (most?) people rate Alvarez higher than Fry. Perhaps a close call.

I'll have to adjust my evaluation of Fry. That is an impressive conference record.

 

[Plato]

Obviously, it was a different league when Alvarez took over than it is now but his winning a Rose Bowl when no one gave WI a chance was the turning point for the program.
All else followed that.
But it all started when the new Chancellor Donna Shala, who came from a nonfootball school, recognized the importance of success in sports in the BIG and got a new AD who chose Alvarez.
It is only recently that the administration at MN has paid any real attention to the AD and MN's athletic performance.
This is Fleck's sixth year and given the schedule, not winning the West should have the AD start to look for a replacement.

 

[RememberMurray]

Obviously, it was a different league when Alvarez took over than it is now but his winning a Rose Bowl when no one gave WI a chance was the turning point for the program.
All else followed that.
But it all started when the new Chancellor Donna Shala, who came from a nonfootball school, recognized the importance of success in sports in the BIG and got a new AD who chose Alvarez.
It is only recently that the administration at MN has paid any real attention to the AD and MN's athletic performance.
This is Fleck's sixth year and given the schedule, not winning the West should have the AD start to look for a replacement.

Who would be your choice to replace him?

 

[MaxyJR1]

Fleck is doing great compared to past coaches and it's now more about winning the right games. To get to the next level (Conference Championship game) the formula is pretty simple.

2-1 against the East
4-0 against Purdue, ILL, NW, NE
2-0 or 1-1 against IA/WI and win the right game.

7-2 or 8-1 get to the next level.

 

[Dano564]

Not great for sure.

Fleck improved our program and had gotten us mentioned in the media, but we need to win more big games.

We’re still in the middle of the pack in B1G.

It’s hard to be a Gopher fan. Our football program isn’t great yet.

You have no clue.

You should just sign off and go home.

Get help.

 

[Word]

Obviously, it was a different league when Alvarez took over than it is now but his winning a Rose Bowl when no one gave WI a chance was the turning point for the program.
All else followed that.
But it all started when the new Chancellor Donna Shala, who came from a nonfootball school, recognized the importance of success in sports in the BIG and got a new AD who chose Alvarez.
It is only recently that the administration at MN has paid any real attention to the AD and MN's athletic performance.
This is Fleck's sixth year and given the schedule, not winning the West should have the AD start to look for a replacement.

LOL

 

[WriterGoph]

Obviously, it was a different league when Alvarez took over than it is now but his winning a Rose Bowl when no one gave WI a chance was the turning point for the program.
All else followed that.
But it all started when the new Chancellor Donna Shala, who came from a nonfootball school, recognized the importance of success in sports in the BIG and got a new AD who chose Alvarez.
It is only recently that the administration at MN has paid any real attention to the AD and MN's athletic performance.
This is Fleck's sixth year and given the schedule, not winning the West should have the AD start to look for a replacement.

Spoken like a true Badger fan who is fearful of the scale continuing to tip towards Minnesota in our rivalry

 

[go4rob]

Obviously, it was a different league when Alvarez took over than it is now but his winning a Rose Bowl when no one gave WI a chance was the turning point for the program.
All else followed that.
But it all started when the new Chancellor Donna Shala, who came from a nonfootball school, recognized the importance of success in sports in the BIG and got a new AD who chose Alvarez.
It is only recently that the administration at MN has paid any real attention to the AD and MN's athletic performance.
This is Fleck's sixth year and given the schedule, not winning the West should have the AD start to look for a replacement.

Fleck has done a great job thus far. We are finally playing relevant games in November. That hasn't been done in a long time. Beating Auburn in the Outback Bowl, winning 4 straight bowl games. These among others (GPA included) get him my vote as Coach For Life. Titles will come but changing coaches every 5 to 6 years is not a formula for success, especially when you have one of the young bright minds in all of college football. Minnesota is not an easy program to turn around, but I am confident it is getting done.

 

[RememberMurray]

Fleck has done a great job thus far. We are finally playing relevant games in November. That hasn't been done in a long time. Beating Auburn in the Outback Bowl, winning 4 straight bowl games. These among others (GPA included) get him my vote as Coach For Life. Titles will come but changing coaches every 5 to 6 years is not a formula for success, especially when you have one of the young bright minds in all of college football. Minnesota is not an easy program to turn around, but I am confident it is getting done.

Yes. Excellent points.

And when you add to all that the fact that Fleck's winning % in B1G conference games is creeping up into Alvarez territory, we can safely say we have ourselves one helluva good coach.

No wonder the Badger fans want to see him fired.

 

[mngolf]

Yes. Excellent points.

And when you add to all that the fact that Fleck's winning % in B1G conference games is creeping up into Alvarez territory, we can safely say we have ourselves one helluva good coach.

No wonder the Badger fans want to see him fired.

And that right there should tell everyone what they need to know about Fleck. Fans and coaches from the other conf schools hate him and want him fired.

 

[Gophers1992]

Any talk of looking to replace PJ at this point is KFAN PST material.