STrib: P.J. Fleck in position to land Gophers' best recruiting class in a decade

[BleedGopher]

per Randy:

When P.J. Fleck was assembling his first Gophers recruiting class last January, the deadline pressure was enormous. The former Western Michigan coach accepted the Minnesota job on Jan. 6, and the Feb. 1 national signing day was quickly approaching. He put together a class that ranked 59th nationally in the 247Sports.com composite ratings, up from 72nd when he took the job.

Ten months later, Fleck has had more time to work on his Class of 2018, and with the new early signing period opening Wednesday morning and running through Friday, the Gophers have made big strides.

Fleck has put together a 26-player recruiting class that as of Tuesday ranked 27th nationally in the 247Sports composite, Minnesota’s best rating since the Class of 2008, when coach Tim Brewster’s class was 26th. In addition, Fleck’s class ranks first among Big Ten West Division teams. The entire class is expected to sign national letters of intent during the early period.

“He gets a full, entire class to build from beginning to end, so you’re looking at a completely different situation from 2017 to 2018,” said Josh Helmholt, Midwest recruiting analyst for Rivals.com.

With more time to work on his second class, Fleck also could better address needs. And as their 5-7 record in 2017 showed, the Gophers had several areas to address for the present and future in recruiting.

http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...-best-recruiting-class-in-a-decade/465277343/

Go Gophers!!

 

[Taji34]

I think this quote from the end is a good sign for things to come in future recruiting classes:

Helmholt was impressed with Fleck’s work with the IMG linemen.

“I was talking with some guys at IMG before Faalele and Dunlap made their official visits, and they said P.J. Fleck came in there and created a buzz. Kids were excited about him,” Helmholt said. “To be able to do that at a program like IMG, which sees every single major Power Five coach through its doors, to have P.J. Fleck do down there and create that kind of buzz speaks volumes.’’