BleedGopher
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per Megan:
Gophers running back Rodney Smith made a strong statement ahead of Wednesday’s first practice.
“Since I’ve been here,” Smith said Tuesday on the eve of training camp, “this is one of the best teams that I’ve been a part of.”
Might seem like a run-of-the-mill cliché from any athlete, but coming from Smith, it means a bit more. The senior has been on the team since 2014, thanks to a redshirt year and a season-ending injury in 2018.
Or as fellow running back Mohamed Ibrahim put it: “He’s been there for like 10, 11, 12 years.”
Ibrahim is fond of doubling that year total to make his mentor feel old, but when the longest-tenured member of the team — who even predates coach P.J. Fleck — says this upcoming season has him “excited,” it piques some interest. And he’s not the only member of the Gophers stoking the hype for 2019.
Fleck echoed Smith’s sentiment, saying he hasn’t been this amped for a training camp in “a very long time,” and he attributes that enthusiasm to the collective group of players, coaches and operational staff.
“It takes a little while to get it exactly where you want it. It does,” Fleck said. “When you take new jobs, which was 2½ years ago, there’s a new place. People fit. People don’t fit, whether it’s coaches, players. So it’s worked out really well. I feel really good about our team going into camp. Most people do.”
http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...e-to-take-another-step-this-season/513459222/
Go Gophers!!
Gophers running back Rodney Smith made a strong statement ahead of Wednesday’s first practice.
“Since I’ve been here,” Smith said Tuesday on the eve of training camp, “this is one of the best teams that I’ve been a part of.”
Might seem like a run-of-the-mill cliché from any athlete, but coming from Smith, it means a bit more. The senior has been on the team since 2014, thanks to a redshirt year and a season-ending injury in 2018.
Or as fellow running back Mohamed Ibrahim put it: “He’s been there for like 10, 11, 12 years.”
Ibrahim is fond of doubling that year total to make his mentor feel old, but when the longest-tenured member of the team — who even predates coach P.J. Fleck — says this upcoming season has him “excited,” it piques some interest. And he’s not the only member of the Gophers stoking the hype for 2019.
Fleck echoed Smith’s sentiment, saying he hasn’t been this amped for a training camp in “a very long time,” and he attributes that enthusiasm to the collective group of players, coaches and operational staff.
“It takes a little while to get it exactly where you want it. It does,” Fleck said. “When you take new jobs, which was 2½ years ago, there’s a new place. People fit. People don’t fit, whether it’s coaches, players. So it’s worked out really well. I feel really good about our team going into camp. Most people do.”
http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...e-to-take-another-step-this-season/513459222/
Go Gophers!!