BleedGopher
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per Matt:
Shortly after everyone in the country began to self-quarantine, P.J. and Heather Fleck got a dog. Bella is a Maltipoo and only about three pounds, and she brought some levity to a Fleck household dominated this offseason by Zoom meetings with staffs, FaceTime calls with recruits and ’round-the-clock planning.
“You’ve got to have an incredible routine, and then you’ve got to make sure nothing stays monotonous,” Fleck said. “And you’ve got to find a way to work the schedule so it constantly is different every day and it’s exciting and players are looking forward to what’s coming, and re-inventing yourself every single day, and we refuse to allow the circumstances to dictate our behavior. We want to continue to challenge, stimulate, educate our players every day and their families, and make sure that when we come out of this we’re better than what we were going into it, and have an appreciation for everything that we’ve gone through and how we can make the new norm better.”
If you thought that being boxed in was going to slow down a guy who has built programs on an energy conducive to creating something new for his players every single day, think again.
Minnesota is coming off an 11-2 season. Record books were re-written, as is the case when you win more games than you have in any season since 1904 and finish in the top 10 for the first time since 1962. Energy at TCF Bank Stadium was at an all-time high, with back-to-back capacity crowds filling the joint to close the season against Penn State and Wisconsin. Recruiting, amid a global pandemic and all, is at an all-time clip, fickle as early commitments may be.
And a ton of talent is coming back, especially on offense.
It would appear that the Golden Gophers are ahead of schedule under Fleck, who enters his fourth year in Dinkytown more popular than ever, having shed previous labels and proving that his unconventional methods can work at the Big Ten level. The biggest change comes on the coaching staff, where longtime Fleck assistant Kirk Ciarrocca left for Penn State, replaced by new offensive coordinator Mike Sanford. There is always an adjustment period with new play-callers, especially when they get only three spring practices in and are forced to constantly communicate remotely for a large portion of the offseason, but the plethora of returning talent should help offset some of those early bumps.
Meanwhile, two new coaches arrive to a defense dealing with the departure of some big playmakers from recent years. And it’s not like the Big Ten West is getting any easier. (Nebraska and Northwestern will not be the gimmes they were in 2019.) Still, Fleck likes to think big. And there is still enough out there for the Gophers to aim for, particularly after seeing their Big Ten West title dreams come crashing down in a home loss to rival Wisconsin. They have been uneven enough in the early parts of the past two seasons — their perfect September 2019 record notwithstanding — to understand that there is no such thing as an easy victory.
In the meantime, their hair-on-fire coach has adjusted as best he can to the times, and to his tiny new tenant.
“She’ll fully grow to about four and a half pounds,” Fleck said of Bella. “So she’s a little thing, but she’s a lot of fun.”
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
Shortly after everyone in the country began to self-quarantine, P.J. and Heather Fleck got a dog. Bella is a Maltipoo and only about three pounds, and she brought some levity to a Fleck household dominated this offseason by Zoom meetings with staffs, FaceTime calls with recruits and ’round-the-clock planning.
“You’ve got to have an incredible routine, and then you’ve got to make sure nothing stays monotonous,” Fleck said. “And you’ve got to find a way to work the schedule so it constantly is different every day and it’s exciting and players are looking forward to what’s coming, and re-inventing yourself every single day, and we refuse to allow the circumstances to dictate our behavior. We want to continue to challenge, stimulate, educate our players every day and their families, and make sure that when we come out of this we’re better than what we were going into it, and have an appreciation for everything that we’ve gone through and how we can make the new norm better.”
If you thought that being boxed in was going to slow down a guy who has built programs on an energy conducive to creating something new for his players every single day, think again.
Minnesota is coming off an 11-2 season. Record books were re-written, as is the case when you win more games than you have in any season since 1904 and finish in the top 10 for the first time since 1962. Energy at TCF Bank Stadium was at an all-time high, with back-to-back capacity crowds filling the joint to close the season against Penn State and Wisconsin. Recruiting, amid a global pandemic and all, is at an all-time clip, fickle as early commitments may be.
And a ton of talent is coming back, especially on offense.
It would appear that the Golden Gophers are ahead of schedule under Fleck, who enters his fourth year in Dinkytown more popular than ever, having shed previous labels and proving that his unconventional methods can work at the Big Ten level. The biggest change comes on the coaching staff, where longtime Fleck assistant Kirk Ciarrocca left for Penn State, replaced by new offensive coordinator Mike Sanford. There is always an adjustment period with new play-callers, especially when they get only three spring practices in and are forced to constantly communicate remotely for a large portion of the offseason, but the plethora of returning talent should help offset some of those early bumps.
Meanwhile, two new coaches arrive to a defense dealing with the departure of some big playmakers from recent years. And it’s not like the Big Ten West is getting any easier. (Nebraska and Northwestern will not be the gimmes they were in 2019.) Still, Fleck likes to think big. And there is still enough out there for the Gophers to aim for, particularly after seeing their Big Ten West title dreams come crashing down in a home loss to rival Wisconsin. They have been uneven enough in the early parts of the past two seasons — their perfect September 2019 record notwithstanding — to understand that there is no such thing as an easy victory.
In the meantime, their hair-on-fire coach has adjusted as best he can to the times, and to his tiny new tenant.
“She’ll fully grow to about four and a half pounds,” Fleck said of Bella. “So she’s a little thing, but she’s a lot of fun.”
After a breakthrough, Minnesota turns its attention to building on its success
The Golden Gophers will need to lean on their returning firepower on offense after recording their first top-10 finish since 1962.
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
