son,
I appreciate your contribution to this board in so many ways--especially the Sunday recaps--and you make valid points: Lord knows the Big Ten has been the graveyard of MAC coaching careers. However, I disagree with your assessment on "that's all we know".
For instance, Fleck has made it clear that he favors a four-five year player development model whereas the previous regimes had relied on JUCOs to plug in where needed. That's a coaching philosophy issue, and the changeover in approach could quite easily have an effect on the W/L column.
What we know is that Fleck is intensely ambitious and it's about more than money. WMU could find the money, but they couldn't find the road Fleck needs to what he wants. You know why I think Minnesota was on Fleck's "list"? Winning the B1G West is doable and puts you 3 games from the NC. As long as you handle the season and the B1G East rep convincingly, you're automatically in the playoff conversation. You get those games, you're National Champion. You do it twice or three times--you're the guy that rebuilt a dormant dynasty. Minnesota builds a statue of you with Kirby Puckett kissing your ring.
Seems like everyone wants to see Brewster in Fleck. I don't. To me, he's Holtz: A record of success (albeit Fleck's is less impressive), a disciplinarian on and off the field, and brutally, intensely goal-driven.
As a long time Minnesota fan, I was so dismayed when Kill said they went to talk with Mason about what it would take to win at Minnesota, and reportedly Mason told Kill to eat 3 cupcakes, schedule 1 competitive ooc, and try to get the "winnable" games in the B1G. You know, because that's Minnesota.
Look, I don't know what it will take to win at Minnesota, but I do know it starts with hunger, desire, and a willingness to throw aside anything that's in the way. Is Fleck the guy? I think so, but only time will tell.
As for this season, the now if you will, coaching changes are funny things--there's always player issues. Players and coaches have distinct personalities--sometimes they clash. Or they disagree on future development. For instance, my coach felt I'd be better on offensive line (the scut work of college football). At that point, I thought my coach would be more useful as an untenured phy ed instructor. It didn't work out well, and it spilled on the rest of the team and probably on the field. New systems, a new team--not just players, all the support pretty much. It can be tricky.
I don't like to see us lose. I don't like seeing winnable games slip away. But I'm totally rowing and trying to patiently give PJ the time to get up and running. Time will tell, as it always does.
And truthfully, PJ's a little conservative for my tastes: If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat.
