What is the number one change you'd make to the cuurrent program?

[Bob_Loblaw]

This is not anywhere close to correct. A receiver cant be wide open on a deep ball when the defensive back is behind him.

Of course you can be wide open with someone behind you. Being in proper coverage requires both depth and position.

While the safety was technically deeper than Jackson, Jackson had about 7 yards on him towards the middle of the field. If the QB threw the ball towards the other hash, it's an easy TD and he would be wide open. Instead, the throw was about essentially an arm punt on the boundary side of the wrong hash.

 

[Dakota2]

This is not anywhere close to correct. A receiver cant be wide open on a deep ball when the defensive back is behind him.

Defender was behind him eight yards to the left of the route. Receiver was cutting in front of him to right side. Wide open.

 

[USAF]

worst in the big ten is a cherry picking way to display the facts

if you go by average player rating it would be Illinois, they just took 8 more players than Minnesota.

if you believe, and the facts might be with you I don't know, that there is a substantive difference between players rated between 87.20 & 86.15 then you're right that our recruiting was horrible.


View attachment 27080

And you're cherry picking "last place" to obscure the objective truth: by any measure of recruiting service numbers, Fleck is consistently in the bottom half of the B1G, and if anything has been getting worse in recent classes.

If we want consistent top 20 teams, Fleck needs to recruit considerably better.

 

[disco]

No doubt. The state of Minnesota has a ton of big business and lots of money. Just need to tap into that big bank. Sadly this is what college has become with the nil. They definitely need big backers to compete. I don’t pretend to know if they have them or not but perhaps some of you guys do. Seems to be the way of things currently

There is a lot of money in this state, but it seems that little of it has ties to the U, and even less so ties to the U football and basketball programs. Look at the amount of donor money that flows into St. Thomas for buildings and facilities.

 

[GFBfan]

I'll expand on your points to add Athan locks into his primary read the minute he takes the snap. It's very rare this season so far, that he drops back and you see him survey the field. It's causing him to miss open routes at various levels. And multiple times yesterday he locked in and still was behind his intended target, which was usually Jackson. He missed Crooms deep who had his man beat. He underthrew Brockington for an easy run and catch TD with his speed late in the game. He can't hit stone hands BSF who maybe has the biggest catch radius on the entire team. Its very troubling, despite this being only his 7th start. Its simple to coach a guy to not stare down option one or his primary read, yet he can't seem to do it.

That isn't an AK problem, as Tanner was doing the same thing. The pass plays sometimes have only one read, sometimes two. If you really watch the WR, they run their route and look (or don't look) back for a throw which tells me when they aren't looking back that they know there is no chance of them being targeted on that particular play.

 

[USAF]

It's correct. The receiver was running a post. Had the ball been thrown to the correct spot in the field (i.e. the middle) he would have caught the ball without being touched. But instead the ball as thrown to the A in tar heels vs the ee's in heelsView attachment 27081

No matter where that ball was thrown, the defender was behind the receiver and had a shorter path to the ball.

 

[MZBKA1]

I get that trolls are gonna troll but our last year's class wasn't the lowest rated in the conference and already has an offensive lineman and RB contributing.

If we had a long-term recruiting plan, we wouldn’t be playing 3-star true freshmen recruits. Especially at offensive line.

Facts don’t care about your hurt feelings. We were dead last in recruiting last year. Fleck has to do better.

2022 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

 

[MplsGopher]

Would've been a TD if he threw the post. I agree with that.

People are going to believe what they want to.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

We were dead last in recruiting last year.

2022 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

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Wasn't it already pointed out to you that the 2022 class was NOT last year's class???

Jeez, at least get something right before ragging on another poster.

 

[USAF]

Wasn't it already pointed out to you that the 2022 class was NOT last year's class???

Jeez, at least get something right before ragging on another poster.

Here's 2023

2023 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Ahead of NW, WI, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana. Wisconsin has a better average rating, but fewer recruits.

Bottom third-ish. Also well behind USC and Oregon, behind WA and UCLA.

2021:

2021 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

It's not rocket science. Fleck needs to recruit at a higher level, or the Gophers have probabaly peaked. B1G is getting tougher, not easier.

 

[noamfromm]

No matter where that ball was thrown, the defender was behind the receiver and had a shorter path to the ball.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Of course you can be wide open with someone behind you. Being in proper coverage requires both depth and position.

While the safety was technically deeper than Jackson, Jackson had about 7 yards on him towards the middle of the field. If the QB threw the ball towards the other hash, it's an easy TD and he would be wide open. Instead, the throw was about essentially an arm punt on the boundary side of the wrong hash.

If it is the play I am thinking, throw to the left, did AK throw to the wrong side or did Jackson turn the wrong way? It looked like AK threw and Jackson began turning at almost the same time.

 

[noamfromm]

If it is the play I am thinking, throw to the left, did AK throw to the wrong side or did Jackson turn the wrong way? It looked like AK threw and Jackson began turning at almost the same time.

Jackson is looking for the ball in the middle of the field. Kramer throws it behind Jackson and he turns to make a play on it.

 

[GophersInIowa]

It’s a throw Kramer and half the wide receiver corps can make.

But he didn't. And failed miserably. It just wasn't a necessary risk IMO. Kramer still has to be better though of course.

 

[Pompous Elitist]

It’s a throw Kramer and half the wide receiver corps can make.

Most everyone reading this could throw it that 30 odd yards to the end zone, but maybe not with a 200+ pound athlete trying to break us in half. Would love to hear Kramer’s side of the story. I refuse to believe we don’t have a QB who can throw the darn ball 25 yards - with accuracy.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Here's 2023

2023 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Ahead of NW, WI, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana. Wisconsin has a better average rating, but fewer recruits.

Bottom third-ish. Also well behind USC and Oregon, behind WA and UCLA.

2021:

2021 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

It's not rocket science. Fleck needs to recruit at a higher level, or the Gophers have probabaly peaked. B1G is getting tougher, not easier.

I've been told by more than a handful out here that the talent difference in class rating/rankings after the first four or five top teams in the conference is negligible. Not saying I agree, but that has been a consistent comeback to looking at ratings.

It's somewhat of a catch-22 if you don't capitalize on a big year like 2019 with a consistent jump in class rankings the next 2-3 years. In the last four years, I think he has a couple in the high 30s followed by a couple In the low 50s. 2024 looks promising sitting now at #32, but will settle out to be about #40, if no high commits flip.

 

[FanSinceTheFifties]

It's been that way for decades. It's just out in the open now. It shocks me that there are people here who pretend that big time college sports haven't been a dirty, ugly big money business going back who-knows-how-many years.

You're right. Even more depressing to admit it's been dirty for years. Increasingly I follow FCS, D2, a d D3 programs. I hope they are at least a bit cleaner.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Most everyone reading this could throw it that 30 odd yards to the end zone, but maybe not with a 200+ pound athlete trying to break us in half. Would love to hear Kramer’s side of the story. I refuse to believe we don’t have a QB who can throw the darn ball 25 yards - with accuracy.

AK can make that throw 8 of 10 times IMO. The throw itself was probably closer to 50 yards with the dropback, angle of the throw, and where it was caught in the endzone. I still don't understand calling that play at that moment with your backup, who is the third best at that type of throw, coming in cold, on 1st down. I tried to cue at 6:40 of the video where that pass happens.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Jackson is looking for the ball in the middle of the field. Kramer throws it behind Jackson and he turns to make a play on it.

Sorry different play. I thought the discussion was about AK's incomplete throw earlier in the game to Jackson where if it connected, would have been a big gain.

 

[btowngopher]

I've been told by more than a handful out here that the talent difference in class rating/rankings after the first four or five top teams in the conference is negligible. Not saying I agree, but that has been a consistent comeback to looking at ratings.

It's somewhat of a catch-22 if you don't capitalize on a big year like 2019 with a consistent jump in class rankings the next 2-3 years. In the last four years, I think he has a couple in the high 30s followed by a couple In the low 50s. 2024 looks promising sitting now at #32, but will settle out to be about #40, if no high commits flip.

I mean look at the results on the field. Pretty clear after OSU, PSU, and Michigan that the talent levels aren’t much different across the remaining teams.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I mean look at the results on the field. Pretty clear after OSU, PSU, and Michigan that the talent levels aren’t much different across the remaining teams.

Yep, and not a single visit to the B1G title game. Is it coaching, player development (lack of), lack of preperation, subpar execution on the field...?

 

[btowngopher]

Here's 2023

2023 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

Ahead of NW, WI, Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana. Wisconsin has a better average rating, but fewer recruits.

Bottom third-ish. Also well behind USC and Oregon, behind WA and UCLA.

2021:

2021 Recruit Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

It's not rocket science. Fleck needs to recruit at a higher level, or the Gophers have probabaly peaked. B1G is getting tougher, not easier.

Hard to say they’ve peaked when 2019 was a play or two away from being even better (Iowa game). As far as a baseline season, yeah maybe they are close to the peak, but they’re still capable of having special double digit win years every few years. There was meat left in the bone in each of his 9+ win years so far. As far as upping recruiting, maybe he needs to do that. Easier said than done though, I can’t imagine any coach coming in and out recruiting the blue bloods of the conference, the only way to do that from Minnesota would be to pay the players more.

 

[btowngopher]

Yep, and not a single visit to the B1G title game. Is it coaching, player development (lack of), lack of preperation, subpar execution on the field...?

A play or two away multiple years would suggest the talent level isn’t drastically lagging in my opinion. Some of it is just tough luck.

 

[Gopherchase]

We have plenty of talent overall though I’m wavering at QB. There are quite a few potentially great players getting their feet wet and in the pipeline. PJ game plans and coaches up to his ACT score.

 

[Dakota2]

No matter where that ball was thrown, the defender was behind the receiver and had a shorter path to the ball.

Look at some pics. It is absurd to say the defender had a shorter path to where the receiver would have caught the ball if thrown as the play designed. Laughable.

 

[PMWinSTP]

A play or two away multiple years would suggest the talent level isn’t drastically lagging in my opinion. Some of it is just tough luck.

Oh, I agree it's not talent.

 

[btowngopher]

If we had a long-term recruiting plan, we wouldn’t be playing 3-star true freshmen recruits. Especially at offensive line.

Facts don’t care about your hurt feelings. We were dead last in recruiting last year. Fleck has to do better.

2022 Recruit Big-Ten Football Team Rankings

In order to create the most comprehensive Team Recruiting Ranking without any notion of bias, 247Sports Team Recruiting Ranking is solely based on the 247Sports Composite Rating.

247sports.com

We are playing one true freshman 3 star recruit…

 

[Dakota2]

A play or two away multiple years would suggest the talent level isn’t drastically lagging in my opinion. Some of it is just tough luck.

Not tough luck in this one. Poor play by AK and a couple drops. Also a free TD given while defensive staff ordered pizza.

 

[PMWinSTP]

We have plenty of talent overall though I’m wavering at QB. There are quite a few potentially great players getting their feet wet and in the pipeline. PJ game plans and coaches up to his ACT score.

It will click with AK.

 

[Word]

Fleck’s portal recruiting has been outstanding. Henderson, Baugh, Jones, Collins led D Saturday. Vrooms has been good.

Vroom would be a great name for a receiver.