Fleck to Minny
- Thread starter Purple Pile Driver
- Start date
Jeez. That that did not take long.
He recruited great MAC classes. I imagine he will up the ante in Minnesota. Hopefully he puts an end to the thuggery.
LOL. The Tribune describes Fleck as a "36 year old whirlwind." Maybe they can be called the Cyclones instead.
He recruited great MAC classes. I imagine he will up the ante in Minnesota. Hopefully he puts an end to the thuggery.
LOL. The Tribune describes Fleck as a "36 year old whirlwind." Maybe they can be called the Cyclones instead.
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I wish Gophers were the same as Beavers because this would make for some excellent future headline puns.
Surprised Fleck would take the Minnesota job under, um... less than desirable circumstances. Thought he would take another year in Kalamazoo to aim for more "name" jobs (always tough to project which jobs might pop open, but places like Auburn, Notre Dame, etc. might have been open after 2017).
Makes perfect sense to me - maybe he wants to go to the B1G. I think jumping up to a more "name" job adds a lot more pressure - and he's following in Jerry Kill's footsteps jumping from MAC to B1G. After all he used to work for Kill.
Plus the less-than-desirable situation gives him more breathing room.
Ugh, I like the guy but wish he were not on this side of the conference.
I have nothing personal against Fleck, seems like a good enough guy, but I am not convinced he is a great coach at this point. There is no doubt that he relies on connecting with his players and motivation, which is absolutely important at the college level. However, still not convinced that can work consistently at the Power 5 Conference level. We'll see though. It's a high risk/high reward hire. If I were Minnesota and the goal is to win football games, I would have gone with Les Miles, who also interviewed for the position. Here's a guy who has won a national championship, and had an incredible record against the best competition at the college level. The hiring of Fleck over Miles signals to me that the administration is prioritizing the character of their players and the reputation of their program more than they have in the past (which is a good thing). Because if it was just about winning football games, I think they would have gone with Miles. At least that's how I read into it.
I agree that Minny is probably aiming for a higher standard now. However, Fleck has had his share of character issues in Kazoo. He may rely on "characters" to make the "boat" float. Time will tell, though.
So about this boat...Does the boat stay in Kalamazoo? Does it come to Minneapolis with him? Does Fleck row it across Lake Michigan in the middle of Winter and then carry it the rest of the way to Minneapolis as a motivational tactic for his players?
Whose boat is it- Western Michigan's or PJ's? What happens with the damn boat?
Les Miles won a lot of games. But he did so...
1. With virtually zero recruiting competition in the state of Louisiana
2. With very little recruiting competition in Mississippi prior to Frieze
3. With lots of recruiting opportunities for recruiting in the state of Texas with a name brand SEC school
4. With an almost painfully unwatchable offense most years
He was almost Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler level 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust. Sounds like a great fit for the B1G but he would be looking for the exact same types of players for which Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa are looking. I am not sure how he would do with that type of recruiting competition in a region in which he has not recruited in years. He would also be trying to play against those teams with their strength.
The Zoo of M might be looking for someone who can change things up a little and win more games right off the bat.
Yup, just got an e-mail announcing it. Good for them. Maybe not as good for us. But it will take Fleck a couple of years to build this back, I believe. There are issues here beyond coaching, however, which are hard to put your finger on. I mean they haven't had a really good football team since the 1960's, and there's got to be a reason for it, since they really want to have a good team. If they recruit like an SEC team, they may be great in no time, but there are other issues that come with that--you may remember the BBall academic scandal a while back. If MN were Northwestern, they wouldn't stand a chance if that makes sense. Using MN as a mirror, what Fitzgerald has done is absolutely remarkable.
Like Brohm at Purdue he's coming in a 6 years, 21 million. I believe that puts both of them even with Fitz who's won 77 games as a BIG coach. The new cost of doing business in P5? I think Lovie's salary takes a big jump past Fitz once his TB payments are over.
I know this is a joke but I was kind of wondering about it. Since the Row the Boat slogan has become so associated with him and the Western Michigan program, does it work for him to bring it with him or does he come up with a new slogan?
Ugh. Let's see what happens , but IMO this is not good news for the rest of the B1G West.
Wonder if some of his off the field issues were the reason that few if any P5 programs offered?
I always feel for a fanbase and program when it loses the guy who was so intrinsically tied to its success. Clearly remember the morning in January '99 when the news came out that Barnett was leaving, and thinking the program would never be able to sustain the winning it experienced in '95 and '96. Then, when what had been a stellar '99 recruiting class came apart, it was very painful to see as a fan. We really lucked out with Walker, as I feel Taylor didn't conduct a search so much as give the job to a guy who called him that day, and wanted to trump Barnett's own CU press conference. We could have easily started down a very bad path of constant coach turnover from which we'd never recover. Instead, Walker creates his own legacy here in short order, and directly leads to our current coaching stability. Don't forget, it is Walker, not Barnett, to whom Fitz seems to give the most credit as his mentor who led to his coaching at NU.
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In the Land of 10,000 lakes, "Row the Boat" should work just fine.....
I think in Minnesota, on the boundary of the great boreal forest, they will be chopping wood.
"I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK..."
From what I read, yes. He was proactive in contacting NU when he learned of Barnett leaving. The next day NU had it's press conference introducing Walker b4 Colorado had its introducing Barnett. Going 100% from memory here, so welcome any input from anyone who remembers more.
Darth, I have a pretty darn good source who says that story is not correct. Barnett had done a bunch of looking around. Taylor thought he would leave sooner or later, and worked on a list of possible replacements. Walker was number one on his list. As soon as it was definite that Barnett was leaving, Taylor immediately contacted walker, not the other way around. 100% I believe my source.
Your story makes more logical sense than mine, so I'll take it as being the true version of events. Guess that means Taylor should get far more credit in the football success of NU than I'd ever given him. Also means we've had a pretty good string of ADs.
There is no need for me to sound so secretive. Although walker came to Northwestern before Mark Murphy did, the two of them became very close friends.sometime around 2004 or 2005 I was chatting with Murphy about how he and Walker came to Northwestern.that is the story Mark Murphy told me and he was the athletic director. I also think he is extremely honest. I believe it
He maybe realizes he's losing his QB, all-everything WR, two NFL-caliber tackles, and runs the risk of a normal MAC winning season.
Why are people so fearful of Fleck joining the conference? To my knowledge, he really didn't get a serious look from the top P5 jobs this year and don't think that is tied to him getting a divorce or being a womanizer.
He was a successful recruiter at the MAC level which in turn lead to a great season. He uncovered some diamonds in the rough, give him props. However, he is moving up to the big boys now. He will not be outrecruiting most B1G schools. Relax. If Fleck gets them to the mountain top, I'll eat crow, but we should like the fact the these higher profile coaches are coming I like Fleck, Lovie or Even Broehm. Bring them on! They still coach Minny, ILL and Purdue. Might be good coaches, but they don't walk on water.
Well, his staff out coached NU's staff this past season.....
I had not heard about his alleged fraternization! Was he rowing some other woman's boat? Or maybe motorboating?
He has some impressive recruiting chops. His LT, Okorafor, was a solid 3 star (85 composite on 247) player that got Flecked early. He committed, then Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Georgia, Iowa, Florida and Arkansas came calling. Somehow Fleck fended them off.
Corey Davis was not recruited by anyone, according to 247. Terrell, the pro prospect, was a 2 star guy that Fleck did not recruit, but helped develop.
Two of Fleck's higher rated 2017 recruits decommitted today, including a local kid from Phillips, Chris Elmore.
And your lumberjack (or in this case Hungary Jack) children are above average.
The guy really hasn't been the same since he stuck his tongue to that flag pole on a dare.
Fleck is a good coach/recruiter but nothing to lose sleep over. If NU takes care of business, I have no doubt we'll handle the Minnesota's of the world.
It's Friday afternoon, no one is here, so I am dragging this into the gutter.
You decide.
PJ's Original Wife
PJ's Current Squeeze?
#2.....
And PJ and wifey love Ryan Field:
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