ADVERTISEMENT

How long will Fleck stay at Minny?

Some people I talked to in Champagne mentioned that PJF wasn’t offered the UI job in large part because the administration felt he viewed the position as a “stepping stone”.
UI should be flattered to be viewed as a "stepping stone". When was the last time an Illiinois HC left for a better job? It's a "stepping stone" to retirement or leaving the coaching profession.
 
UI should be flattered to be viewed as a "stepping stone". When was the last time an Illiinois HC left for a better job? It's a "stepping stone" to retirement or leaving the coaching profession.

Ron Turner was fired and then became Da Bears offensive coordinator. So 15 years ago?
 
Where will Fleck go to? Tenn? Fla? If ND wins out, Kelly will be there to stay for a while. Where are all the other "sleeping giants?"
Nebraska if Frost takes Florida or Tennessee? I personally don't see what the fuss is with Fleck, I'd want to see him prove it at Minnesota before I would want to hire him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: umfb27
After getting their a@* kicked on national television, a number of Notre Dame fans were demanding the firing of their coach and the hiring of Fleck.
 
Fleck strikes me as all sizzle and no substance...but I'm eating my words when I said that about James Franklin (who I still think is a douche and a cartoon character of a head football coach).

I believe Fleck will stay at Minny for a while because he's not going to automatically deliver 8 and 9 win seasons up there facing a B1G schedule year in and year out. It's just not gonna happen...at least not any time soon.

Also...as Fleck himself will tell you...he's not for everybody.

Sidebar: Illinois should have hired Mike Leach instead of Beckman - super colorful personality who would have lit up the scoreboard...and offense sells tickets. Instead they went with Beckman and are now committed to a brand name NFL coach with literally no record of developing talent at the college level. Well done, Illini...Charlie Weis would be proud.
 
Fleck is IMO a moth. Lights go on and he is in the spotlight. It shouldn’t be impossible to have a good year (8-9 wins) in the near future with the current state of the West. Get that and he’ll slogan and sprint himself out of Minny and into a more prestigious job. He’ll take all of Minny recruits with him too.
 
I think he'll pull a Bielma/Wis former coach/ and wind up at some half-nut SEC school in about three or four years. He'll fail there, just like Bielma and wind up at an FCS school like Pelini. I am sure a lot of Min denizens/fans like Fleck. All things considered/after watching his coronation as Min coach with that flowery/arrogant BTN program (being pjfleck or something), I just don't care much for him. I think he is a showboat and arrogant as hell. I hope we win big on Sat..
 
I don't it matters what we think. He's a good recruiter. The players love him and he gets the locals fired up. He'd be smart to bail after his first 8 win season, which should happen in a couple of years.
It doesn't take much to get the locals here fired up about the Gophers. It's closer to 1960 here than in many other places.
 
Fleck has taken a team that won a bowl and won 9 games to possibly a losing record yet no one wants to mention that. He is a self promoting machine, did really well at WMU , and hopefully all his phoniness freezes over like all of the lakes in Minny soda cannot stand the guy
 
Given how much people in Minnesota love boats, probably a long time.
The problem with
Some people I talked to in Champagne mentioned that PJF wasn’t offered the UI job in large part because the administration felt he viewed the position as a “stepping stone”.
Till Friday afternoon? Then Chicago...;) Seriously, it is a potential concern, but for that to happen, he'd have to win big. I think after fifty years of poor to mediocre football, we'd welcome that problem with open arms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keflavik
Fleck has taken a team that won a bowl and won 9 games to possibly a losing record yet no one wants to mention that. He is a self promoting machine, did really well at WMU , and hopefully all his phoniness freezes over like all of the lakes in Minny soda cannot stand the guy
Trust me, many of us struggle with that promotion part. Many of us think all coaches should be like the stoic Bud Grant. Winning cures much. If he wins, most of us will overlook the hyperness and rah- rah stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keflavik
Fleck has taken a team that won a bowl and won 9 games to possibly a losing record yet no one wants to mention that. He is a self promoting machine, did really well at WMU , and hopefully all his phoniness freezes over like all of the lakes in Minny soda cannot stand the guy

Not to mention, his signature win is a 1 point victory over us, aided by 2 very poor call reviews in the final minutes. Had Thorson not fumbled at the goal line Fleck’s dream season would have never happened.

Surely he can get Minny back to a 9 win season and he will promote it as his rebuilding job. However with the West being down, Minny already breaking ground on all new facilities before his hiring, and PJ getting a way higher budget for assistants and recruiting than any of his predecessors, he already has built in advantages.
 
Not to mention, his signature win is a 1 point victory over us, aided by 2 very poor call reviews in the final minutes. Had Thorson not fumbled at the goal line Fleck’s dream season would have never happened.

Surely he can get Minny back to a 9 win season and he will promote it as his rebuilding job. However with the West being down, Minny already breaking ground on all new facilities before his hiring, and PJ getting a way higher budget for assistants and recruiting than any of his predecessors, he already has built in advantages.

+1 I think you have a better pulse on the Gopher program than many Gopher fans.
 
Last edited:
The thing I do not like about Fleck is that it all seems to be about him, not his players. At WMU he was privileged to have players like Davis and Terrell, but most of the attention focused on how brilliant Fleck was. He may be a good coach, but I see him - rightly or wrongly - as a self-publicizing person.

My guess is that he will bail out of Minnesota quickly as soon as he has some success.
 
The thing I do not like about Fleck is that it all seems to be about him, not his players. At WMU he was privileged to have players like Davis and Terrell, but most of the attention focused on how brilliant Fleck was. He may be a good coach, but I see him - rightly or wrongly - as a self-publicizing person.

My guess is that he will bail out of Minnesota quickly as soon as he has some success.

Not 100% sure of all of the whys with Fleck. Some things seem like they will be good for the program. Others are yet to be determined. If Fleck bails, it will be because he elevated the program. I think most Gopher fans would be okay with that. Heck if he just beats Wisconsin sooner than later most of us would be okay with that.
 
Huge Gophers fan here. I don't like Fleck on a personal level, and I'm disgusted with their performance this year, but I do think that he'll win big, given time. And when that happens I don't think he'll be in a hurry to leave. All the tools are in place to keep winning for a long time, he's very well compensated, and he's comfortable in the Midwest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: umfb27
Jeff Brohm a Tennessee candidate?? See what happens when the media loves you and pumps you up even when you really have not accomplished much at your new job as of yet. If he does leave from Purdue so soon look for Kevin Sumlin to be in West Lafayette
 
Fleck might pull an Anderson/Wisc to or.s.u. and have similar bad luck. I don't root for Fleck. I think he has some serious character issues. Nothing more to post. End of story. On the other side of the coin, I do have a lot of good to say of Broehm at PU. It isn't just because I went there for gradschool. He is like the complete opposite of Fleck's self-aggrandizations. I hope B. stays at PU. He makes it about the players- not him. Very humble. I hope B. has lots of luck and success- just not against NU. Can't say the same for fleck.
 
Jeff Brohm a Tennessee candidate?? See what happens when the media loves you and pumps you up even when you really have not accomplished much at your new job as of yet. If he does leave from Purdue so soon look for Kevin Sumlin to be in West Lafayette
Not long ago, TN hired Derek Dooley with less resume than Brohm. I just read an article that listed the UT job as the 10th most desirable job in the SEC. 10th. That is 4th worst. They may not be looking at the top notch candidates.
 
Not long ago, TN hired Derek Dooley with less resume than Brohm. I just read an article that listed the UT job as the 10th most desirable job in the SEC. 10th. That is 4th worst. They may not be looking at the top notch candidates.

Whoever wrote that article must have been a Vandy grad. Tennessee is a great job and easily in the top half of the SEC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: umfb27
I think Fleck will be successful at Minnesota and will stay there for a long time.

It's not a perfect comparison, but I think of Petersen at Boise for almost a decade before finding the right fit in the region he liked and knew. That decision is paying dividends - as Washington is ascendent after a decade in the dark.

I think he'll leave for one of the traditional powerhouse jobs in the Midwest - OSU, Michigan, ND, Northwestern - but only after he's made at least a few B1G championship games.
 
traditional powerhouse jobs in the Midwest - OSU, Michigan, ND, Northwestern

I love how you snuck that in there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: villox
Fleck might pull an Anderson/Wisc to or.s.u. and have similar bad luck. I don't root for Fleck. I think he has some serious character issues. Nothing more to post. End of story. On the other side of the coin, I do have a lot of good to say of Broehm at PU. It isn't just because I went there for gradschool. He is like the complete opposite of Fleck's self-aggrandizations. I hope B. stays at PU. He makes it about the players- not him. Very humble. I hope B. has lots of luck and success- just not against NU. Can't say the same for fleck.

Fleck might be a lot of things but having character issues isn't one of them. The only people that say he has 'character issues' are message board posters like us. I have yet to hear his peers, recruits (won or lost), player parents, past or present players, or even the media ever accuse him of not being real. Is he perfect? No. Your post is implying he isn't what he says he is unless I'm misinterpreting. Just sayin'.

Will he win big at Minnesota? That's another matter. As a Gopher fan I think he's going to be a fantastic recruiter and at the end of the day it doesn't matter what us message board posters think. He has a shiny new car to drive and the gas is paid for. He'll be around for a while.
 
Last edited:
Fleck might be a lot of things but having character issues isn't one of them. The only people that say he has 'character issues' are message board posters like us. I have yet to hear his peers, recruits (won or lost), player parents, past or present players, or even the media ever accuse him of not being real. Is he perfect? No. Your post is implying he isn't what he says he is unless I'm misinterpreting. Just sayin'.

Will he win big at Minnesota? That's another matter. As a Gopher fan I think he's going to be a fantastic recruiter and at the end of the day it doesn't matter what us message board posters think. He has a shiny new car to drive and the gas is paid for. He'll be around for a while.
As long as that shiny new car doesn’t park in my driveway.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT