Hey, the guy needs to get a grip. When your sending your son off to be mentored by a coach for 4 or 5 years of his life, is THAT what you want?Here is PJ at a WMU team meeting. Thoughts?
Being PJ Fleck
- Thread starter HawkIDrummer
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To his credit, he had WMU ready to play in the Cotton Bowl.
I get that Carlton, but as you know there's a big difference between getting a team up for one big game, and playing in a conference meat grinder like the BIG. I mean you could play 3 or four top ten teams in four to six weeks. Thats not the same thing at all as getting ready for a bowl when you have a month to get ready for one opponent. Hell look at Wiskys schedule last year. Cudo's to the coach in badger land.
Firstly, nobody is suggesting an extreme like Pelini... that's a strawman. There's plenty of space on the continuum between boring and crazy.
No doubt Kirk has some emotion. The guy clearly cares deeply about his players.
I think the perception is largely driven by how his teams look on the field. (allowing ISU to beat him routinely, playing lesser teams close instead of crushing them like you mean it, etc etc). So in that sense...it looks...like he doesn't bring a lot of fire to the games. Until his teams come out and destroy lesser opponents it will linger.
MN fan here, just listening in. Just one thing I won't let go uncontested. That is....the idea that if Fleck does well, he's gone. That won't happen. If MN finally has good football after 50 years of not having it....Fleck will be the most popular man in the state. And we finally have an AD who is serious. We'll do whatever it takes to keep him.
If Fleck ever gets a chance to go to a blueblood school, he'll be rowing his boat out of the twin cities with a rooster tail behind it.
At best he would be 54th most popular, behind the Vikings entire roster.
Thus the disclaimer, it's all opinion. It was my opinion and that of many others. And why would I listen to a guy like Tressel?
A Penn State beat writer covering the B1G meeting in Chicago did a write up on all the coaches and said he thought PJ Fleck was the guy who sold him 5 Sham-Wows at the state fair last year.
I'm not a fan of his coaching style but it works for some kids. I'd say the same of Jim Harbaugh. I think Jim's sleepovers at recruit's houses and sitting in class with them is bizarre and childish but it's worked. Maybe Fleck is just what Minnesota needs.
It's also not a bad place. They have good facilities and the Twin Cities are an ideal place to live.
His personality faults aside. I do think Fleck is a good coach. But definitely can see him wearing on people. And I think his biggest challenge will be the fact he won't be outrecruiting schools like he could at WMU in his conference. So while I can see him having limited success, continuing to go to bowl games etc. I don't see them being great. And if he has a chance to move up, he will take it.
I live in the Twin Cities area. From November thru April, it's far from ideal. Pretty nice the other six months, though.
It may be his style, but that doesn't mean it takes a coach acting like one of the kids, or a complete idiot to have a winning team at a place with Michigans resources. The fact that they made two poor hires before Harbough is cutting him a lot of slack these first few years. That rope is going to start getting a lot tighter if M doesn't win the BIG in the next two years.
IF in fact he wins, he'll be very popular and sought after no doubt, but thats not the same thing as HIM wanting to stay, if he has better opportunities.
I couldnt say "no" to PJ either but gotta admit, those Sham-wows work extremely well. they are an elite type product sold by an elite salesman.
IF in fact he wins, he'll be very popular and sought after no doubt, but thats not the same thing as HIM wanting to stay, if he has better opportunities.
agreed. the Goofer fan posting here says Minny will do whatever it takes to keep him; well, that still might not be enough if some blue blood offers him a job that he simply can't pass up; if Notre Dame comes calling, would he pass that up? just one example....
but heck, Minny is paying him $3.5 million annually; who knows? Maybe PJ will have some success and be like Mark Few at Gonzaga and stay where he feels loved and comfortable
only time will tell; we are only guessing right now
True, its just speculation. Few may stay with the Zags, for a lot of reasons, partly because he's got a nice niche up in the northwest. He's built a really nice program, where he doesn't have to fight through a meat grinder schedule that a lot of the major conferences have to deal with. In that scenario, winning begats winning more. I doubt that Fleck will put Minny in a position to run roughshod over his competition on an annual basis, but were just speculating, so who knows?
Being in the Big 10 West helps, that is for sure; with a little luck, in 5 years he might be able to win a West "title"
Are Wisconsin and Iowa being moved to the East?
The point is that being in the same division as Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State is a lot harder than being in the West division; would you agree with that?
This "Being PJ Fleck" feature should be re-titled
"Being a Douchebag"
"Being a Douchebag"
I know Fleck has been through some rough times (the loss of a child and subsequent divorce that no doubt came from the difficulty of that experience) ...so insert whatever appropriate buffer phase should be here...
But he strikes me as a guy who's overcompensating...or always trying just a little too hard. (which may be directly connected to the first paragraph). I'm a very passionate and emotional person by nature too, so I get that...but he just seems a little too "up" to be sustainable.
But he strikes me as a guy who's overcompensating...or always trying just a little too hard. (which may be directly connected to the first paragraph). I'm a very passionate and emotional person by nature too, so I get that...but he just seems a little too "up" to be sustainable.
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O$U I would agree is and will remain a strong program. However, I'm not sold on the long-term strength of Pedo State, Michigan with eventually flame out with wild man Harbaugh, and MSU is already on a big decline and is a shell of their former self. Therefore, the West division with Wisky, Iowa, Northwestern, and even a likely improving Nebby will certainly be able to compete with the East.
Of course I agree with that. I couldn't resist the soft pitch you served up in #60!
I think the West wins B1G this year. Whether that's Iowa, NW, or Wis. Just a gut feeling.
A few years ago when Ol' Doodle was working for a commercial real.estate developer here in Doodle's adopted hometown of the lovely twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, we had a summer intern from the real estate program at the U. Just happened to be a football player who was pretty hignly recruited (yes, Iowa recruited him) but whose career was cut short by injury.
He was an upperclassman for the Gophers when one Mr. Tim Brewster was hired. Brewster had all kinds of energy and sayings and mottos and posters and cliches. And according to this player, pretty much everyone laughed at him behind his back. He said the rah-rah stuff works great in high school, but wore thin on the college players pretty fast.
Perhaps that will be the case with Coach Fleck. HOWEVER, there might be one glaring, canyon-sized difference between the two that may prevent player buy-in erosion from happening, and that is that unlike Brewster, in addition to all the fringe stuff, Fleck seems to actually be competent at coaching the game of football.
Only time will tell.
You need to somehow....someway....get an invite to a practice or locker room before a game. You are so sadly mistaken it is sad. Grow up and realize that KF is a very good football coach and person. I know that isn't the "funny guy" way to go at work on Monday, but give it a shot.
Not sure what you're so "sad" about...or what the "funny guy" thing is all about. KFz is indeed a very good football coach and an even better person. Maybe he's Dr Jekyll in public and Mr Hyde in the locker room...I don't have the privilege of seeing behind the scenes. No doubt it would be a great experience.
That being said, do you not agree that we've been caught "flat" more than once by lesser opponents (see ISU). Even the best coaches have their achilles heel.
Perhaps, but I also like to give credit where its due. So often we as fans consider only the negative when our team falls short. As an example NDSU last year. Was it Iowa's best played game last year. Certainly not. Yes we had some injuries, Daniels, Welsh, Wadley, but this was not our finest hour. Not from coaches or players. Conversley I'd say NDSU did exactly what they needed to do to upset Iowa on the road. Stay close, and keep fighting. Our opponents are trying to win as well, and on that day their A game was better then Iowa's B game or whereever you'd rank our play that day. It happens to all teams.
Exactly. NDSU came in with the right plan and executed it well. Nobody wins em all. As a wise coach once said, "Hey, the other guys are trying to win too." Sometimes you just get beat.
I think more than the fact that we lost it's the fact that you could see it coming... that causes people to call it out. There was no secret what NDSU wanted to do, or how they'd done it before...yet we played exactly the game they wanted. They just did it better that day.
So much for the arm chair QB stuff...but I don't think I'm the only one to make that observation.
The big 10 west isn't as good as east but not the pillow fight that was the big 12 north. By the way all those years how many times did isu finish with a winning record? Once? But oh wait I forgot clone fans claimed it was tougher than people gave it credit for.
If any division of power 5 has been soft look at the ACC Coastal since it's been formed.
So ISU still wouldn't finish with a winning record if they played in the B1G West? Don't answer, it's rhetorical?
In all seriousness, top to bottom, the divisions are fairly even. That said, clearly the top of the East is better, and the West has more competitive teams.
The East is Dolly Parton, and the West is Kim Kardashian.
Lol, the B1G West is tougher than the current Big 12. Let alone the Big12 North.
His suit looked like something Peewee Herman would of wore.
