https://n.rivals.com/news/player-survey-the-best-and-worst-of-img-academy

PLAYER SURVEY: The best and worst of IMG Academy
BY Rob Cassidy and Woody Wommack
Rivals.com

WHAT IS ONE PUBLIC MISCONCEPTION ABOUT IMG?
RESPONSE:
“People think we’re just football all the time. Right after this interview, I have to go to school. Nobody thinks about that. With most schools, you’re only in summer school if you have to be. Here, everyone on this team has to go to summer school. - Coleman

Say what you want, but the fact that we Just got two Four star player on our team that CHOSE to go to a school where they KNEW they would have to go to summer school, has me more jacked up.This just told me all I needed to know about these young men from IMG. Super dedicated to not only football but School as well.
Keep Rowing the Boat.
Awesome.

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Obviously not a lot of info but this tweet indicates that nothing is broken and that it's not an Achilles. Sigh of relief.

On the heels of a great recruiting class, I thought it might be helpful to give a little insight as to why the PJ Fleck experiment is going to be successful here at Minnesota. It is no question that recruiting is the lifeblood of success in college football. PJ said it himself. He has answered that call and you can see the results. I can promise you it will only get better.

I know this because I know the 2017 class of kids that came from WMU very well, and several in the 2016 class there. What you have to realize is that it was no accident that PJ was able to keep Bateman and win the hearts of kids like Dunlap and Faalele. He has been doing that for years. Many of the kids that committed to WMU had legitimate P5 offers and so many of those kids could have earned much better but shut down their recruitments with commitments a year before signing day, never camped, nothing. So you wouldn't know the real talent level of these kids. Those who are still concerned about the WMU flips of 2017 not being ELITE talent? Just wait.

That said, talent isn't all you get with Fleck and let me point to some of the indicators that this team will be competing for championships in the next 2-3 years. PJ excels as a head coach, a CEO. He cares about every aspect of the game. S+C, offense, defense and ST. He is relentless in his assesment of it all. Let me point some things out that you should observe. First, his kids play as a team, not individuals. Perhaps you have noticed that when the Gophers get a first down now, the whole team holds their fist in the air indicating 4th down. Not the defense, the whole team! You might recall a big sack Barber had early in the season on a 3rd down and he started a solo celebration, only to have Celestine come over and push his elbow in the air. Barber responded in kind. Shifting mind set. You'll see more of this in games as kids are assignment driven, not me driven. Expect the defense to be better. It's about discipline. Speaking of discipline, anybody know what the least penalized team in the BIG was this year. Expect them to be the best in the country in two years. This gets to the level of detail Fleck focuses on with his team. No penalties.

Speaking of detail, who wants to see less turnovers? Expect this to improve dramatically. The ball is the program, right? Anybody notice how the running backs, or anybody for that matter is starting to carry the ball. No joke, that ball is chinned more than any team in the country. 5 points of contact, always. Just watch how they take care of the ball. Heck, go back and watch tape and see what every player does with the ball after they are tackled or score. Leave it on the ground? Nope. Flip it to a ref? Nope. Every player, every time will take it to a ref and hand it to him. HAND it to him. Every. Single. Time. You may say this is unimportant but I can assure you, this is one small reason that this team will have the largest turnover margin in the country in two years. An experienced Fleck team does not turnover the ball. It wins games.

I've watched some of the best coaches lead practice all over the country when going on recruiting visits- Richt at Georgia, Fedora at UNC, Doeren at NC State, Harbaugh at UM and yes Saban at Bama. I've never seen one coach get as much out of his players in 90 minutes than what Fleck gets. It's not just the pace, it's the effort, attention to detail and yes, he sees everything. Everything. Offense, Defense, ST. Guys that are injured, working on their craft. I remember seeing Cory Davis working with tennis balls on the sidelines and catching balls dropped over his head while on his knees so his hand reaction time would improve. All while on the sideline with a hamstring injury. Fleck has volumes collected on coaching techniques and methods, and he devours the stuff. His knowledge is deep and he applies it.

One more reason. Some of you may recall the video of the challace from the Indiana Jones movie Fleck put in the glass case. Essentially symbolizing how you must choose if you want to attain greatness. It's not the flashy trophy that symbolizes the national championship, it's the grind of hard work. But here is the thing, he believes that he will win that national championship trophy, and he will get really good players to believe they will win it. Not can win it. That they will in it. IF... if they buy into the HYPRR culture of being ELITE and do all the necessary things to get there. I can assure you, the formula works. In February of 2016, I heard first hand the claim that WMU was going to the Cotton Bowl that year. That's right, in February. And they knew they would. It was no fluke that Spillane caused that fumble against Northwestern late in that first game of 2016. He knew he would. They were good enough, they developed enough, and they believed.

I know there will still be doubters here but in the future of the University of Minnesota there will not only be a BIG championship, there will be a playoff birth. And i would not be a bit surprised if that playoff birth turned into a national title. That challace has a shelf life, and it's going to be shorter than people think. RTB!

Link: Oliver stayed true to Fleck despite late Power 5 interest

If I remember right....weren't you one of the guys who tried to make the Dinkytown board at least slightly interesting....way back in the day....? Why is it so totally dead at night here now?

Or anyone else remember way back....??

When's the last time someone besides me posted a message here past midnight?

What say you ?

You see the roster. You see the schedule.

Year 1 starts now.

According to Gophersports.com. This is the future Gophers non conference schedule for the up coming years.
2018 Schedule
Thurs, Aug. 30 New Mexico State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 8 Fresno State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2019 Schedule
Thurs., Aug. 29 South Dakota State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 7 at Fresno State Fresno, Calif. TBA
Sat, Sep 14 Georgia Southern TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2020 Schedule
Thurs., Sept. 3 New Mexico State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 12 Miami (Ohio) TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 26 BYU TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2021 Schedule
Sat, Sep 18 at Colorado Boulder, Colo. TBA
Sat, Sep 25 Bowling Green TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2022 Schedule
Sat, Sep 17 Colorado TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2025 Schedule
Sat, Sep 6 Bowling Green TCF Bank Stadium TBA
Sat, Sep 20 at BYU Provo, Utah TBA
2026 Schedule
Sat, Sep 12 Mississippi State TCF Bank Stadium TBA
2027 Schedule
Sat, Sep 11 at Mississippi State Starkville, Miss. TBA
Having looked at this. I have a few questions and comments.

Who is responsible for scheduling non-conference games? Is it coach Fleck or the AD?
How far out can they actually schedule games?

Now the real reason I started this thread is because it seems to me that we seem to schedule a lot of cream puffs. Now I know that we have had a difficult time in the past with teams that any BIG10 team should win against. But, when coach fleck starts to compete for the BIG10 title on a fairly regular basis and Turns the U into relevancy again instead of a bad much line. along with keeping up the type of recruiting he has done this year. Would it not be in the best interest to start scheduling higher caliber teams? teams such as maybe LSU or Ole miss. Teams like that.
For two reasons I ask this. 1) The more difficult the strength of schedule is. The better consideration is for a top tier bowl games is. Especially if it came down to us and someone with a similar record,but a softer schedule. Is this not so? 2) wouldn't this in turn help out with recruiting? Would this not translate into more and better exposure for the team? Is that not something that kids are also looking for?

Another question I have is. How many games are they allowed to play in a single season? Are we playing the full allotment allowed? I do understand that most school schedule in a bye week for themselves. However It seems that some other school start playing a week earlier than we do.

A Very Specialist Holiday Season

Benefits: Gopher Football Specialists Fund

Goal $ 10,000.00

The University of Minnesota Gopher Football Specialists have decided to continue the tradition that former gopher, Peter Mortell, started years ago. As a team, our culture is all about serving and giving to the community. This holiday season, we hope that you are able to join us in this opportunity to serve and give to the patients in the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. The money raised will be used for programming and to purchase gifts for patients who unfortunately cannot celebrate the holiday season at their homes. Thank you for all of your support!

Give now button in link: https://crowdfund.umn.edu/specialistholiday

On it Tom VanHaaren Says:
1) "He Think's this class PROVES why P.J.Fleck was so coveted"!!!!
2) "Minnesota is a PERFECT example of who benefits from the early signing period".
3) "...look at the 2018 class. There is nothing left to WORRY about. Now they can try to get another head start and maybe even get a HIGHER ranked team in 2019"

Go gopher's. Go Coach Fleck and Co..

Opie22 says "We subscribe here to see what Rivals thinks, and I think they do as good a job as they can."

Stroke the post said"You know what, I think I will put more stock in the offers lists than the star crap. Just a hunch."

I see the value of what both are saying. I also know that there is no way to create the perfect grading system.

However. People do like to see what the so called experts think of the youngster coming.

I am not trying to start any arguments, rather just trying to get peoples opinions, witch everyone has a right to.

With that in mind. Is there anyway that any of you can think of to better the ranking system.

Link: EP assistant Zobel sees a bright future for Kramer

Kingvega ----->HLP

Im sure we can guess who had the most (hosea)

And the least....the gopherrealname posse
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Looking at the bright side....I LOVE having a team where everyone is back the next year. Washington was going to replace Mason next year; now he just has to replace him NOW. This will benefit us in the long run. As long as he's good by the end of the season, that's all that matters. Losing a couple extra B1G games likely will drop our NCAA seed from 4 or 5 to 6....but all that really matters is playing well in March.

I'm actually excited about this. This is much better than losing Murphy or Coffey, who we have no one with potential to replace them. Washington needs to step up. I'm just waiting for his efficient 20-point game midway through the conference season to jump-start him.

And we return the entire team next year now! Since the center position has Curry, Oturu, and depth replacing Lynch (no more bad backups).

From Athletic Communications:

Minnesota Head Coach Richard Pitino

On Isaiah Washington seeing more minutes...
“I think it’s tough for any Freshman to thrust him into that role. Isaiah does a lot of good, and he’s got a lot to learn too. He had eight rebounds, which was terrific. We’re a better team when everyone's healthy. We’ll get Dupree back as well. The more experience that Isaiah gets the better for him. But, you just don’t replace Nate Mason when he’s injured.”

On Dupree McBrayer returning...
“Don’t know, but I think more of this rest will be good for him and we’ll reevaluate in three days.”

On Reggie Lynch...
“I thought he was okay. That big kid shoots a lot of fadeaway jumpers, and I thought Bakary did a good job there. I think Reggie was efficient when he was in, but he didn’t play a whole lot.”

On Michael Hurt...
“I don’t put much stock into starting. I think what he did was he had 27 minutes. It was really hard to develop our bench at Nebraska, at Arkansas, against Miami, all those tough games we played early, so it was a really good night for Davonte, for Michael Hurt, Bakary, Jamir, those guys who hadn’t played a lot. It was really hard in that we had, so the last two games have been good for those guys.”

Redshirt Senior Reggie Lynch

On Nate Mason...
"If it turns out to be something bad, which we’re hoping it isn’t, We’ll band together and fight through it as a team”

On being a senior...
“I feel like all the seniors have been feeling that way throughout the entire season, not just the fact that we’re going into conference play soon, but obviously all of us seniors want to go out with a bang, but we’re not trying to get our personal stats and think about the future too much, just take it day by day like the rest of the team is, just improve daily as a team.

On midrange jumper...
“I can actually shoot three pointers, but coach just doesn’t let me. Whenever i get the opportunity to shoot a midranger, I will shoot it. I think I missed three last year, and I missed three this year, but I finally got one to go. So, just watch out for some more later.”

Junior Forward Jordan Murphy

On Nate Mason...
“He seemed to be in good spirits when I saw him, so your guess is as good as mine right now. I just wanted to know what was wrong and try to be there for him as best as I could. At the end of the day, He’s the type of dude that wants to deal with that it on his own. We’re going to be there for him.”

On Washington...
“He’s become more of a defensive minded guard, I think he’s really stepped it up on that end.
We already knew he had a good offensive game. Just telling him to be himself and shooting regular layups, just to know when to pull out the jelly. That’s probably been the biggest thing for him and he’s really grown in that aspect and getting guys open since he’s such a good playmaker.

On defense...
“There were a couple rebounds we could have gotten to earlier, myself included.”

On leading country in rebounds...
“It would give me a great sense of pride just knowing it’s something i've really put my mind to, and I've really worked to make it the forefront of my game. As long as it leads to helping the team wins. That’s my biggest concern, making sure it helps the team win.”

Preview here.

Michael Hurt is again starting over the injured Dupree McBrayer.

Link: Cole Kramer is golden

Since 2019 and 20 are our Goals. 2018 is year number 1 in Coach Flecks building for his 2nd year. The Gopher Football Team should Red Shirt some key guys who played as true Freshmen and Sophomores.

C. Coughlin.
Barber
Durr
Devers
Winfield
Johnson

We would then be very competitive in P.J. third real year and it would allow these young men to develop even more.

As a stress reliever, I have decided that I need a thread to post things, just because whatever I am posting happened to catch my attention. Likely to be a bit archaic and disconnected, (but hey, so is life) with no real theme (but i will have a tough time passing up pics of hot women). they may be cheesy, eclectic or/and offensive. Submissions may be daily, weekly, on a single, or multiple basis. Don't know.



****

Not totally sure what this saying, but I thought this was funny.





This post was edited on 2/21 5:28 PM by -TUNDRA-

This post was edited on 2/23 10:25 AM by -TUNDRA-

Link: Florida Atlantic preview

You are only 34 posts from 10K, you better make me like that 10K post...

It has been dreadful for a while. They have the #1 spot for the 2018 year for a guy who should not be in the top 5, they should have corrected that a long time ago. A couple of years ago Thomas Barber and Connor Olson were regarded as being in the top 3 or 4 spots, and RIVALS had Barber as the #8 and Olson at #13 that year. The 2019 year is rather easy for #1 and # 2, the next spots between # and #5 are tricky.

1. Saw that Jelly scored 12 points.
Did he play more within the offense? Take better shots? Play some D? Show a better court demeanor?
2. Hurt scored some too. Did he seem to play with more confidence? Did he look any more aggressive on O?
3. Did we get any bench scoring?
4. Did our D play any better defending the pick and roll? Defending the arc?
5. Offensively, was the team into more of a rhythm? Was shot selection and shots vs. shot clock improved?

I'll hang up and listen. Thanks in advance for the feedback.