Summarizing what Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said on Monday ahead of their meeting with Illinois
On QB improvements and what he's seen:
- Sees more confidence building in AK as he goes along
- Proud of the progress he's making
- Whole offense needs to continue to support him
DL standouts so far:
- Gotten better with fundamentals and technique, credits DeLattibouder for that
- They play with poise and confidence, that needs to continue throughout the season
- Each player is confident and understands how they work within their system
On players that could possibly flip from one side of the ball to the other:
- Mentions Tyler Nubin started out as a corner for a few days
- Only looking to change if it's a permanent thing
- Mentions Jordan Nubin coming in as a safety before they moved him
- Are always going to move a player for the betterment of Minnesota and the kid's future
On a four-way tie in the West with four games remaining:
- Really doesn't matter
- Made it to November, where it matters
- Illinois is the only thing on their mind right now
Zaquan Bryan and if his move to RB is permanent:
- It is not
- Doesn't think he'll get to him at corner this year
- Move is about being responsive and reactive
- Credits McKissic-Luke for doing a great job for that position
On what stands out about Daniel Jackson:
- Grown up and matured on and off the field
- He's encompassed the whole position - mentions run blocking and break points
- Can play both inside and outside
- Always competitive, but was inconsistent in the past
- Loves to practice, loves to compete
- Still has a lot of room for improvement
On Spann-Ford's 30-yard catch:
- Says he's a really good football player
- Say there are times where you think a player is not playing as well as they can play, happens to everyone
- Wasn't one thing in particular, but the offense worked hard to get him involved against Michigan State
- Could be a huge step forward for him
- Never stopped being an elite teammate
On what makes Bielema tough to beat and what it would mean to get a win:
- Has a ton of respect for. Good friends.
- Hard nosed team, tough, they're gonna run the football and they are going to stop the run on defense
- Some of the best players in their league are on defense
- Their QB is a dual-threat, got a stable of RB's, their OL is huge
On the possibility of going back to Sean Tyler:
- Just get back to practice and give him more carries
- He understands he can't put the ball on the ground
- Tough decision we have to make, but we got to coach better too
- Really, really talented football player, but the ball is premium in this program and he knows that
Scout team standouts:
- Kenric Lanier had a good night last night
- Zander Rockow won the GM trophy for yesterday
- Kerry Brown had an INT return
- Mentions TJ McWilliams, Donielle Hayes, and Martin Owusu as well
- They don't lose a lot of players after this year, so developing those guys is critical on Sundays
On running it 19 straight times after AK's interception:
- Athan definitely wants that throw back
- Threw it to the right person, just didn't throw the right ball
- We got to coach it better and he'll learn to make the right throw next time
- Thought they did a really good job of wearing down Michigan State's front seven after that, starting getting six, seven, eight yard runs
On QB improvements and what he's seen:
- Sees more confidence building in AK as he goes along
- Proud of the progress he's making
- Whole offense needs to continue to support him
DL standouts so far:
- Gotten better with fundamentals and technique, credits DeLattibouder for that
- They play with poise and confidence, that needs to continue throughout the season
- Each player is confident and understands how they work within their system
On players that could possibly flip from one side of the ball to the other:
- Mentions Tyler Nubin started out as a corner for a few days
- Only looking to change if it's a permanent thing
- Mentions Jordan Nubin coming in as a safety before they moved him
- Are always going to move a player for the betterment of Minnesota and the kid's future
On a four-way tie in the West with four games remaining:
- Really doesn't matter
- Made it to November, where it matters
- Illinois is the only thing on their mind right now
Zaquan Bryan and if his move to RB is permanent:
- It is not
- Doesn't think he'll get to him at corner this year
- Move is about being responsive and reactive
- Credits McKissic-Luke for doing a great job for that position
On what stands out about Daniel Jackson:
- Grown up and matured on and off the field
- He's encompassed the whole position - mentions run blocking and break points
- Can play both inside and outside
- Always competitive, but was inconsistent in the past
- Loves to practice, loves to compete
- Still has a lot of room for improvement
On Spann-Ford's 30-yard catch:
- Says he's a really good football player
- Say there are times where you think a player is not playing as well as they can play, happens to everyone
- Wasn't one thing in particular, but the offense worked hard to get him involved against Michigan State
- Could be a huge step forward for him
- Never stopped being an elite teammate
On what makes Bielema tough to beat and what it would mean to get a win:
- Has a ton of respect for. Good friends.
- Hard nosed team, tough, they're gonna run the football and they are going to stop the run on defense
- Some of the best players in their league are on defense
- Their QB is a dual-threat, got a stable of RB's, their OL is huge
On the possibility of going back to Sean Tyler:
- Just get back to practice and give him more carries
- He understands he can't put the ball on the ground
- Tough decision we have to make, but we got to coach better too
- Really, really talented football player, but the ball is premium in this program and he knows that
Scout team standouts:
- Kenric Lanier had a good night last night
- Zander Rockow won the GM trophy for yesterday
- Kerry Brown had an INT return
- Mentions TJ McWilliams, Donielle Hayes, and Martin Owusu as well
- They don't lose a lot of players after this year, so developing those guys is critical on Sundays
On running it 19 straight times after AK's interception:
- Athan definitely wants that throw back
- Threw it to the right person, just didn't throw the right ball
- We got to coach it better and he'll learn to make the right throw next time
- Thought they did a really good job of wearing down Michigan State's front seven after that, starting getting six, seven, eight yard runs
