PJ Fleck: I'll have a full transcript up in a bit.
Rodney Smith
Steven Richardson
Rodney Smith
- Antonio Shenault is the one player that's stood out the most in captains' practices.
- When you have new coaches, there's always change. It's good to not be comfortable.
- The offense will have more shotgun and pistol components and be less under center.
- Was curious to see if Fleck was as genuine and energetic as what he had seen on TV when he was first hired, and he is.
Steven Richardson
- The scandal was a last year thing, not a this year thing.
- We had a speaker come in about changing the narrative. That was about treating women as queens and breaking the narrative, sadly, that football players treat women poorly.
- Seen great things from Connor Novak, Royal Silver, and Malcom Robinson do great things on the defensive line.
- High school coach new Jerry Kill. Richardson came down during Junior Day and received an offer the next day.
- Has been working on having quicker hands and getting his hands up quicker.
- Paup is very demanding and hands-on like Coach Fleck. One thing he's taught is the importance of getting his hands up quickly. He didn't realize how slow his hands were.
- Was double teamed last year on 95% of snaps.
- Loves the yoga and meditation. He's taking an extra class for yoga because it keeps his body healthy.
- Had two surgeries for his shoulder, and the rehab has been all winter and spring. Won't be able to practice with content until August 10.
- Playing in the R position is similar to last year because he played as a rush end a lot last season.
- Robb Smith's schemes will be slightly different but there are a lot of similarities to last year. Didn't get an ideal feel for the defense because he missed spring practice.
- Succeeding in special teams helped his confidence and gave him the confidence to excel defensively. The Purdue game was a big confidence booster for him.
- Sawvel did a good job of allowing him to use his talent. He let him roam up top and blitz freely.
- Not many coaches put in the effort to make a scholarship a big deal like Coach Fleck. Lots of people tell him they've seen the video.
- Started out as a point guard in high school, and then as he got bigger played the 2 through 5. Basketball has helped him.
- Missed spring ball so he still has to prove himself to the staff, which he's excited to do. There's so much depth at linebacker, but that's what makes it fun. We're a family so we all encourage each other.
- There's "Cash" package that will allow the defense to get a lot of speed on the field.
- Fleck has done a great job of putting a positive spotlight on the program. Everyone still here has jumped in and is on board with serving and giving back.
- Nothing's decided if he'll play center or guard.
- The offensive line has always been pretty close.
- There's new schemes under Warinner.
- Warriner's a really, really good teacher. In position meetings, he makes sure we're all on the same page in everything he teaches. That allows us to play five as one.
- He tore his triceps against Nebraska. He had surgery to fix it and rehab is going well. He'll be full go tomorrow.
- Learned a lot about himself during spring ball because he had to find a way to lead the young guys while being on the sideline. Fleck helped him with this through the Leadership Council. He grew in his leadership throughout spring ball.
- The Gopher for Life program is awesome because it builds the entire person in all four areas of their life.
- Really proud that Fleck and Minnesota is helping change the narrative of college football and treatment of women.
- Learned a lot about what silverware to use and how to use a napkin from the etiquette dinner. Looking back, he thinks he ate like a slob before.
- Asked about where he fell on the spectrum of buying in right away and being hesitant, and he just answered it by saying he's really proud to be in the program and loves the people in it.
- Would say he's at an elite point right now. He grew mentally and physically over the offseason.
- Fleck is a lot different than other coaches he's been around. He tries to help in other areas other than football. The Gopher for Life program has really helped. Fleck is different.
- The most interesting Gopher for Life session was on cooking. Tony (I think from Tony's Diner) taught them about how to cook different meats and other things.
- The strength staff is really organized and forces them to do what they need to do. This team doesn't need much organization though because they're naturally motivated.
- The strength staff has implemented zen day and yoga.
- He's up to 212 from 209 and hopes to get to 215.
- Rodney talked about maturing and trying to figure out when to take hits, but Shannon still really embraces hitting people. He admits that's something he needs to sit down and look into.
- Ciarrocca's offense is very aggressive. They're not afraid to go for it on fourth and 1 and fourth and 2.
- The defense met Tuesdays and Thursday throughout the offseason.
- Demetrious Douglas has impressed him on offense. We'll see more about standouts once the helmets get on.
- Improved the most this offseason in the pass game. He's better able to help out crossers and breaking and getting downhill. He's able to be more aggressive now and doesn't drift as much.
- He's learned from the Gopher for Life program to always treat people with the utmost respect. You never know what people are going through or what they're thinking.
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