Sid opened questioning again about the 22 players with offseason surgeries. They are not all available yet, but most of them will start training camp with the team, and pretty much all should be back by the first game. The biggest struggle is that not many of them have been available for training this summer.
The team has not made any decisions on the two available scholarships the team has for the 2017 class, said PJ.
Fleck does not know who the opening day starting QB will be, but gives credit to OC Kirk Ciarrocca for developing the QB’s. He mentioned that Year One is always the hardest on the QB’s, having to learn a new system.
This year Fleck thinks that defensive tackle will be okay, but next year is when depth becomes very thin. He had an interesting choice of words saying, “I love to recruit high school seniors”. Says that we may see a lineup with three or four true freshmen. Eventually those freshmen become sophomores and juniors, and then they become a strong point. “We have to get a lot younger before we get older.”
Interesting note that I’m sure you’ve all heard: Coach Fleck said he would like to move the sideline to the other side, and has heard from many fans, administration, players, etc.
Coach Fleck gives the offensive and defensive coordinators full control of game planning, play calling, etc. “I let my coaches coach. They are the ones that spend the most time around football.” PJ will make specific calls such as going for it on fourth down or a specific call on one play, however he lets the coaches coach the way he knows they can.
On substitutions of players, the coaches have an idea of how many reps they want specifically the running backs to get, however they will go with the hot hand throughout the game. If a player is not playing to their absolute top ability, then they will make adjustments. “I’m willing to let my players fail. I’m not one of those guys that if they have a bad quarter I yank them. The more they fail, it’s going to help them in the future, especially with a young football team.”
The first game against Buffalo will be a test. Their coach, Lance Leipold, formerly coached at Wisconsin-Whitewater, going 109-6 and winning six National Championships in eight seasons. “It’s about how we play. We aren’t going to worry about our opponents, we’re going to worry about us.”
PJ is working with a new officiating staff this year. He commented that the only thing he asks for is communication. He wants to be communicated clearly and consistently throughout the game. PJ knows that not every call will be perfect, but if it is communicated clearly then that’s all you can ask for. “One thing is the energy between the first and the fourth quarter. Do they have the same demeanor, or are their calls filled with emotion by the end of the game?” If they are calling a lot of holding calls on a certain scheme, then the coaches will not run that scheme as much that game.
We currently have 19 commitments for the Class of 2018. Coach says that it is not an arms race, however it is a good showing of how many kids cannot wait to be Gophers. He also noted that we should get some more commitments in the next couple weeks here.
The team has not made any decisions on the two available scholarships the team has for the 2017 class, said PJ.
Fleck does not know who the opening day starting QB will be, but gives credit to OC Kirk Ciarrocca for developing the QB’s. He mentioned that Year One is always the hardest on the QB’s, having to learn a new system.
This year Fleck thinks that defensive tackle will be okay, but next year is when depth becomes very thin. He had an interesting choice of words saying, “I love to recruit high school seniors”. Says that we may see a lineup with three or four true freshmen. Eventually those freshmen become sophomores and juniors, and then they become a strong point. “We have to get a lot younger before we get older.”
Interesting note that I’m sure you’ve all heard: Coach Fleck said he would like to move the sideline to the other side, and has heard from many fans, administration, players, etc.
Coach Fleck gives the offensive and defensive coordinators full control of game planning, play calling, etc. “I let my coaches coach. They are the ones that spend the most time around football.” PJ will make specific calls such as going for it on fourth down or a specific call on one play, however he lets the coaches coach the way he knows they can.
On substitutions of players, the coaches have an idea of how many reps they want specifically the running backs to get, however they will go with the hot hand throughout the game. If a player is not playing to their absolute top ability, then they will make adjustments. “I’m willing to let my players fail. I’m not one of those guys that if they have a bad quarter I yank them. The more they fail, it’s going to help them in the future, especially with a young football team.”
The first game against Buffalo will be a test. Their coach, Lance Leipold, formerly coached at Wisconsin-Whitewater, going 109-6 and winning six National Championships in eight seasons. “It’s about how we play. We aren’t going to worry about our opponents, we’re going to worry about us.”
PJ is working with a new officiating staff this year. He commented that the only thing he asks for is communication. He wants to be communicated clearly and consistently throughout the game. PJ knows that not every call will be perfect, but if it is communicated clearly then that’s all you can ask for. “One thing is the energy between the first and the fourth quarter. Do they have the same demeanor, or are their calls filled with emotion by the end of the game?” If they are calling a lot of holding calls on a certain scheme, then the coaches will not run that scheme as much that game.
We currently have 19 commitments for the Class of 2018. Coach says that it is not an arms race, however it is a good showing of how many kids cannot wait to be Gophers. He also noted that we should get some more commitments in the next couple weeks here.
