Recognizes and thanks the armed forces.
The players decided they wanted to do a first annual RTB Turkey Drive, so they’re going to put that together soon.
Pat Fitzgerald is a friend. Fleck reached out to every Big Ten head coach when he was a position coach at NIU asking to buy them lunch and talk to them about being a head coach. Fitzgerald was the only one that took him up on it. Fitzgerald paid for the lunch in Evanston and he’s a class act and been a friend since.
Northwestern has a three-year starter at quarterback (Thorson) and four-year starter at running back (Jackson), which is why they’ve been able to execute and close games -- the Wildcats have won three overtime games. They’re truly a top 25 team.
The Nebraska win was the first complete game since Oregon State. Demry Croft played at a high level. The conversation about the passing game and team is different now.
Proud of Croft’s growth. His academics and serving and giving are both up, and that’s translated into his performance. He’s starting to find his purpose. Not everyone finds their purpose at the same time. He’s grown very quickly. The program isn’t a dictatorship. You have to teach players how and why things are done, and Demry has started to learn the how and why, and he’s very proud of him. He feels better about his future but he doesn’t have five more chances to screw up.
Demry played very poised against Nebraska, and Kirk Ciarrocca put together an elite game plan that played to his strengths.
The tackles and Wozniak played extremely well in the run game. Wozniak was a stud. Technique has improved and was excellent against Nebraska in every aspect against Nebraska.
Northwestern’s front four is very good. They not only take up space but make plays and strip balls. They’re smart, aggressive, and good athletes. Even as good as the Northwestern run defense is, the Gophers won’t abandon the run game. At WMU, sometimes if the run game wasn’t there, they could throw for 400 yards but the personnel is not here right now for that.
The Barbers are important to the University of Minnesota and respected greatly by fans and the team. Thomas is an important part of the culture. Honored to have that legacy as a part of the program and it’s important to bring in legacy recruits.
When an alum has a son that’s close to being at the level of playing Big Ten football, Fleck will do everything he can to make sure he’s on the team, whether that’s as a scholarship or preferred walk-on player.
Taiyon Devers has improved in all areas of his life, but the transition to this culture in all four areas of his life hasn't been easy. He needs to get bigger. There’s a process of learning how to lift in this culture, so this offseason will be important for all players.
Steven Richardson has made a big impact, even if that’s not reflected in the stat sheet. He’s eating double teams and allowing players like Carter Coughlin to rack up sacks. Offenses are game planning around Richardson.
The strength staff and training staff is monitoring Winfield closely. He’s still rehabbing and able to do some things at the end of practice. They’re being cautious with him and getting him back into things slowly. He’s grown into a leadership role.
On Sunday night practices, Conor Rhoda play calls for the offense and Jon Celestin play calls for the defense. The greatest form of mastery is teaching. On those Sunday nights, the young players scrimmage.
The players decided they wanted to do a first annual RTB Turkey Drive, so they’re going to put that together soon.
Pat Fitzgerald is a friend. Fleck reached out to every Big Ten head coach when he was a position coach at NIU asking to buy them lunch and talk to them about being a head coach. Fitzgerald was the only one that took him up on it. Fitzgerald paid for the lunch in Evanston and he’s a class act and been a friend since.
Northwestern has a three-year starter at quarterback (Thorson) and four-year starter at running back (Jackson), which is why they’ve been able to execute and close games -- the Wildcats have won three overtime games. They’re truly a top 25 team.
The Nebraska win was the first complete game since Oregon State. Demry Croft played at a high level. The conversation about the passing game and team is different now.
Proud of Croft’s growth. His academics and serving and giving are both up, and that’s translated into his performance. He’s starting to find his purpose. Not everyone finds their purpose at the same time. He’s grown very quickly. The program isn’t a dictatorship. You have to teach players how and why things are done, and Demry has started to learn the how and why, and he’s very proud of him. He feels better about his future but he doesn’t have five more chances to screw up.
Demry played very poised against Nebraska, and Kirk Ciarrocca put together an elite game plan that played to his strengths.
The tackles and Wozniak played extremely well in the run game. Wozniak was a stud. Technique has improved and was excellent against Nebraska in every aspect against Nebraska.
Northwestern’s front four is very good. They not only take up space but make plays and strip balls. They’re smart, aggressive, and good athletes. Even as good as the Northwestern run defense is, the Gophers won’t abandon the run game. At WMU, sometimes if the run game wasn’t there, they could throw for 400 yards but the personnel is not here right now for that.
The Barbers are important to the University of Minnesota and respected greatly by fans and the team. Thomas is an important part of the culture. Honored to have that legacy as a part of the program and it’s important to bring in legacy recruits.
When an alum has a son that’s close to being at the level of playing Big Ten football, Fleck will do everything he can to make sure he’s on the team, whether that’s as a scholarship or preferred walk-on player.
Taiyon Devers has improved in all areas of his life, but the transition to this culture in all four areas of his life hasn't been easy. He needs to get bigger. There’s a process of learning how to lift in this culture, so this offseason will be important for all players.
Steven Richardson has made a big impact, even if that’s not reflected in the stat sheet. He’s eating double teams and allowing players like Carter Coughlin to rack up sacks. Offenses are game planning around Richardson.
The strength staff and training staff is monitoring Winfield closely. He’s still rehabbing and able to do some things at the end of practice. They’re being cautious with him and getting him back into things slowly. He’s grown into a leadership role.
On Sunday night practices, Conor Rhoda play calls for the offense and Jon Celestin play calls for the defense. The greatest form of mastery is teaching. On those Sunday nights, the young players scrimmage.
