Tag: P.J. Fleck

P.J. Fleck talks relationship with Greg Schiano, Rutgers football rebuild: ‘the talent on that team is going up’

P.J. Fleck talks about Rutgers football despite his team’s thorough Big Ten win over the Scarlet Knights.

Minnesota emerged from this past Saturday’s game against Rutgers with an impressive and thorough win. But one of the first things that Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck wanted to talk about after the game was not just his respect for Rutgers, but how he sees the program growing.

Unsolicited, Fleck gave Rutgers a shout-out, twice emphasizing in his postgame remarks the improvement of the Scarlet Knights program under head coach Greg Schiano. Rutgers lost 31-0 at Minnesota on Saturday.

The Golden Gophers are now 5-3 (2-3 Big Ten).

Fleck was an assistant at Rutgers in 2011, and then followed Schiano to the NFL where he was on staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The now Minnesota head coach then moved back to the college ranks in 2013, spending four seasons as head coach at Western Michigan before moving to his current role in the Big Ten.

“Just want to just credit Rutgers. They’re a really, really tough football team. I wouldn’t be where I am up in front of this podium and having you listen to me and thinking I know what I’m talking about without Geg Schiano,” Fleck told reporters after the game.

“It was really an emotional like midfield embrace. I personally but for all those guys in that locker room.”

The comments from Fleck came across as sincere and genuine and not coach-speak. During the lead-up to Saturday’s game, Fleck talked about the improvements he sees in the Rutgers rebuild.

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The Minnesota head coach then talked about the impact of Rutgers and the connection that several members of his staff have with the Scarlet Knights program.

“I wouldn’t have known those guys and I wouldn’t have been able to hire them and bring them along with me. I wouldn’t have had the courage to be a head coach,” Fleck said.

“I wouldn’t know what I know and know how to run the program the way we run it. He’s a very influential man in my life and a lot of guys in that locker room whether they weren’t there anymore – they left because they didn’t coach well enough or didn’t have the results. I promise you, they all have a ton of respect for him. It’s a hard business, but they feel great feelings towards him and that program. His team played really hard. So just out of respect to Greg and Rutgers and what they have done, and how good of a football team they actually are and you could just see the talent on that team is going up.”

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With the loss, Rutgers is now 4-4 (1-4 Big Ten).

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P.J. Fleck sees Rutgers football’s improvement this season: ‘ a much-improved football team over last year’

P.J. Fleck sees Rutgers football as improved from last season to now.

P.J. Fleck is expecting some rough waters on Saturday afternoon when his Minnesota team hosts Rutgers football. The Scarlet Knights, Fleck said, are an improved team and look that way on the field.

Speaking with the media on Monday, the Golden Gophers head coach sees Rutgers as improved from a season ago. Rutgers (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) has an identical record to Minnesota, even down to their conference record.

Last Saturday, Rutgers got their first Big Ten win of the season in a 24-17 victory over Indiana.

During his Monday media availability, Fleck was asked about Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak. This offseason, Harasymiak left Minnesota where he was the program’s defensive coordinator to join the Scarlet Knights.

“They’re playing at a high level, they play incredibly hard. That’s what I know of it right now. I mean, I haven’t studied it enough from last night and this morning to sit there and give you a whole analysis of it, but I know they’re gonna be really good,” Fleck told reporters.

“They play really hard and way, way more improved; a much-improved football team over the last year, especially during the season.”

Fleck has Rutgers ties himself, having served during Greg Schiano’s first stint with the Scarlet Knights. Fleck was on staff for two years as a wide receivers coach beginning in 2010.

Fleck then joined Schiano’s staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before becoming head coach of Western Michigan in 2013 and eventually taking over at Minnesota in 2017.

This week, Schian spoke highly of Fleck. In turn, Fleck sees a lot of Schiano’s fingerprints in this current rebuild of Rutgers.

“I just know that they’re a lot better football team than they were last year. They’re really good defensively very aggressive. Greg’s teams are always going to be sound, discipline – play really well on defense – always have,” Fleck said.

“Offensively, they have some weapons, (the) quarterback is playing a lot better. And, you know, they’re able to do a lot of different things. Again, too early to really kind of dive into all the things just because it’s, you know, it’s Monday morning. But that’s what we’re doing right now. But we got to focus on us. We got to get back to playing complementary football.”

Minnesota is looking to bounce back following a 45-17 loss at No. 13 Penn State last week.

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Iowa Can Still Win the Big Ten West… But it Starts This Week

The Big Ten West Division is still there for the taking. Iowa just has to decide this week against Illinois whether or not it wants it.

This is the crucial point of the season.

Once seen as a potential trap game in between two Big Ten juggernauts in Michigan and Ohio State, Iowa’s midseason clash at Illinois on Saturday night is the defining matchup of the season. How this game in Champaign, Illinois will largely dictate the rest of the season for the Hawkeyes.

It has not been a great start to the season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is 3-2 after five weeks, splitting their two conference games. While above .500, the method in which they’ve won their games has instilled little confidence into a restless Hawkeyes fanbase. Iowa is currently ranked 122nd in points per game, only scoring 16.4 points a contest. The offense has been flat out horrendous.

Twice this season Iowa has been held under 10 points, that was the first two games against South Dakota State and rivals Iowa State. Both of those contests, mind you, were at home. Scoring a combined 14 points against an FCS opponent and a rival Cyclones squad that is sitting at 3-2 as well. Their only other two wins are over Southeast Missouri State and Ohio by the way.

You know it’s bad when the offense is seen as improved after scoring 27 points against two bad opponents. Let this sink in. Incarnate Word were able to put up 28 more points against Nevada than the Hawkeyes were. It has been atrocious all year on offense, and we were reminded of that once again last week with yet another embarrassing loss to Michigan.

While hopes of making it to the Big Ten Championship may seem folly after a disappointing start to the campaign, the West Division is still ripe for the taking. The division is currently sitting in a seven way tie, pretty much every team with a 1-1 conference record through two weeks of Big Ten play. Entering Week Six, it seems that nobody has any real intentions of winning the Big Ten West.

It seemed at the beginning that Minnesota would finally stake their claim on the division, taking a much needed next step further under coach P.J. Fleck. The Gophers started the year off a convincing 4-0 with a big win over Michigan State. That feather in the hat looks increasingly less notable as the Spartans’ season progresses though.

Minnesota just lost their first game of the season last week to Purdue 20-10. The things that were bad about the Gophers in previous years returned. The Boilermakers are back to intriguing status after the upset, but have been massively inconsistent so far. So what you will about losing to a good Penn State team, you’d like to see a conference competitor do much more than beat Florida Atlantic by two.

Wisconsin and Nebraska are two teams in complete disarray as we approach the mid-way point. The Cornhuskers finally ripped the bandaid off a few weeks back, firing head coach Scott Frost. While they were dismantled the next week by Oklahoma, they did manage to beat Indiana this week… whatever that’s worth.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, finds themselves at the bottom of the Big Ten and without a coach. Long time head coach Paul Chryst found himself on the chopping block after a 34-10 loss to Illinois, ending an eight year tenure in Madison. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard will take over, but there is big trouble in Wisconsin. The Badgers have been embarrassed in back to back weeks by Big Ten opponents, falling victim to the Ohio State machine 52-21 the week prior.

It should be noted that Northwestern is there with their 1-4 overall record. That’s all the time I feel like devoting to the team that suffered losses to Southern Illinois and Miami (Ohio) and gained their only victory against Nebraska.

This leaves us with upcoming opponent Illinois. The Illini have appeared to be the most competent of the West Division squads so far, their only loss to Indiana. I will once again mention that a horrendous call went against Illinois that changed the game. Bret Bielema’s squad have won the rest of their games pretty convincingly though.

As you can see, for all of the woes Iowa has suffered so far this season, they’ve been equally replicated by everyone else in the division. Besides Illinois, who did lose to Indiana at the end of the day, everyone else seems to be derping their way through this year. The path to the Big Ten Championship is still visible, especially with the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten West slate still upcoming on the schedule.

This is the critical week, though. This is where we find out if there’s anything left to be gained from 2022.

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Big Ten hot seat rankings: CBS Sports evaluates head coaches’ futures in the conference

Scott Frost’s seat is scorching hot at Nebraska. How does CBS Sports rate every other Big Ten head coach’s hot seat situation?

There’s already been plenty of Big Ten offseason fodder out there. On3 recently released its Big Ten power rankings, CBS Sports ranked every Big Ten head coach, and ESPN updated its Football Power Index rankings of every team in the conference.

Iowa was ranked No. 37 nationally according to ESPN’s FPI and the computer simulations projected the Hawkeyes’ complete 2022 season game-by-game results as well. According to ESPN’s game-by-game FPI simulations, Hawkeye fans can expect Iowa to finish 7-5 in the 2022 season.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly penned up a full Big Ten West breakdown and there’s now odds out for the 2022 season as well. According to Tipico Sportsbook, Iowa is tied for the sixth-best odds to win the 2022 Big Ten championship. Tipico set the Hawkeyes’ win total at 7.5 entering this upcoming season as well.

Needless to say, there’s plenty out there to consume and dissect before the season kicks off in earnest for Iowa against South Dakota State on Sept. 3 at 11 a.m. from inside Kinnick Stadium.

CBS Sports just released one of its most fascinating pieces entering each college football season, though. Dennis Dodd revealed the 2022 college football hot seat rankings.

CBS assigns ratings of 0 to 5 to describe a current head coach’s current situation. The number ratings work out like this:

  • 5 – “Win or be fired”
  • 4 – “Start improving now”
  • 3 – “Pressure is mounting”
  • 2 – “All good…for now”
  • 1 – “Safe and secure”
  • 0 – “Untouchable”

Let’s take a look at where each Big Ten head coach finds themselves according to CBS Sports entering 2022.

CBS Sports ranks every Big Ten head football coach entering 2022

Where does every Big Ten coach rank entering the 2022 college football season per CBS Sports?

There’s some really good head football coaches in the Big Ten. That makes it difficult to ascend up a list, easier to go tumbling down in the rankings and certainly a feat to remain ranked toward the top of the list of college football’s head coaches.

CBS Sports took on the task of ranking each of the Power Five’s head football coaches. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz checked in as the No. 13 coach nationally in that ranking from CBS.

What about everyone else in the Big Ten? Where do Ohio State‘s Ryan Day and Michigan‘s Jim Harbaugh slot in? How about Michigan State‘s Mel Tucker and Penn State‘s James Franklin?

Both P.J. Fleck at Minnesota and Paul Chryst at Wisconsin have done nice things in their tenures at those two programs. Where are they in the national pecking order? Can anybody make an argument still for Scott Frost at Nebraska?

Before revealing the full rankings below, here’s what CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli had to say about the league’s coaches.

The Big Ten is all about depth. After all, it’s called the Big Ten but currently boasts 14 schools and will soon have 16 (and maybe more!) before you know it. That depth is certainly reflected in how we at CBS Sports ranked its coaches.

In our overall Power Five coach rankings, published earlier this offseason, nobody from the Big Ten cracked the top five spots. However, while the conference lacks a top-five presence, it has five coaches ranked in the top 15, eight in the top 25 and 12 of the top 40. It’s a testament to the conference’s tradition as well as overall spending power. – Fornelli, CBS Sports.

While the Big Ten might not have that top-five presence, that could certainly change quickly after the 2022 season and the fact that 12 of the top 40 coaches reside in the league is a testament to the conference’s coaching depth.

Let’s take a look at where every Big Ten coach ranks according to CBS.

‘Definition of overachieving’: Big Ten coaches sound off on the 2022 Iowa Hawkeyes anonymously

In Athlon Sports’ 2022 season preview, Big Ten coaches were asked to anonymously scout the Iowa Hawkeyes. Here’s everything they had to say.

Sure, the preseason All-American and All-Big Ten lists give fans a great indication of the type of talent each roster has heading into any given season. Those are great media fodder when comparing teams’ rosters, too.

Still, one of my favorite pieces of each offseason is getting a look into what the coaches have to say anonymously about each program. Athlon Sports’ annual magazine delivers on that front each and every offseason and 2022 is no different.

Regardless of where you might rank them, the Big Ten has a collection of some of the finest coaches in all of college football. Iowa just so happens to have arguably the best head coach of anybody in the Big Ten. When those coaches and their assistants break down how they view a program, it’s some pretty fascinating stuff.

Once again, Athlon Sports tasked the Big Ten’s coaches with providing an anonymous breakdown of the Iowa Hawkeyes heading into the 2022 college football season. Here’s everything they had to say about Iowa.

Former Tiger announces transfer destination

A Clemson transfer has announced his next destination. Redshirt junior defensive tackle Darnell Jefferies has committed to the University of Minnesota. Jefferies announced his intent to transfer to P.J. Fleck’s program on Monday after officially …

A Clemson transfer has announced his next destination.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Darnell Jefferies has committed to the University of Minnesota. Jefferies announced his intent to transfer to P.J. Fleck’s program on Monday after officially entering the portal a week ago.

As for Jefferies, he played 24 total snaps across six games this season and recorded a tackle at South Carolina.

The Covington, Ga., native and Newton High School product entered the 2021 season with 21 tackles (one for loss) and a half-sack in 169 career snaps over 23 games.

For the second consecutive offseason, a former Clemson Tiger has opted to transfer to Minnesota. Nyles Pinckney did so as a grad transfer in January of 2021 and now Jefferies has nearly a year later.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

WATCH: What Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said about Ohio State postgame

P.J. Fleck was very gracious in defeat. Hear the compliments he gave Ohio State after the game.

The Ohio State football team went to the Twin Cities and took Minnesota’s best shot. The Golden Gophers should get a lot of credit for the toughness and level of competitiveness in what was a pretty cool atmosphere, especially after the shortened COVID-19 season of last year.

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck expressed a lot of confidence in his guys leading up to the game, and there were definitely some moments that made you realize that this year’s squad in Minneapolis is going to be a tough out for anyone despite the loss.

Fleck met with the media after the game and had some very complimentary things to say about this year’s Ohio State team. In case you missed any of his comments, we’ve got them all for you here thanks to Minnesota football social media.

Ohio State will next be in action against Oregon a week from this coming Saturday at home in the ‘Shoe. It should be a packed house that’s ready to host a national television party.

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WATCH: What Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck said about Ohio State pregame

Listen to P.J. Fleck talk about his team and preview the challenge of facing a talented Ohio State squad.

We are just one day away from Ohio State breaking the seal on the 2021 college football season, and this time it’s on the road against a Big Ten opponent. The Buckeyes will travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on a veteran Golden Gopher team that is looking to bounce back from a little bit of a step back last year.

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met with the media late last week to preview the season and to touch on what his team will face when it takes on Ohio State in prime time on Thursday night for game one.

As you would expect, the human energy drink had plenty of complimentary things to say about this year’s Buckeye squad and we’re repurposing his entire press conference for you in case you didn’t see what he said about OSU.

Click on the below thanks to the Minnesota Football Youtube channel and watch Fleck discuss the talent of Ohio State, the opportunity in front of them, yet display confidence in his team’s ability in the season opener.

Ohio State and Minnesota are set to do battle at 8 p.m EDT Thursday night in a nationally televised game on FOX. Tune in. Enjoy. Cheer on the Buckeyes on their way to another fantastic season.

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Where does James Franklin rank among Big Ten coaches according to Big Ten media?

Where did Big Ten media rank Penn State head coach James Franklin among Big Ten coaches in 2021?

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Penn State head coach James Franklin is coming off his first losing season in Happy Valley, but he remains optimistic about what his team will do in 2021. But despite taking his team to 11 win seasons in three of the last five seasons with pair of New Years Six bowl victories and a Big Ten championship to his name, Franklin is not quite viewed as one of the top coaches in the Big Ten.

Voters in a preseason poll organized by Cleveland.com recently cast their votes for the top head coach in the Big Ten, and Franklin barely came in the top half of the final vote. Voters ranked their top three head coaches in the Big Ten. Franklin appeared on eight of 34 ballots.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day narrowly edged Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald for the top spot in the poll, receiving one more vote to be named the top coach in the Big Ten. Fitzgerald actually received one more first-place vote (17) than Day (16), but Day accumulated more second-place votes to edge Fitzgerald by two points in the final voting.

Franklin finished with the sixth-most points in the poll, which put Penn State’s head coach behind Day, Fitzgerald, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Wisconsin‘s Paul Chryst, and Indiana’s Tom Allen. Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck and Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano each received one point in the voting.

Notably absent from the poll was Michigan‘s Jim Harbaugh, who failed to appear in the top three of all 34 voters in the poll.

In the interest of full disclosure, I voted in the Cleveland.com poll and did include Franklin on my ballot. Day was my first-place vote and Franklin received my second-place vote. I voted for Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst with my third vote.

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