In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past week-plus, Michigan football has been getting a great deal of media attention, nearly all of it negative. But as the sign-stealing saga wages on, former Wolverine opponent PJ Fleck would like to still sing the wonders of all that is the maize and blue.
Fleck’s Minnesota team lost to the Wolverines, 52-10, in a game in which the Gophers huddled on offense (and thus no signs to be stolen!) but were still overmatched, all the same. After that game, Fleck had maybe the most glowing endorsement ever given of a Harbaugh-Michigan team in a postgame, and apparently, weeks later, the maize and blue are still on his mind.
Asked earlier in the week about his upcoming opponent — Michigan State — Fleck started running with the ball in one direction and then started back and reversed direction altogether.
“Well, first of all, they’re big, they’re physical, they’re long, they’re fast,” Fleck started in on MSU. “They’ll hit you hard, and they’re going after the ball constantly. Their blitz packages are pretty diverse. So we’ve got to be ready for that. But they’re playing at a high level.
“Again, anybody who plays against Michigan, you might as well just throw that out. Because they’re so very, very different — (on a) very different planet right now and that’s a compliment because they’re on a different planet. Completely different rate than anybody they played — including us.”
While it seems every other Big Ten coach is piling on (anonymously, of course) Fleck is publicly still singing the praises of a team that wiped the floor with his own on its home turf.
I asked #Gophers HC PJ Fleck what stands out about the Michigan State defense
Coach also gave credit to a juggernaut Michigan team in response. pic.twitter.com/OxncXNJA3u
— Kane Rob (@GophersKaneRob) October 23, 2023