P.J. FLECK – Page 28 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Fleck Contract Extension Seems Likely

Posted on November 29, 2022December 2, 2022 by David Shama

Emptying out the University of Minnesota and college football notebook in today’s column.

Does P.J. Fleck soon receive a contract extension? The Minnesota head coach has been rewarded with additional years on his contract every year except the COVID- shortened season of 2020.

Fleck, named head coach at Minnesota in January of 2017, received his most recent extension about a year ago. The deal reportedly not only gives him security through 2028 but raised his compensation to $5 million annually.

Athletic director Mark Coyle, who hired Fleck and initiated the multiple extensions and raises, must make the call about a revised contract. On the one hand, Coyle might view the past season as disappointing because of preseason expectations the Gophers could win their first ever Big Ten West Division title, but they came up short despite a very favorable schedule. Minnesota’s strength of schedule ranked No. 126 out of 131 FBS teams, per NCAA statistics.

On the other hand, the Gophers finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in league play. The winning record in Big Ten games is the third straight for Fleck in a full season (2019, 2021 and 2022). A win in the upcoming bowl game will give Minnesota a nine win year, equaling last year’s record and following the 11-2 mark in 2019.

The Gophers have defeated Wisconsin in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-1994. Last Saturday’s win left Fleck with a 28-10 overall record in the three last full seasons. The last four years his conference record is 21-13, the best such run by a Gopher coach since Murray Warmath in the 1960s.

Contract extensions are frequently made as a gesture of faith in the coach, sending an important message about job security that gets out into the recruiting world. Not giving Fleck an extension now, even if it doesn’t include a raise, will raise eyebrows a bit.

It’s not like the Gophers, as a member of the TV revenue rich Big Ten, don’t have money in the athletic department. While Fleck’s compensation could remain the same next year, raises for at least some assistants will be appropriate.

Deserving contract adjustments are defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and running backs coach Kenni Burns. Word is Rossi almost left Minnesota for Notre Dame last offseason. His defenses consistently rank among the best in the Big Ten and statistically stand out nationally. Burns also excels as a coach and his recruiting would be missed if he were to go elsewhere. If either is offered a head coaching job, they likely would be gone from Fleck’s staff.

With the regular season over, meetings with players are being held to evaluate future plans. Fans think about recruiting high school players and players from the transfer portal but in today’s college football it’s necessary to recruit players on the existing roster.

“You always have to constantly be recruiting your own players in a day and age that tampering is rampant,” GopherIllustrated.com recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners. “The NCAA doesn’t do anything about it (tampering) and so that’s the most important job. P.J. is well aware of that, his staff is well aware of that, but it’s incredibly important in the NIL (and transfer) era where it’s legal to an extent to pay players.”

The transfer portal opens next Monday and don’t think there isn’t backchanneling already from schools and players. “You’re going to see some eye-opening moves in those first 48 hours when the portal opens,” Burns predicted.

The transfer portal, allowing athletes to switch schools and have immediate eligibility, debuted four years ago. The upcoming period is predicted to have more action than ever. The portal period starts December 5 and closes January 18, before opening again for a couple of weeks in May.

“…It will be more wild than it’s ever been, I promise you that,” Fleck said last week. “Not just here, just around the country.”

The Gophers could use talent and experience from the portal at most positions. “We have a general idea of what we want to do and how we want to attack that (the portal),” Fleck said. “We’re still going to be a mixture of high school kids and the portal. ..”

Eventually impacting recruiting in a big way could be Dinkytown Athletes, the new collective that facilitates Name, Image and Likeness opportunities and financial compensation for Gopher athletes including football players. Fans, boosters and businesses can benefit athletes through activities such as endorsements and personal appearances. Gophers’ All-American running back Mo Ibrahim has a NIL deal with Gushers, the fruit-flavored snack from General Mills.

Dinkytown Athletes launched earlier this fall. “They’re off to a good start but if they’re going to sustain (success)…there’s not going to be a big booster that’s going to save them like at Michigan State, like the Rocket Mortgage folks,” Burns said. “It’s got to be the common fan (giving money) that’s got to be able to save them.”

Co-founders of Dinkytown Athletes are Rob Gag and former U offensive lineman Derek Burns. The two are guests on the latest Behind the Game show and talk in-depth about their collective with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. https://youtu.be/jneDiCjYCkY

The Gophers will need to upgrade their talent to be competitive in the near and more distant future. Next season Minnesota will play two of the best teams in the nation, hosting Michigan in Minneapolis and playing Ohio State in Columbus. The Gophers also play ACC power North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

It’s likely next year will be the last for two divisions in the Big Ten. The West has been inferior for years and expectation is that in 2024, with west coast powers USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, the conference will eliminate divisions and have a 16-team race for the league championship. The Big Ten has the potential to seriously rival the SEC as college football’s best conference.

Right now the best thing the Gophers have going for with personnel is redshirt freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. At the game’s most important position, Kaliakmanis could be the best QB talent at Minnesota since All-American Sandy Stephens played his last game in the 1962 Rose Bowl.

Without Kaliakmanis’ arm, legs and poise last Saturday, the Gophers likely wouldn’t have defeated the Badgers who were superior in line play on offense and defense. Kaliakmanis won the day against Wisconsin junior Graham Mertz, setting career highs in completions (19), attempts (29), yards (319) and touchdowns (2). Kaliakmanis completed nine passes of 15 yards or more and averaged 16.8 yards per completion.

With the college football regular season over for many teams, multiple national stats stand out for Minnesota. Ibrahim is second nationally in average rushing yards per game at 144.9, third in points per game at 10.4 and fourth in total rushing yards with 1,594.

Minnesota is No. 2 in the country in time of possession, with an average of 35.14 minutes per game. The Gophers’ defense is No. 5 in scoring defense, allowing 13.3 points per game. Minnesota is No. 3 in fewest penalties per game, allowing 3.67.

The Gophers averaged 45,019 fans per home game, compared to 46,159 in 2021.

The Vikings, BTW, might want to draft Michigan placekicker Jake Moody to replace Greg Joseph. Moody is second in the country in scoring per game at 10.9, converted 26 of 32 field goals and is a perfect 53 of 53 on extra points.

The Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game will be played December 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Eight players headed for the Gophers’ program have been announced as participants: Ethan Carrier, Detroit Lakes; Alex Elliott, Hutchinson; Greg Johnson, Prior Lake; Garrison Monroe, Shakopee; Martin Owusu, Prior Lake; Max Shikenjanski, Stillwater; Reese Tripp, Kasson-Mantorville; Jerome Williams, Osseo.

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‘Committee’ Likely to Replace Mo Ibrahim

Posted on November 22, 2022November 22, 2022 by David Shama

Golden Gophers’ All-American running back Mo Ibrahim, who is the focus of his team’s offensive success, plays his last regular season game Saturday against Wisconsin. Next season who replaces the player coach P.J. Fleck calls “arguably” the greatest running back in school history?

Ryan Burns, the Gopher football authority from GopherIllustrated.com, sees a lot of names potentially in the mix, including Trey Potts and Bryce Williams who both have remaining eligibility but aren’t certain to return. Potts had a devastating injury that caused him to miss most of last season and may have an ongoing health concern, while Williams has been in the program since 2018 but given limited opportunities to play.

Ibrahim has been a workhorse with 277 carries this season in 10 games, including 39 against Iowa last Saturday. Potts and Williams have 90 and 48 carries respectively.

“There’s gonna be a lot of carries up for grabs (next year),” Burns told Sports Headliners. “I just think there’s a lot of ambiguity in terms of who is back (returning), who is not. It wouldn’t surprise me…(if something happens) with Trey Potts or Bryce Williams (not returning), but I think there’s definitely going to be more of a committee next year than there is this year.”

While no one is publicly disclosing what Potts’ injury was last season, Burns described it as “scary.” Of late Potts seems more decisive and running better than earlier in the season. “He’s gotten more…back to form the last few games but I don’t know what he’ll decide to do after the season,” Burns said before last Saturday’s game against Iowa.

Burns doesn’t predict Potts will transfer, but sees that as a possibility for Williams whose other options are remaining a Gopher, or ending his college career. Likely remaining on the running back roster for sure is freshman Zach Evans who after being injured and unavailable earlier in the season has played briefly in one game teasing the potential that made him a coveted recruit coming out of Texas. He ran six times for 29 yards against Northwestern.

“I think the highest upside of those guys on the roster is Zach Evans,” Burns said. “You saw a little flash of it (against Northwestern)…where he’s got a little make you miss in his game. Kind of reminds me a little bit of a David Cobb (former Gopher) type. …”

In the 247Sports recruiting listings for 2023 two of the Gophers’ higher ranked recruits are running backs, Darius Taylor from Walled Lake, Michigan and Marquese Williams of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Both have made verbal commitments and could move up from three-star to four-star status by National Signing Day December 21.

Taylor, who is about 5-11 and 200 pounds, has a late offer from Michigan but paid his own way to attend the Minnesota-Iowa game. “When a recruit spends his way to comeback for a game that’s usually a good sign,” Burns said.

Burns likens Taylor’s power running to former Gopher Ky Thomas, now at Kansas. “He’s more your north-south guy, while Marquese Williams is more your east-west type like a Bucky (Irving now at Oregon) would be. He’s a smaller type of kid (Williams), 5-8, 180. So you have a north-south guy to go with an east -west guy, and then you have Zach Evans who can do maybe a little bit more of both.”

Worth Noting

Ibrahim is Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a career-high 263 yards and one touchdown against Iowa whose nationally praised defense has held eight opponents to 10 points or fewer this season. Ibrahim’s rushing yards Saturday led the nation last week and they were also the fourth highest in Minnesota program history. He leads the country in rushing touchdowns (19), rushing yards per game (152.4) and is second in total rushing yards (1,524).

The Gophers are trying to improve their pass catching roster. Former Wisconsin wide receiver Markus Allen, a redshirt freshman who left the Badgers last month, attended the Northwestern game earlier in the month. “They really want to add him,” Burns said of Allen who has contested catch potential.

Minnesota’s passing game has faltered this season and Burns sees a need to recruit two types of receivers. “You need one guy for speed and one guy to catch contested catches. …”

The Gophers could have all their main targets return next season, including No. 1 WR Chris Autman-Bell and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. “If they can’t find consistency amongst a bunch of guys 21 and older, I don’t know when you can,” Burns said.

Ibrahim had a key fourth quarter fumble in Saturday’s 13-10 loss to Iowa. Fleck said it was only the fourth fumble in 800 carries for Ibrahim who is in his sixth year at Minnesota. “It’s not his fault. No one play loses you the game,” Fleck said.

The Gophers, who like Iowa didn’t have a penalty in the rivalry game, had other key miscues including quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis’ fourth quarter interception and a near interception of an Iowa pass by defensive back Terrell Smith. Despite Minnesota’s eighth consecutive loss to the Hawkeyes, Fleck believes narrow losses in the series indicate his program has “closed the gap” with Iowa in various ways.

During Thanksgiving week, Fleck went into detail about the importance of gratitude. “If you’re grateful for your life, you don’t get to pick what you’re grateful for. You’re either grateful for your life or you’re not—whether it comes from the tragedy or the suffering—you have to be grateful for those things. And that’s what’s so hard because we get way down with a loss, we get way up with a win…. I am not saying I am happy we lost but there are so many lessons that come out of it.”

Fleck wouldn’t say what starters may not be able to play against Wisconsin but word is senior quarterback Tanner Morgan, who has missed the last two games, is likely out again.

Iowa is known as a development program but it’s interesting that the Hawkeyes had 45 former players on NFL rosters as of early November. Since 2010, 50 Hawkeyes have been drafted. The Gophers have 16 players in the NFL as of this month.

Daniel House

Gophersguru.com’ Daniel House told Sports Headliners a key for the Gophers Saturday at Wisconsin will be forcing the Badgers into passing situations, an area they struggle with. House excels at crunching data and said numbers show the Gophers are efficient against the pass. He also believes Minnesota needs to make four or five important pass plays on offense.

House predicts a 21-17 Minnesota win. “I think the first team that gets to 20 points will win. I do believe there will be more points scored in this game than the Iowa-Minnesota game.”

The Vikings, whose offensive line was ravaged by the Cowboys in Sunday’s 40-3 loss and gave up seven sacks, are expected to be without standout left tackle Christian Darrisaw who is in concussion protocol. The Patriots, who play the Vikings Thursday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, will be another challenge for Minnesota’s line that will be likely playing with two inexperienced starters in Blake Brandel, Darrisaw’s replacement, and right guard Ed Ingram who has struggled against pressures all season.

Injured Patriots center David Andrews is expected to miss Thursday night’s game. In passing situations, House said, that could offer opportunity for Vikings’ pass rushing specialist Za’Darius Smith to pressure New England QB Mac Jones.

“He (Jones) completes 75 precent of his passes from a clean pocket and that number drops to 45 percent when under pressure,” House said. “He also has five interceptions and just one touchdown in those situations. “

House, who does in depth analysis on the Vikings, thinks Minnesota will “get it together” in the second half and win 24-10.

Bethel senior quarterback Jaran Roste is the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year. Saint John’s senior defensive lineman Michael Wozniak is MIAC Defensive Player of the Year. Gustavus senior defensive lineman Zachary Jakes is the Mike Stam Award winner, presented to the top lineman in the conference, and Bethel first-year defensive back Devin Williams is the inaugural MIAC Football Rookie of the Year. Saint John’s head coach Gary Fasching is the John Gagliardi Coach of the Year Award. All MIAC awards are nominated by and voted on by MIAC head football coaches.

The NFL Films segment featuring Shakopee’s Dick Jonckowski’s debuts tomorrow night (Wednesday) on Fox Sports. Jonckowski relives moments from the famous 1975 Vikings-Cowboys game at Metropolitan Stadium. Drew Pearson, who caught the famous “Hail Mary” touchdown pass in the final minute to give the Cowboys a 17-14 fourth quarter win in the NFC title game, is featured in the film, too.

Jonckowski was a field usher at Met Stadium for that game and on a controversial catch by Pearson before the “Hail Mary” he kicked the Cowboys’ wide receiver on the sidelines.

“I was frustrated,” Jonckowski told Sports Headliners earlier this year. “I just kind of (gave) a sissy kick. I kicked the bottom of Drew Pearson’s shoe which really wasn’t much, but (Dallas coach) Tom Landry’s wife saw it from the stands. After the game was over, she called Pete Rozelle, who was then the commissioner.”

The segment will also air December 5 at 9:30 p.m. on the NFL Network.

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Redemption Time for Football Gophers

Posted on November 17, 2022November 27, 2022 by David Shama

What kind of statement will the Golden Gophers football team make in its last two regular season games of the year? The results of Saturday’s home game against Iowa and then November 26 at Wisconsin will say a lot about the program’s status.

The view here is it’s time for the Gophers to earn 2022 and historical redemption. Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck, who was hired in January of 2017, is 0-5 against the border rival Hawkeyes from Iowa. Worse, the Gophers haven’t defeated Iowa since 2014. That win was in Minneapolis and the last victory for the Gophers in Iowa City was 1999.

Floyd of Rosedale photo courtesy of Minnesota athletics communications.

There have been near misses for the Gophers in recent years but “what-ifs” won’t bring the famous bronze pig, Floyd of Rosedale, back to Minneapolis. Minnesota still leads the all-time series 62-51-2, thanks mostly to a stretch of dominance prior to World War II. But the 5-17 record of the new millennium gives passionate Gophers fans pain—hungry as they are for bacon, pork and ham.

Iowa won’t look much different on Saturday than in the recent past. The Hawkeyes’ defense (again) deserves mention with the best in the nation. Mostly a unit with developmental players, including Iowa natives, the Hawkeyes don’t beat themselves with mistakes and they stay true to their assignments. They’re a physical bunch that can knock the enemy on their collective butts and force turnovers.

As usual, Iowa plays for field position and boasts a great punter in Tory Taylor. College football rosters often have Australian punters these days (including Minnesota’s Mark Crawford) but Iowa’s Aussie is special. Taylor ranks third in the Big Ten with a 44.1 yards average for conference games and is deft at sending the football where he wants it to stop.

If you want to piss off Iowa fans, just bring up the names of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz and quarterback Spencer Petras. Struggling offenses are nothing new at Iowa under Brian and there was an offseason fan petition supporting the dismissal of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s son.

Early season offensive production was low even by Iowa standards. The Hawkeyes relied on two safeties and a field goal for points in their season opener, a 7-3 win over South Dakota State. A week later Iowa managed a single offensive touchdown in a loss to Iowa State and even last month the offense was awful in losses to Illinois and Ohio State.

In the last three games Iowa has made strides and totaled 81 points in wins over Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. Iowa’s young offensive line has shown improvement, allowing Petras more time to throw and opening holes for gifted freshman runner Kaleb Johnson.

The Gophers can thump their collective chests over their defense, too. Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring defense (16.3 points) for league games, while Iowa is fifth (18). Iowa is giving up 289 yards per league game, Minnesota 318.4, placing both programs among conference leaders. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, like Iowa counterpart Phil Parker, is a gem.

Who wins Saturday? The Gophers could be too emotional for this game at Huntington Bank Stadium and not stay true to their assignments and abilities. But home field and the crowd should be an advantage. If the crowd is at its noisy best, that could cause the Iowa offense to be confused when Petras and the Hawkeyes call signals and attempt to run plays.

To win, the Gophers will need to find their often missing passing game. Minnesota’s quarterback (either Tanner Morgan or Athan Kaliakmanis) will have to make clutch throws to loosen up the Iowa defense. But even with timely and accurate passes, is the suspect Minnesota receiving group going to get separation from defenders and consistently catch balls? Then, too, the offensive line will have to play at its highest level of the year to pass protect the quarterback and provide All-American tailback Mo Ibrahim occasional daylight.

If the Iowa defense forces the Gophers into turnovers and scores off them, it’s all but certain Fleck goes to 0-6 against the Hawkeyes. But in dreary November, why not be an optimist and predict the Gophers’ defense forces Iowa into mistakes and the Minnesota offense is just good enough in a 16-10 win bringing Floyd of Rosedale home.

Redemption road will then present the challenge of defeating Iowa and Wisconsin in the same season for the first time since 1990. Fleck’s teams have won twice against Wisconsin, most recently in Minneapolis last year.

The Gophers will not have a gimme task in Madison. Not with interim coach Jim Leonhard hoping to get the head job permanently and having a roster of players (presumably) all in on the former Badger defensive coordinator. A Wisconsin native who played for the Badgers, nobody has to give Leonhard a history lesson about another famous travelling trophy, Paul Bunyan’s Axe that annually goes to the winner of the Gophers and UW game.

The Badgers’ defense will challenge the suspect Minnesota passing game and if the Gophers have to rely just on Mo, the Axe could be residing in Madison for the next 12 months. The Wisconsin offense is similar to the Gophers, led by superb tailback Braelon Allen but unable to sustain a top passing attack with inconsistent quarterback Graham Mertz. The Badgers are 5-5 overall and 3-4 in conference games.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten games, will write a fulfilling script if they can finish the season with two wins. Fleck and Henry Williams are the only Minnesota football coaches to twice win nine games. Six Big Ten victories would match last year’s 6-3 record and be one win shy of Fleck’s 7-2 mark in 2019. Going 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference would boost Fleck’s record at Minnesota to 44-26. That’s a winning percentage of .628 that would rank third among all Gopher head football coaches who coached 45 games or more.

Expectations before the season were that it was finally time for the Gophers to win their first West Division championship. The talent appeared sufficient and the division competition mediocre, but a three-game conference losing streak in October was a major blow, although mathematically the Gophers are still alive in the race.

Illinois, Purdue, Iowa and Minnesota all have the same conference records as they compete for the West Division championship. Unlikely as it may seem, the Illini, Boilermakers and Hawkeyes could all lose a game before the regular season ends. Illinois and Purdue hold wins over Minnesota, and so any tiebreakers in the division standings with the Gophers will go to the Illini and Boilers.

None of the teams in the West, including the title contenders, will be remembered as great teams stocked with future pros. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini offered a ranking this week of major college football’s 131 teams and the list included No. 27 Illinois, No. 30 Minnesota, No. 40 Iowa, No. 41 Purdue and No. 54 Wisconsin.

Long suffering Gophers fans sometimes feel the program that once specialized in Big Ten titles and national championships is just never going to win the West. Well maybe the ghost of Bernie Bierman will hex the Hawkeyes, Badgers, Illini and Boilers, and inspire the Golden Gophers. Wins over Iowa and Wisconsin, and a first-place finish in the West, would be the ultimate Redemption Road for the Gophers.

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