P.J. FLECK – Page 81 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Football Fate Looks Tied to Offense

Posted on September 1, 2017September 1, 2017 by David Shama

A Friday notes column with emphasis on last night’s opening nonconference win by the Gophers over Buffalo.

The Gophers have new coaches and quarterbacks but their defensive pedigree is still in place. The success of the Jerry Kill–Tracy Claeys coaching era from 2011 through last season was built on defense, often coming to the rescue of a sputtering offense with quarterback issues.

Minnesota was nearly a four touchdown favorite to defeat Buffalo but could only produce three points after a 14 point first quarter in coach P.J. Fleck’s debut game. Buffalo looked like an improved team after last season’s 2-10 record and had the best quarterback on the field in Tyree Jackson, but the Gophers should have done more offensively in their 17-7 win.

Minnesota’s offensive line was unimpressive and if they couldn’t push around a Mid-American Conference team, what lies ahead against Big Ten rivals, or even next week at Oregon State? Running the ball is supposed to be the Gophers’ strength but last night they had 239 yards passing and only 180 rushing.

The Gophers had a chance to go up 21-7 at halftime when redshirt senior quarterback Conor Rhoda threw an interception in the Bulls’ end zone late in the second quarter. After the game Fleck called it a “catastrophic mistake.”

Rhoda said the Bulls gave him an unexpected defensive look and that the error is something he can learn from. The emotional pain of the play was just the opposite of what he felt in the first quarter when he threw a 61-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Tyler Johnson.

Rhoda, a 22-year-old senior who Fleck had talked out of quitting football after last season, had never started a game before at home and it was the second touchdown pass of his career. The former Cretin-Derham Hall quarterback said he had a “ton of family” at the game and the touchdown pass was a fulfilling moment. His only other college career start was last season at Maryland when he also threw a touchdown pass.

After the game Fleck indicated the alternating quarterback system using both Rhoda and redshirt sophomore Demry Croft will continue.

Johnson caught six passes for 141 yards. He and another sophomore, safety Antoine Winfield Jr., were two of Minnesota’s biggest playmakers last night. Winfield knocked a ball away in the first half that might have gone for a Buffalo touchdown. He also blocked a field goal attempt and had five solo tackles, and assisted with two others. “That kid loves football,” Fleck said.

Winfield came into the game with the reputation of being an exceptional player on a promising defense. That unit held the Bulls to 61 yards rushing and 211 passing. Even though the score was close in the second half, the Gophers seemed likely to win because of the defense.

The sluggish offense, though, did little to dispel the preseason predictions Minnesota will have challenges scoring and the team will produce a mediocre season. Pick a record like 5-7, 6-6 or maybe 7-5. It’s only one game after last night, but so far expectations haven’t changed.

Announced attendance was 43,224 but there weren’t nearly that many fans in TCF Bank Stadium. Empty seats between the goal lines were numerous including some on the 50-yard line.

The Gophers are working to improve the fan experience at games. At the McNamara Alumni Center late yesterday afternoon food and beverage items were on sale, but “I’m a Fleck Fan” hats were free.

A person with the Bulls’ travel party said Buffalo draws about 20,000 fans per game, with a public season ticket base of around 10,000.

Fleck said the value is “priceless” of the reality TV series that is airing this summer about he and his family. During the month of August the NCAA doesn’t allow the recruiting of high school players, so the show placed attention on Fleck and his program in a way rivals couldn’t match. The series “Being P.J. Fleck” aired more than 100 times on ESPNU, ESPN2 and BTN prior to the end of August.

“…There was one team that wasn’t dead on national television in August and that was the University of Minnesota, four times for 30 minutes in people’s living rooms,” Fleck said. “You make sure people know that we’re going to be on TV at this time, and now dad, mom, brother, sister, uncle, (and) recruits are sitting in that room watching it while no one else can really have the contact with them.”

Fleck said the value of the series extended beyond recruiting. He heard from people who had been part of his life more than 10 years ago, and was also contacted by strangers. Some people shared stories about illness and the loss of relatives.

“…They say how you’ve influenced their life,” Fleck said. “That’s more than (the importance of) any money, that’s more than any win. That’s more than anything, and that’s the purpose of having the show is to make sure that our culture gets out to as many people as it possibly can, to serve and give through television.”

University of Minnesota alum and New York Times best selling author Harvey Mackay counted the late Muhammad Ali among his close friends. Mackay leaves for Rome next week to participate in the “Celebrity Fight Night” charity effort that Ali headlined for years with other celebrities. Among the events over several days will be a concert at the Roman Coliseum with Andrea Bocelli, Elton John and other entertainers.

Mackay played golf for the Gophers and coach Les Bolstad. He remembers Bolstad as being among the influential mentors in his life.

Glenn Caruso (photo courtesy of University of St. Thomas)

Glenn Caruso will pursue his 100th win as St. Thomas football coach when the Tommies open the season at home tomorrow against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His overall record is 99-15, including 59-5 at home and 17-7 in the NCAA playoffs.

The Tommies are ranked No. 5 in the Division3football.com preseason national poll. MIAC rival Saint John’s is No. 10.

Fans at tonight’s Twins-Royals game will see a video tribute to Joe Nathan who meets with media this afternoon to announce his official retirement from baseball. Among the franchise’s greatest closers ever, Nathan came to the Twins in November of 2003 in a trade with the Giants. It was a terrific deal for the Twins. The Giants received catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash, while the Twins added Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser.

The August 28 issue of Sports Illustrated lists the top NFL broadcasting teams and ranks former Timberwolves play-by-play man Kevin Harlan No. 5 along with his TV partner Rich Gannon, the former Vikings quarterback. “Best pipes in all of broadcasting,” S.I. wrote about Harlan.

The No. 1 pair in the listings is NBC’s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.

Big Ten Basketball Media Day, including the Gophers Richard Pitino and the Big Ten Conference’s other 13 coaches, will be held for the first time ever in New York’s famous Madison Square Garden on October 19.

The NHL Centennial Fan Arena, honoring 100 years of teams, players, and other memories in the National Hockey League, is travelling to various markets and will be at the Minnesota State Fair today through Monday. The Stanley Cup will be on display from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today as part of the centennial celebration, plus Minnesota Wild players Tyler Ennis and Jared Spurgeon will sign autographs from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m..

The NHL Centennial Fan Arena location is Expo Place at the corner of Cooper Street and Murphy Avenue on the northern end of the Fairgrounds, near Gate 2. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The attraction is free with paid admission to the State Fair.

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U Football Scheduling Needs Makeover

Posted on August 28, 2017August 28, 2017 by David Shama

Thursday night P.J. Fleck makes his debut as the Gophers head football coach but there will be a lot fewer eyeballs on his 2017 team than there should be because the Vikings are also playing their final preseason game. It’s ridiculous that the two teams are playing home games in Minneapolis within a couple miles of one another on the same night.

That was also the reality in 2016—and two years ago the teams again played on the same evening, but at least that time the Vikings were out of town when the Gophers lost to TCU in front of a TCF Bank Stadium record crowd.

The scheduling conflict will happen in the future too, unless Gophers leaders move away from nonconference opening games on Thursday nights. The NFL mandates that its teams play the last of their four preseason games on Thursdays that usually are in late August.

The University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Fair authorities made an agreement before TCF Bank Stadium opened in 2009 that created these Thursday night conflicts. The agreement runs through June 30, 2022, and requires that any Gophers home game prior to Labor Day be played on a Thursday evening.

The reason for the agreement is during the State Fair drivers can park their cars for free on the University’s Minneapolis campus and ride free buses to the fairgrounds in nearby Falcon Heights. The Gophers usually play at home on Saturdays but because of larger fair-going crowds on the weekends, U officials agreed to switch games to Thursday evenings.

The Thursday night conflicts don’t work very well for local football fans, and that problem begins with season ticket holders. There are companies and individuals who buy season tickets for both the Gophers and Vikings. That’s a dilemma on Thursday evenings, and it also is for the general football population who want to follow both teams either in person or on TV. There are also high school football games this Thursday evening, causing another conflict.

The U needs to push back on the agreement with fair officials. Why not move future Thursday night games to Friday evenings? There is precedent for the Gophers playing on Friday night when the Metrodome was their home, and doing so in the future eliminates competition with the Vikings regardless of whether they are playing at U.S. Bank Stadium or on the road.

A change to Friday night is just part of a needed upgrade for Minnesota’s nonconference scheduling. This is a big league city with all kinds of sports and entertainment options for the public. The Gophers could fuel interest and maximize ticket sales, while also increasing other revenues such as sponsorships and advertising, with a revised approach to scheduling.

Minnesota and other Big Ten Conference teams play three nonconference games each year, plus nine times against each other. The addition of a ninth game debuted last season and was done to create more interest in conference teams who used to play four nonleague games—many against dreadful opponents with zero box office appeal.

Games against no-name opponents do serve as “tune-up” exhibitions for Big Ten teams and aren’t going away, but at a minimum the Gophers should have a nonconference rivalry game each season. Plus, often in the same year, Minnesota should also play a marquee opponent from the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 or SEC conferences.

An annual matchup with North Dakota State could be a rivalry series waiting to happen. The Bison have more than proven they can play against major college teams with six straight road victories against FBS teams including Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas State.

The FCS Bison need big paydays because they don’t have the stadium and TV revenues like Big Ten teams including Minnesota. NDSU already heavily recruits Minnesota and has a fan base that could bring 10,000 people to an annual weekend in Minneapolis against the Gophers. The U could probably make an agreement with NDSU to play a series with no return game in Fargo at the small but raucous Fargodome.

Apparently NDSU is eager to be in this market, playing against the Gophers here in 2006, 2007 and 2011—and in 2019 the Bison will play Butler at Target Field. The Bison won two of the three games against the Gophers, delighting and enraging NDSU and Minnesota fan bases. Can anyone spell R-I-V-A-L-R-Y?

At least every other year the Gophers should schedule a box office heavyweight who can add excitement to the home schedule and value for season ticket holders. Maroon and gold loyalists have been waiting forever to see Notre Dame return to Dinkytown for the first time since 1937. A return engagement from Texas, last here in 1936, sounds good, too. Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Miami are among heavyweights who have never been on the home schedule.

The Gophers do have more recent history with a few football powers including Southern California and TCU. Those teams and the other schools mentioned above can sell out stadiums and create a buzz about Gophers football. That’s not only a winning formula for fans and media but even the players. It seems like there is minimal public anticipation about Thursday night’s game against the Buffalo Bulls but two years ago the Gopher players knew there was plenty of public buy-in for TCU because the Horned Frogs were ranked No. 2 in the country.

Skeptics might argue Minnesota isn’t good enough to play elite teams but you don’t just build a winning program by playing patsies. Players and coaches should want to compete against the best competition. Through the years the Gophers and fans have been fed a steady diet of nonconference softies. The fans are still yawning at the schedules and the program has yet to break through with championships or New Year’s Day bowl wins.

Fleck talks a lot about being “elite.” The 36-year-old with a nothing is impossible attitude has an opportunity to lead the Gophers into a new era of scheduling. Let’s see where he and U administrators “row the boat.”

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4-Star Recruits in U Football Future

Posted on August 24, 2017August 24, 2017 by David Shama

P.J. Fleck’s 2018 recruiting class doesn’t have any four-star players and has been trending down in the team national rankings. Each of the Gophers’ 23 football recruits is a three-star player, according to the 247Sports composite national rankings that has Minnesota No. 34 in the country after flirting with the top 10 early in the year.

Ryan Burns, the recruiting authority from GopherIllustrated.com, offered perspective on the numbers above during an interview with Sports Headliners. He said Tracy Claeys, Fleck’s predecessor as Minnesota head coach, recruited players who were “low threes and twos” regarding star rankings that go as high as five. Burns said those Claeys players were recruits often without offers from major college programs—schools like Louisiana-Lafayette and Western Kentucky.

“Now you look at P.J.’s first true recruiting class here in 2018 and (about) 75 percent of them have a Big Ten offer, and north of 80 percent of them have other Power Five (conference) offers, and they’re all mid to high level three-stars,” Burns said. “P.J. wasn’t going to immediately walk in the door and four-stars were going to want to come and play for him.

“Is that (four-stars) the expectation for 2019? Yes, I think they’ll go from probably one or two four-stars this class to—you’re hoping—they get three or four next class. …If next year they don’t have any (four-stars), then I would start to be a little bit surprised.”

Burns believes there are at least a couple—perhaps up to four—Gopher commits in the class of 2018 who via high school performances this fall could earn their way up to four-star status. Ask him who might be the best player in the class and he mentions dual-threat quarterback Brennan Armstrong from Shelby, Ohio. Burns watched Armstrong during summer workouts in Minnesota.

“He has a lot of great physical tools,” Burns said. “He’s 6-foot-2, 210 pounds. He runs extremely well. He’s a lefty. I think he reminds a lot of people of Kellen Moore, former Boise State quarterback (now a backup with the NFL Cowboys).

“He (Armstrong) really just knows how to be a great leader and knows how to win. He throws a really good ball. I am excited to see what he looks like this spring (2018 with the Gophers).”

Two other players Burns talked about who could move into four-star status are defensive tackle Elijah Teague from Chicago and Eden Prairie cornerback Benny Sapp III. Teague, whose college offers included Oklahoma, will likely be part of a roster next year with depth issues at defensive tackle. “I think he’s a guy that’s going to have to come in and play right away,” Burns said.

Sapp is the son of former Vikings cornerback Benny Sapp. Burns said “from talking with the Eden Prairie coaching staff, they think he is a very, very special player.”

While as of yet the Gophers have no four-stars or even five-stars prospects, they did make an early splash in the national recruiting rankings. They did so by not only receiving verbal commits from good players, but also by doing it early in 2017. The Gophers total of 23 (probably just two or three more commits will be added) ranks among the highest in the nation.

“P.J. likes to get it done early,” Burns said. “He really trusts in their (Fleck and his staff’s) live evaluations throughout the spring and summer. I guess the thing that has impressed me most about P.J.’s recruiting efforts is probably (having) 23 commits—I think everyone has been on campus, and I believe only a handful are from the state of Minnesota. …They all came on their own dime to come up here and see Minnesota. Some of them multiple times.

“That has not happened at Minnesota in quite some time. People want to come up and see Minnesota now because of P.J. Fleck, and that’s why he’s got so many commits right now.”

Burns believes that when the college football recruiting period for the class of 2018 ends next February, Minnesota will finish “somewhere” in the mid-30s of the national rankings. If so, that will be higher than Minnesota has done for several years with previous final rankings in the 40s and above.

Worth Noting

Where do the Gophers rank in 2018 recruiting among Big Ten programs? As of today they are No. 6 in the 247Sports composite rankings.

Recruiting rankings, of course, don’t guarantee success on the field for college teams. Tim Brewster’s 2008 class included seven four-star players led by quarterback MarQueis Gray and finished No. 17 in the Rivals national rankings. Brewster was fired as Gophers head coach during the 2010 season.

The Buffalo Bulls football team the Gophers open their season against at TCF Bank Stadium on August 31 had a 2-10 record last year including 1-7 in the MAC East Division. “Should be a growth season but not in the win-loss column,” said Lindy’s 2017 college football magazine.

The Bulls roster includes Kayode Awosika, a 6-5, 285-pound freshman offensive tackle from Plymouth who attended Maple Grove High School.

Minnesota will honor its 1967 Big Ten championship football team at the home conference opener against Maryland. Among players expected to attend the game will be former defensive lineman Ed Duren who now is without his legs because of diabetes, according to 1967 teammate Jim Carter.

Carter remains close to former Gophers head coaches Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys. Kill, of course, is the new offensive coordinator at Rutgers, while Claeys is home in his native Kansas but has visited football friends including at Arkansas and Georgia.

With four football teams included, the Big Ten has more schools in the A.P. top 11 than any other conference. SEC powerhouse Alabama is No.1 with Ohio State second, Penn State sixth, Wisconsin ninth and Michigan 11th.

Vikings defensive end Brian Robison, 34, started all 16 regular season games last year but indications this summer are 22 year-old Danielle Hunter might replace him. Robison declined to be specific when asked if the Vikings have officially said Hunter, with two years experience, will now be the starter. Robison said he is “not worried about things I can’t control.”

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen turned 27 on Tuesday. Former Twins owner Carl Pohlad would have been 102 yesterday.

Deepest condolences to my friend Don Gaudette and wife Ann following the recent loss of 24-year-old son Luke Gaudette, a former offensive lineman at Augsburg who grew up in Savage and played high school football at Prior Lake.

The Twins have placed catcher Jason Castro on the seven-day concussion disabled list. They have recalled outfielder Zack Granite.

It will be 55 years ago on Saturday that the Twins Jack Kralick threw the first no-hitter for the Minnesota franchise. There have been four other no-hitters in Twins history, with the most recent by Francisco Liriano in 2011.

Minneapolis restaurateur Wayne Kostroski, who founded the Taste of the NFL in Minneapolis for the 1992 Super Bowl, e-mailed that Minneapolis events featuring former Vikings and other celebrities are planned for September 10 and 11 to benefit Second Harvest Heartland. There will be wine tasting and a reception at Corner Table September 10 (more at EventBrite.com). On September 11 a lunch and auction will be at Mission American Kitchen and Bar (more information at 612-339-1000).

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