re: Is PJ fleck a good coach?

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I think Gophers' fans would like to see them take the next step, though, like Wisconsin or Iowa did long ago, and win at least a share of a B1G title.

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Minnesota hasn’t been bad the last 20-25 years. Both Glen Mason and Jerry Kill had good runs there. Fleck has built on that foundation, but hasn’t broken through to the next level.

The next 2-3 years will be interesting. All scenarios are in play. His approach is unique, and this is his seventh season as their coach. I could easily see him taking the next step in that division, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if the program starts regressing. He could also take another job before either happens.

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A comparable SEC school would be a 2nd tier school like UK or Arkansas (I'd say Tennessee but their fanbase is insane)

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Tennessee doesn’t remotely belong with Arkansas or Kentucky, even with how bad the program has been before last year.

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coach goes in, sets up his program and by year 3 is winning 9 or so games. Does this for 5-6 years in a row and the locals get restless.

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I think this is what the rest of his career could look like. I do think he’s a good coach and his “Row the Boat”ness plays early at a program that’s down. I think he’s great at getting early buy-in from the players and fan base. But I do think he has a shelf-life. I can’t speak to the Minnesota fan base and what they expect, but I think his schtick, while effective early, would wear thin with the players if he’s not maintaining that 8-4/9-3 level. Go 4-8 one year, and I don’t know that the players wanna hear that same shite for 3rd, 4th year in a row.

So I think he’s fine as long as he’s winning, but if he does dip to a 4-8/3-9 type season, it may be hard to row the boat out of that and those 4-8 season could quickly become the norm instead of anomalies. So he could bounce/get bounced to a new place and do it all over again or stay at Minnesota and have a few straight losing seasons, then can play the underdog role again and can find success rowing the boat with a different group of players who haven’t heard it so much they’re just eye-rolling him. I don’t think he can win 9 games for 10 straight years, but if they’re willing to stick with him and weather the valleys, he could have 5-6 year sustained peaks surrounding those valleys.

If Iowa can be ok with Nick Ferentz results for over 20 years then Minnesota would be happy enough with Fleck.

Some of these BIG 10 schools don't have the unrealistic expectations like some SEC schools do.

Minnesota has been bad for such a long time that if too much pressure is put on Fleck and he leaves then Minnesota will have regrets.

I don't think that will happen because fans would remember the bad years and would be more patient.

I’m not sure he can have championship success, though. I don’t know that his schtick would play in the SEC at an elite program. I would really be concerned about him being able to hire legit coordinators who would definitely eye-roll him. But I guess if the school throws enough money at them, they’d suck it up for a couple years. I think he could have revived the Bama program during their “Mikes” era or LSU during the Dinardo era and elevated them to make those jobs more attractive. But he has a ceiling and would have to have a different coach to come in and get them over the top. Kinda like Buck Showalter in the MLB. Which is fine. That skill set still has value.

I am curious how self-aware he is and what his long-term goals are. I think him taking the Minnesota job in the 1st place may be an indication that he does know his limitations. He could have taken a better job the year before of waited and gotten a better one a year or 2 after. Maybe he’s at exactly the type of place he wants to be and wants to coach there the next 25 years. I think a perennial 8/9 win team is always just a special QB away from having a special season and winning 10-11 games. Maybe he gets one of those once a decade and they eek into the back-end of the expanded playoffs. Or makes whatever the equivalent to what the NY6 Bowls is about to be. And maybe he’s fine with that. That’d be a nice career.

Or the stars could align where he’s itching for a challenge coming off a good season, and his name gets hot again and the job at Auburn or Clemson or Florida (somewhere that’s had success and will eventually demand it) opens up and they miss on their top target and “settle” on Fleck. He rows the boat from 4-8 to 8-4 and everybody’s happy. Then 9-3 and they’re liking the trajectory, but hungry for more. Then a step back at 8-4 and the natives start to get restless. Then 5-7 and he plays the 1-time “fire the coordinators” card to keep the gig another year. Then 4-8, shite-canned, and suddenly he’s the richest and most recognizable bald-headed high school coach in the state of Illinois before he turns 50.

I think that’s the risk of being a rah-rah, motivational speaker coach. It plays as long as it plays. And has value. But if it ever gets exposed and he fails somewhere in the spotlight, the jig is up, and I don’t think he can sell that same message on that level ever again.

He’s a good coach, but he would need to find the right fit for his coaching style. Not necessarily lower tier, just fit.

I don’t think he’d do well at a place like USC or bama or tOSU. But he’d probably be good at a place like Cal, UCLA, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Auburn, Boston College, etc.

He’s easy to rip on, but I’m a fan.

Or Hayden Fries.

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Minnesota WAS bad for 40 years, but, they’ve been a decent program for the last 25 years.

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They got a nice new stadium with no in-state competition for recruits… they should be a little better than decent sometimes… at least equal to Iowa and Nebraska and Wisconsin. Instead they’ve historically been a tier below, closer to Purdue, Illinois, and Northwestern

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My rebuttal is that he’s had 4 9+ win seasons at Minnesota and there is a ceiling at a school like that. What do y’all think?

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And yet, there are ton's of posters who think Deion Sanders would be very successful at a top tier SEC school, Hell, even a NFL HC!