“I eat difficult conversations for breakfast.”
One Minnesota fan edited an cereal advertisement for General Mills’ Cheerios to a new brand called “Difficult Conversations.” And Fleck’s unfortunate sentence structure that day conjured images of Adam Sandler’s character in “Happy Gilmore” confronting Shooter McGavin on his bizarre breakfast choices.
“I know I get a lot of razz and digs about what I said in my press conference,” Fleck reflected this month. “…. You all remember that one? The all-time one-liner by me. That is the only one I’ll ever want to take back.”
Fleck’s wife, Heather, asked him soon afterward: “You actually said that?”
He did, and since then, Fleck has proven capable of having those tough talks, regardless of the meal associated with that time of day.
Fleck had to tell Tanner Morgan he was going to be the backup quarterback in 2018, and midway through that season fired defensive coordinator Robb Smith. Both helped create a breakthrough year in 2019, especially the coach’s ability to keep Morgan motivated for the day he took over for injured Zack Annexstad.
With Morgan starting 18 consecutive games, and new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi settled in, Fleck’s 18th-ranked Gophers (10-2) will face No. 12 Auburn (9-3) in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day in Tampa, Fla.
Fleck also has shown a knack for having difficult conversations during the recruiting process. He brought up that nearly three-year-old one-liner when telling a story about how the Gophers were able to sign Danbury, Conn., defensive end Jah Joyner, the fifth-highest rated recruit in Minnesota’s class for next year.
Joyner had committed to Boston College, but that pledge was off when Eagles coach Steve Addazio was fired Dec. 1. Looking for a new school, Danbury High School coach Augustine Tieri reached out to Gophers defensive line coach Jim Panagos. The two had formed a relationship when Panagos was an assistant coach at Temple through the 2018 season.
Panagos flew to Connecticut to meet Tieri and Joyner and rekindle a relationship. “That was my first time talking to coach Panagos in-depth,” Joyner told the Pioneer Press. “I really liked him.”
Joyner then canceled an official visit to Boston College, which was in the process of hiring Ohio State defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, to travel to Minnesota.
But that Saturday morning, Panagos had accepted an assistant coaching job at Rutgers under new head coach Greg Schiano. Panagos’ decision was family-related. He’s from New York, his parents are ill and he has previously coached at Rutgers.
“He left for all the right reasons; I want to make sure I say that,” Fleck said. “We support him 100% and wish him all the best. … But he ends up leaving, and now I have defensive ends waking up Saturday morning without their coach.”
Gophers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca wondered aloud how Fleck would pull this one out of his hat. Honesty.
“Most coaches would leave after signing day, not say anything, sign the kids and bolt,” Fleck said. “We all came to the agreement that it was best for everybody to probably part ways right now because if we get the kid, we didn’t get the kid for the right reasons.”
“It made our jobs 100 times harder for that weekend,” Fleck added later.
Joyner’s head was spinning when Fleck called him into his corner office for a long talk about the coaching news that Saturday. Fleck said Friday that hiring a new defensive line coach could take until the national coaches convention in mid-January.
“I was like, ‘Is this a joke?’” Joyner recalled. “But Coach Fleck was honest with me. ‘We don’t want to put you in a predicament where you sign here expecting (Panagos) to be here.’”
Joyner said other aspects of the visit overrode the “shocker” of seeing the Panagos leave in the middle of the recruiting process. “I just had a blast when I went over there,” he said. “I loved the energy that Coach Fleck brought. It was amazing to go there.”
But Joyner didn’t commit straight away. He talked with Tieri, who suggested Joyner wait until the February signing period to let the frantic nature of the recruiting process calm down. Panagos, for instance, wanted Joyner to follow him to Rutgers.
“There were three times when (Joyner) said, ‘I’m not. I’m going to wait until February,’” Fleck said. “Then he came back. Then it was February and then it was back. Then it was, ‘I’m not coming at all’ and then it was back.”
For the next two days, Fleck tried to have easy conversations with Joyner. Nearly 20 times a day, Fleck or Rossi telephoned Joyner — Fleck insisting on FaceTime connections. They talked about all sorts of stuff, from where Joyner was born to his love for football and other aspects of life.
“That was great for our relationship, getting to know each other,” Joyner said. “We literally talked about everything.”
Joyner ended up officially de-committing from Boston College on Tuesday night and was announced by Minnesota as a signee early Wednesday morning.
Despite losing their D-Line coach, the Gophers also were able to flip Jalen Logan-Redding, a Columbia, Mo., defensive end who had been committed to his hometown Missouri Tigers. He, too, was on a visit to Minneapolis when Panagos left and had a conversation with Fleck.
This was the second consecutive year the Gophers have put a bigger focus on the defensive line. One of last year’s headliners was Rashad Cheney, a 6-foot-2 and 295-pound tackle from Atlanta who turned heads in being recruited by Alabama and Georgia. He didn’t play a snap this season, showing that recruiting is far from a science and development must be factored in.
“He is progressing tremendously,” Fleck said. “I mean, one thing that has helped us throughout the year is our scout team is getting better and better and better. The scout team is full of guys that are going to play for us next year, whether that is DeAngelo Carter, … or whether that is Rashad Cheney. You look at MJ Anderson. These guys are getting better and better and better, so (Cheney) had his redshirt year and now he’s going to be ready to roll.”
Joyner is 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds with a 6-9 wingspan, while Logan-Redding is 6-4 and 250 pounds. Fleck gushed about Logan-Redding but shared more praise for Joyner, saying he’s so physically impressive that the U should think about changing the “Rouser.”
“Jah, Jah, Jah, for Ski U Mah!” Fleck joked. “Jah, Jah, Jah, Jah. Jah for the U of M! J! A! H! — I’m just kidding.”
"eat" - Google News
December 25, 2019 at 05:00AM
https://ift.tt/2MqJd8d
Turns out PJ Fleck does eat difficult conversations for breakfast — or lunch or dinner - Grand Forks Herald
"eat" - Google News
https://ift.tt/33WjFpI
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
0 Comments:
Post a Comment