Quotes from PJ Fleck hiring presser

[BMF]

Personally, I think this guy should have held out for a better job. The things he did, at his age, and with his minimal level of experience (he was never even a coordinator when he got the job at WMU as a 32-year old) are very impressive. This is a great, great hire for Minnesota....but a risky move for Fleck. Jerry Kill did a good job building that program.

http://coachingsearch.com/article?a...ing--11-quotes-from-PJ-Flecks-Minnesota-intro

Here's what he said about recruiting:

Fleck signed some of the highest-ranked classes in MAC history. That recruiting emphasis was made clear on Friday.

“A lot of you will ask me about recruiting. The No. 1 thing in this culture and this program is recruiting. Listen to my words: It is recruiting. And it’s going to take every single person in this room. Media, you have a job to do. You’re going to do it. I promise, I’ll give you a lot. I have a job to do, and I know that. Recruiting is the No. 1 pipeline and lifeline to any program. What does that mean? We are going to recruit our student-athletes every single day with the positivity and energy of the University of Minnesota to think the University of Minnesota is the greatest place on earth. That is what we’re going to do. We’re going to recruit the finest student-athletes in the country, and you know where we’re going to start? Our elite state of Minnesota.”

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

Fleck obviously gets the concept of locking down your own home state. Too bad our guy spent the first 2+ years chasing after guys in Cali, Alabama and a lot of states OTHER THAN Florida.

 

[GatorJ]

Recruiting? What's that?

 

[Thick&ThinG8r]

There's no doubt a big difference between Flecks inspiring comments and Macs I can win with Clarabelle BS.

 

[ChiefGator]

Much better talk than say Mac, but we have far more competition that they do. I bet if he does OK and wants a bigger job one will come.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

Minnesota is going to be a quick stop for him if he does well.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

Much better talk than say Mac, but we have far more competition that they do. I bet if he does OK and wants a bigger job one will come.

True, but we also have a lot more recruits in Florida so it balances the comparison out to a large extent. Point being, though, focus on your own back yard and if you're a decent recruiter and coach you should do well on the recruiting trail, especially with all the talent in Florida.

 

[Omar's Coming Yo!]

Meanwhile here's a quote from Mac as the HC of CSU we all can learn from

How do you let the fuel of the hurt ignite the fire?"





























I have no idea wtf that means. I think he meant spark. Fuel can't light a fire without a spark. Smh

 

[T REX]

I would have hired him in a heartbeat. He will be successful enough at Minn to get a bigtime job somewhere. The guy is a winner and that's purdy kewl, ain't it?

 

[ChiefGator]

True, but we also have a lot more recruits in Florida so it balances the comparison out to a large extent. Point being, though, focus on your own back yard and if you're a decent recruiter and coach you should do well on the recruiting trail, especially with all the talent in Florida.

I don't really think that it balances out, check most games and there are several florida players on one or both teams. Not to mention all those colleges in Florida. Now if we had good relationships with high schools or perhaps children of Gators that would help. We do have issues, lots of them.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

I don't really think that it balances out, check most games and there are several florida players on one or both teams. Not to mention all those colleges in Florida. Now if we had good relationships with high schools or perhaps children of Gators that would help. We do have issues, lots of them.

I didn't say we don't have issues, I said just the opposite in this thread. My point, though, is simple...there are probably 20 times the number of quality recruits in the state of Florida as there are in Minnesota and there are probably 20 times as many programs actively recruiting the state of Florida as there are recruiting MN, so it's relative (maybe the number of quality prospects is 50 times as many, I haven't counted but the point is the same). At the end of the day, if Mac and Co. had spent the past 2+ years focusing first and foremost on the state of Florida AND if he and the staff were good recruiters, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are in with our recruiting woes. However, he hasn't done that AND/OR the staff isn't that good so we find ourselves losing out to a lot of other programs, both in state and out of state teams.

 

[BMF]

I didn't say we don't have issues, I said just the opposite in this thread. My point, though, is simple...there are probably 20 times the number of quality recruits in the state of Florida as there are in Minnesota and there are probably 20 times as many programs actively recruiting the state of Florida as there are recruiting MN, so it's relative (maybe the number of quality prospects is 50 times as many, I haven't counted but the point is the same). At the end of the day, if Mac and Co. had spent the past 2+ years focusing first and foremost on the state of Florida AND if he and the staff were good recruiters, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are in with our recruiting woes. However, he hasn't done that AND/OR the staff isn't that good so we find ourselves losing out to a lot of other programs, both in state and out of state teams.

I'd guess there's less than 10 kids per year from Minn that plays D1 football. So you're probably very close w/ the 20x's comment...

 

[ChiefGator]

I didn't say we don't have issues, I said just the opposite in this thread. My point, though, is simple...there are probably 20 times the number of quality recruits in the state of Florida as there are in Minnesota and there are probably 20 times as many programs actively recruiting the state of Florida as there are recruiting MN, so it's relative (maybe the number of quality prospects is 50 times as many, I haven't counted but the point is the same). At the end of the day, if Mac and Co. had spent the past 2+ years focusing first and foremost on the state of Florida AND if he and the staff were good recruiters, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are in with our recruiting woes. However, he hasn't done that AND/OR the staff isn't that good so we find ourselves losing out to a lot of other programs, both in state and out of state teams.

You might be correct, but I think you have the numbers wrong. About the quality recruits I agree, about the competition in total I don't.

UF, FSU, Miami, South Fl, Central Fl., FL. Atlantic, just for a start in our state. Then add most of the rest of the big conferences and it becomes way over 20. Now not for the best players but for good players. Almost no competition in their state.

Now that said it is just an opinion, you are just (perhaps more) likely to be correct than I am.

And yes for some reason we have been behind. Folks used to blame our bad facilities, housing, but now they are improving. I really don't know.

 

[GatorInGeorgia]

You might be correct, but I think you have the numbers wrong. About the quality recruits I agree, about the competition in total I don't.

UF, FSU, Miami, South Fl, Central Fl., FL. Atlantic, just for a start in our state. Then add most of the rest of the big conferences and it becomes way over 20. Now not for the best players but for good players. Almost no competition in their state.

Now that said it is just an opinion, you are just (perhaps more) likely to be correct than I am.

And yes for some reason we have been behind. Folks used to blame our bad facilities, housing, but now they are improving. I really don't know.

Here is the Rivals 250 for 2016 and 2017. In 2016, my quick count showed about 35 players from Florida and zero from MN (full disclosure, I counted while also watching the Packers/Giants so I may have overlooked some guys and may have lost track of my count but it should be close). In 2017, it looks like there are 40 guys from Florida and none from MN. This is just the Rivals 250...there is A TON of other talent in Florida. Rest assured, if there is a recruit from MN that is a top flight prospect (not necessarily Rivals 250 level but a 4-5 star recruit) Mich, MichState, OSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, IowaSt., etc. are all going to be after the kid. I'm not saying that there are 20 more programs we compete against, I'm saying 20 TIMES more for 20 TIMES as many prospects (or 50, whatever the actual number is).

At the end of the day, it's pretty simple. We would be a dominant program if we consistently landed 15-18 players from the top 250-300 prospects in the state of Florida but this staff isn't doing that and they need to step it up. A lousy 5%-8% of Florida studs gets us back in the mix for being on top and these guys settle for 3 star guys and reject QBs on their 3rd school.

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2017

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2016

 

[ChiefGator]

Here is the Rivals 250 for 2016 and 2017. In 2016, my quick count showed about 35 players from Florida and zero from MN (full disclosure, I counted while also watching the Packers/Giants so I may have overlooked some guys and may have lost track of my count but it should be close). In 2017, it looks like there are 40 guys from Florida and none from MN. This is just the Rivals 250...there is A TON of other talent in Florida. Rest assured, if there is a recruit from MN that is a top flight prospect (not necessarily Rivals 250 level but a 4-5 star recruit) Mich, MichState, OSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, IowaSt., etc. are all going to be after the kid. I'm not saying that there are 20 more programs we compete against, I'm saying 20 TIMES more for 20 TIMES as many prospects (or 50, whatever the actual number is).

At the end of the day, it's pretty simple. We would be a dominant program if we consistently landed 15-18 players from the top 250-300 prospects in the state of Florida but this staff isn't doing that and they need to step it up. A lousy 5%-8% of Florida studs gets us back in the mix for being on top and these guys settle for 3 star guys and reject QBs on their 3 school.

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2017

https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2016

Interesting data and thanks for doing all this work. Perhaps if we need a new coach he will be an option.