Claeys/Kill Era over

[bleedspeed]

We got him

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18418215/minnesota-golden-gophers-hire-pj-fleck-replace-tracy-claeys

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

We got him

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18418215/minnesota-golden-gophers-hire-pj-fleck-replace-tracy-claeys

We don't know if this will work out, of course, but I'm excited about this news. Unlike the last time the U conducted a search, where Kill was reputed to be the 6th choice, Fleck seems to be the top consensus available guy out there...seems like a coup for the U. Young, enthusiastic, and with a great record at Western Michigan...and tips the scales under 450 (Sorry Tracy).

[Monster]

We got him

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18418215/minnesota-golden-gophers-hire-pj-fleck-replace-tracy-claeys

We don't know if this will work out, of course, but I'm excited about this news. Unlike the last time the U conducted a search, where Kill was reputed to be the 6th choice, Fleck seems to be the top consensus available guy out there...seems like a coup for the U. Young, enthusiastic, and with a great record at Western Michigan...and tips the scales under 450 (Sorry Tracy).

So...I guess someone wanted to go there after all. lol

This does seem like a pretty good hire for the Gophers. Some other thoughts from a very casual college football fan here.

9 wins ain't bad...heck it's pretty good. PJ has some fun expectations ahead of him that Kill and Claeys work raised. The posts here about Claeys being a very good D.C. And probably not a good HC make a lot of sense. You could make a case he did well enough to deserve another year based on his success but...what if next year he comes down to earth? How was he recruiting? Based on the fact that they were able to get a hot young coaching name that did actually play a handful of snaps in the NFL it seems like a no brainer.

So if a bunch of guys transfer...that means more guys PJ gets to recruit himself. He may suck this first year but he may be able to get started with his system (no idea what that is) sooner that way and if he is the awesome recruiter he is supposed to be he may get more talented guys than the ones that left plus you get to start over with players that don't have angst against anything. I don't see too much of a downside there.

Why would PJ come here? I've been hearing about new facilities there. I'm sure they aren't the best in the conference or anything but they are probably plenty nice. The Big 10 is very legit. It seems like maybe the 2nd best conference in college football. That means it's gonna be tough to win games but...it's bigtime stuff. That's probably pretty appealing. Downsides are all the crap that's surrounded the program the last few months. It seems like when Coyle was hired he was pretty well thought of. Maybe people feel like he will get things turned around. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Fleck is here to try to succeed in the BIG 10 and then move to a big program. I'm not necessarily against it, but that's what's going to happen. Let's just hope we can keep him for 3 years for some stability and we keep going up so the next guy is a good pickup as well.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Fleck is here to try to succeed in the BIG 10 and then move to a big program. I'm not necessarily against it, but that's what's going to happen. Let's just hope we can keep him for 3 years for some stability and we keep going up so the next guy is a good pickup as well.

Pretty much.

Worst case: Tim Brewster v2.0
Best case: He's legit. And builds the foundation for a legit program for the next guy as he skips out of town for an even bigger, more prominent payday.

[Monster]

Fleck is here to try to succeed in the BIG 10 and then move to a big program. I'm not necessarily against it, but that's what's going to happen. Let's just hope we can keep him for 3 years for some stability and we keep going up so the next guy is a good pickup as well.

Pretty much.

Worst case: Tim Brewster v2.0
Best case: He's legit. And builds the foundation for a legit program for the next guy as he skips out of town for an even bigger, more prominent payday.

What if he builds the Gophers to be the next Michigan State type program? Could it be possible he stays? Just throwing out a bit of counterpoint.

[bleedspeed]

6 year contract. That is crazy. Claeys was never the answer and a stop gap when Jerry called it quits midseason.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Fleck is here to try to succeed in the BIG 10 and then move to a big program. I'm not necessarily against it, but that's what's going to happen. Let's just hope we can keep him for 3 years for some stability and we keep going up so the next guy is a good pickup as well.

Pretty much.

Worst case: Tim Brewster v2.0
Best case: He's legit. And builds the foundation for a legit program for the next guy as he skips out of town for an even bigger, more prominent payday.

What if he builds the Gophers to be the next Michigan State type program? Could it be possible he stays? Just throwing out a bit of counterpoint.

It's possible. I just find it highly unlikely.

Harbaugh is making $9M. Do you think the U of M ever reaches the level to be among the nation's leaders for coaches salaries?

[bleedspeed]

I don't think it is a money thing in the end. If we have someone that will produce I think we will pay.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I don't think it is a money thing in the end. If we have someone that will produce I think we will pay.

You might be right.

There is a lot of money to be shared in big-time football programs...