Gophers, P.J. Fleck hit the State Fair: 'This is awesome'

PJ for this year to be a success what needs to happen we just got to get the most out of our football team you know I think uh I say that every single year if we can get the most out of our players academically athletically socially spiritually then it's a success you know what they do on the field um it's a culmination of a lot of things uh but they've worked really hard they've competed this entire off season I really like this football team 38 new players uh it's been really exciting uh to watch these guys work have darus Taylor and Daniel Jackson been in practice that they purch yeah they've been in practice they've been participating yeah but injury report won't come out till two hours before kickoff are you anticipating them to be ready for the opener I anticipate everybody be ready okay mentally physically and or emotionally yeah PJ how much is experiencing a roster should play out this year 11 seniors on the you got 11 guys on the senior yeah you you hope that any year that your your older guys and more experienced guys uh lead the football team you know on the field off the field and I think our guys have definitely done that you know we've got a lot of experience back in some key positions and you need those positions to really uh be the beacon uh for a lot of those young players that'll be playing as well so everybody has those things and I just uh I trust a lot of our older guys they played a ton of football and they they should do the same and continue to get better should the defense have a bigger chip on its shoulder uh when it comes to stopping the run because that was kind of an issue last year well I think when you look at it we've been here this is going on our eighth year it's it's not just year to year I think we've we've had a lot of success stopping the run on defense over the past however many years and it's the number one thing on our defense there's a lot of reasons why we did not but this team's not looking at any type of Revenge of last year they don't think of that they think it as one and0 uh every single day this team has different strengths and weaknesses uh than last year's team this team's got way more strength in different areas than we had last year we have a lot more experience uh that we did last year but at the end of the day I mean that's the number one objective every single year is is to be able to stop the run um but you also have to be able to stop the pass and do everything else in between what's it like to get all the guys off the par experience this this is awesome this is one of their favorite days one of my favorite days because you're out with the fans you're out with the state of Minnesota uh and not just the Twin City area all of Minnesota and when you get the whole state of Minnesota here uh it kind of feels like game day you know because everybody's from everywhere around the state um a ton of vendors everybody's really excited we always usually come at the beginning where everybody's really excited to be here anticipating all the new food and it's fun for our players that are new that never experience a state fair of any kind to come in here and and see the Minnesota State Fair which is the best in the country what are your go-tos uh fried olives always sweet Martha cookies I'm pretty I'm I do pretty much the same thing I'm a creature of habit so those two things are my favorite when you look at Cory heatherman comes reputation as being an aggressive how do you how do you look at kind of where he might be when it comes to to blitzing and and getting after I think it just comes down to what our players have been able to show us and what they can do um you know I it's not just about where he's been uh it's about where we are as a defense and what we've done defensively and him fitting into that scheme uh he's going to make it his own obviously just like Joe made the system his own uh Rob Smith made his the system his own even before that Ed pink when we were at Western Michigan made it his own and you know Cory will do the same thing uh around the same parameters of what we are and what our schematic um beliefs are as a system at the University of Minnesota so it should be a lot of fun it should be really exciting to watch our guys just go out and play football and and uh Thursday night should be a great experience for everybody awesome yeah I'm honestly this is my first time you know playing the Big 10 and I'm super excited to do it with this new team and um you know we've a lot of skillful and talented people here and you know honestly it's just the it's the excitement of playing at a new level A new challenge with this new team and um I think we do some special special things this year how do you look at kind of the breadth of what you have to do here right you have to talk to us you have to do other media serving and giving kind the package of of being a quarterback at this level I think it's the next step for me as a as a quarterback um as a person um and I think you know my team has done a really good job of preparing me for these new things and you know a lot of that's me asking them questions of what to expect what the game day environment is like other than watching a Youtube video um you know what to expect in you know a local spot in the state fair you know it's it's a lot different than New Hampshire um you know we had fans come up and say they're excited for the go for season and that didn't happen a lot in New Hampshire um so you know being around the team and making sure that I can ask them questions and bounce ideas off them for what to expect has been really helpful for me have you got any pointers from the Minnesota guys on the team what what to expect today what foods to try uh I've heard a lot of things about like a a corn dog I'm supposed to try today uh bacon on a stick or something I think and then uh the cookies like uh Martha's Cookies yeah yeah so I'm going to try some of those today do you have like a a cheat day food that you eat when you're you in season um I'm just a big sweets guy in general I'm big candy guy um so I got a a big jar of gummy bears at home whenever I get home to to end the day right Max after getting so many practices in with the guys you got a better feeling what this team is capable of yeah I think you know this team has come together and it it's one of the more connected teams I've been I've been a part of um which I think is you know at at minimum what you need to be successful um I think you know as long as you're able to have your teammates backs and you know balance ideas of each other and and play together as one unit both offensively and defensively and play complimentary football I that that's what the the key to to Winning is and ultimately the the you know product we put in the field is you know all the work we put in since spring um and I'm really excited to Showcase that in a week how do you look at the chemistry with pass catchers yeah the first game yeah I think those are some of my closest friends in the team um you know I probably spend the most time with them um as a group as a whole um and that's just that's outside of football too you know we we went to Habachi one night and we all had all the receivers out and the quarterbacks together we go to Habachi and you know obviously we went to Georgia that that trip and you know that's that's something that I've I've wanted to cultivate with those guys and um they've bought into it fully and I'm excited to to Showcase that a week what's the sense of urgency like I mean such a short amount of time I mean yeah ideally like this time next year you're wrapping up a training camp with an NFL team that's like one year from now so such a short amount of time yeah I think as a freshman you come in you're like all right I have I have four or five years to grow um and now the the growth factor has changed to where as a transfer guy comes in you're you're growing in different areas that you know youve you might have grew your play up to where you are now but now I'm trying to grow in a leadership sense as a as a teammate sense and and making sure that I can perform my best and prepare the best um you know to to make sure that I'm doing the best for the team and the most that I can for the team um you know urgency wise I think every single year should be like that I think you you have to understand that if you're in a starting rle um all 22 guys you have you only have so much time before the next season rolls around um so you should have that same urgency every single year and for us it's just you know it's the next one I think that the first game is something prep preparing for for a long time not just UNC as a as a as a school but also just for us to make sure that we're best prepared to put our best Brock in the field um because we're confident in our best um we'll be able to compete with anybody with our best game two more for Max how much guitar are you playing now and if not how much of a kind of a release Val is that for you yeah um so I haven't been able to play a ton but now since fall Camp's over I might have a you know a free 30 minutes or an hour when I get home now and um it's been something that I've been doing my whole you know for almost 12 to 13 years now and it's a it's a way to kind of get away from football and um you know try to focus my energy somewhere else just for a second I think that's really healthy for anybody um so you know it's been been something that's been a part of my life for a long time with my grandparents and I get to kind of fall on their footsteps a little bit last one for Max how many family and friends will be in in the stadium next Thursday I got a lot uh I think we have like 20 or 30 people coming um it'll be it'll be a lot of fun I got four sets of grandparents so you know eight total and um Aunts Uncles friends old teammates I'm I'm super excited um to not only see them but also you know you know have them see me and my new team in a new light and and show them can compete at any level all right thanks Ma