P.J. Fleck on 2024 Gophers: 'I love the competition of this football team'

Intro uh great to see so many familiar faces uh thanks for coming out just got off the practice field so uh a little casual but uh we can make make do with this uh great to see all your faces football season's right around the corner 10 days away from kickoff really excited uh really like this football team I'm sure you have a lot of questions so you know I I did enough of my opening pressure at the Big 10 media day uh what was the time 10:40 1050 not bad some of the false reports out there is 1450 is inaccurate it was 1040 I think uh not to say anybody in here did that just saying heard some rumors so we'll get the questions how's that good to see Scrimmage everybody on Tuesday you talked about Thursday may be being a scrimmage for some evaluations how did that go what did you what' you see yeah it went great you know I mean we've done a few things we've had another scrimmage we've had a mock game um where we go through all special teams situations do it under the lights uh we were going to have one in the stadium on Thursday but weather uh made us come inside but we did the same type of thing I love this football team I love the depth of this football team I love the competition in this football team uh we have more competition this year in in 2024 than we've had since I've been the head coach here at Minnesota and that's a credit to our staff our recruiting the players the way they've kind of Taken on this whole year um so hopefully I answer your question we got a lot of questions answered but it's not about just answering questions okay you're number one we have a lot of different starters uh we do uh we have a lot of guys that are going to be splitting time so they're both starters and so I I think that's what's really healthy about this football team as we keep going forward what positions could Splitting time you see splitting time as a possibility I think any when you look at defensive line I think there's going to be rotations that continue to happen just like that normally is we just have more people that are going to be rotating which is good for our D line offensive line you can see at some positions we're going to be doing that as well wide receiver we're going to be rolling some people in tight end you're going to be rolling some people in um you know you want to be able to do it we have so many different packages on defense too so it's hard to sit there and go hey here's the 11 guys I mean from our nickel package to our dime package to all these other packages that we have as we talked earlier about the Personnel that our defense has I think that helps as we continue to go into game one uh I'm not going to tell you all those different packages but it's really fun to be able to to Plug and Play based on what these guys can do and put different combinations on the field whether it's first or second down or third down type Corner room of development have you noticed from The Corner Room throughout Camp yeah tremendous growth um you know we I was just having a discussion with one of our coaches about that um you know you have Wally and you have Ethan both those guys played a ton of football but when you start to look at like Zan Bryant's development uh you're really pleased with what he's been able to do especially for such a young kid he got a chance to play in the bll game U but that that has helped him exponentially get to where he is right now we've got a lot of other guys in that mix at that corner position Ryan Kelly's had a really good camp you know he's big long strong he's gained a bunch of weight um you know and then we've got a bunch of guys that can play a lot of different positions whether they slide down inside stay outside um that's a pretty deep room um and they're aggressive like they they've done a really good job of getting better I think Coachman R's done a great job coaching them um got to keep getting better but I I like where we are there and and you mix that with the safeties and then the Nickels you start to look at there's more guys that are going to be playing in the secondary than we've had in the past PJ U New Era College Football Playoff of college football with transfer portal yeah uh name image likeness Revenue sharing looks like coming down the pike expansion of the salary cap yeah expansion of the Big 10 expansion the college football playoff what do you think is the what's the ceiling as you look at it for this program now in this new era a lot of changes Dave I love the question um I think it's a little bit uh we're 10 days from game day I think that's a little more for a few weeks ago and maybe the offseason but I do think the changes of college football uh are really healthy for where we're going it's really positive for the student athlete it's positive for the universities as you can see financially uh but when you start to look at what it's going to do for the change of college football we don't necessarily know what that's going to look like um we're not there yet um nobody's there yet that's the future I think with the new college football expansion I think that makes people really excited especially at the University of Minnesota as I said at Big 10 media day I think when you had four teams in the college football playoff you could probably name two or three that were going to make it from the start of the Season then they're probably in there at the end and maybe there was one or two that maybe some people had On The Fringe or maybe there was one shock I think as you go through this and if it's 12 game or 12 teams which it is in the college football playoff that leaves the window open for a lot of teams uh to get in there from different conferences and I think that's exciting for the fans it's exciting for college football and the and the growth of our Sport and the health of our sport as we keep moving and moving forward one thing I've always loved about college football is it constantly changes there's one thing that changes is it always changes and I think that's what makes it really exciting not just rules but how it's all done not just like on the field to you know this this year we're going to talk about you know the uh the drop tackle and that's fine those are those are all good changes um but I'm talking about huge changes that change the Dynamics of what college football looked like in the future based on what was in the past words like scholarship walk- on whatever our definitions were prior to that of that and our vision of that was those are all changing of what that word actually means has a lot of different meetings now Von has a lot of different meetings now 105 puts a lot of different puts people on this this this parity uh not equal playing field because with nil still being in play but when you start talking salary cap and you start talking those types of things it it definitely creates a little bit I think more parody where I think every fan base is going to sit there and go okay Hey listen we got a great opportunity here if we invest in X Y and Z uh we have just as good a shot as as a lot of other teams so that's what's really exciting as we go forward and I think I've said that publicly at Big 10 media day that I think it's really healthy especially for Minnesota um with the changes of college football PJ when you went looking for a Finding a QB quarterback and you got Max how involved did you think FCS level would be in that in that search um I'm sorry Randy you mean getting somebody from the fcfs level was that something you were looking at all along or yeah no it wasn't it wasn't necessarily we needed somebody just from FCS I mean it wasn't FCS or Bust it was the best available player and we we needed somebody to come in here that understood the situation there was pressure of the situation right from the start we had to find the right fit for what we were looking for and if you think back to it Randy we weren't we didn't bring in four quarterbacks with all this nil money and and stuff like that and say okay you guys all compete and let's go we had to bring in somebody who was going to be able to lead the team the minute they got here was going to be able to do okay without maybe the most W without the most competition threatening them was going to have to do okay with maybe not competition threatening them knowing that they're the guy to handle that responsibility in a very mature way and in a leadership way um and go out there and perform at the highest level um because the option after that for us was okay a true freshman and bringing in another guy that we're going to develop so when you're looking at it you had to be right so I mean every decision you make you want to be right and you're feeling you have to be right but this one we had to get right and Max has just exceeded all our expectations he's got to go out there and prove it and play on game day and and do what he does every single day the only thing Max brosmer has to do is be the best version of Max brosmer every day and that's what he that's what he's capable of doing and that's what he'll do and we have the most confidence in him he's had a great six months um he's an amazing human being and uh he's made this program better he's made the people around him better he's made our culture better he's made University of Minnesota better and uh I'm really proud of him for that and it's going to be fun to be able to watch him here in 10 days how do you uh or Darius Taylor how's Darius Taylor doing right now and how do you feel about the running back down yeah he's doing great you know we brought in a a ton of players for that reason in in general if anybody ever gets banged up we got a few bumps and bruises but you know I'm going to use the same line as we get in 10 days before game day I mean the injury report will come out you know two hours before kickoff but this is a very healthy football team and uh I love how they've gone about uh their business throughout training camp I thought we structured it uh to benefit them which we always do but you learn from your past to create your future on certain things we listened to a lot of the science and data and applied our whole training camp schedule accordingly but I really like the depth of the room from the top with Darius all the way down and we brought in a lot of guys for that position a lot of guys who have played big-time college football uh and then some other guys that have been Young have really come on strong U so it's going to be fun to see how that all plays out and as the guys continue to compete within the season but feel really good about where we're at 10 days out what do you think you North Carolina know about North Carolina in 20124 yeah I mean we just started them yesterday with game planning and looking at them and starting to work with our coaching staff and dedicating a lot of hours towards that in between our players and training camp first of all I got a lot of respect for Mac Brown a lot of you I think it's well documented the relationship him and I have and he's always been really really good to me I mean he's he he's been a a sneaky Mentor because I I get him at the most opportune times and uh he's always been really really good to me um they're really talented I mean they got eight returning starters on defense and they added a bunch of transfers that do start other places in the ACC or other places they're deep um I think it's well documented I think the uh AP All-American team came out and uh you know one of the running backs on Hampton I mean he's he's really really good and we played against him last year uh they've got a stable of running backs they always do they've got really good receivers I think everybody's talk talking about well Drake May's not there but they reloaded they didn't rebuild they reloaded with the guys that they have now I know they're not naban a starter and and uh we just we expect to see two or three of them and we'll prepare that way but they all can run they all can throw um you know they've all played college football at a high level so but they're talented I mean they're a North Carolina team ACC team and Mac Brown coach team and a lot of the guys are very familiar with what we saw last year when we went out to Chapel Hill so uh we got to play our best football we know that we're preparing to working hard really every day 10 days out uh right now still working a lot of Minnesota versus Minnesota and as the days go on we'll we'll trans transfer that into more North Carolina how do you Cory Hetherman feel the defens has responded to Cory E hetherman I think it's been great you know you really hope that the first six months of that really gel you know I it's one thing if things don't gel and then you're all right we got to get through the season we got to do this this we got to manufacture certain things there's no manufacturing with him he is one of the most authentic uh genuine real football coaches I've ever been around and I I've told you a few stories of why that is but he loves football he's a really good football coach uh the players love playing for him and you can see that in how they practice you've been out there how they play The energy they bring you know we talked about three things that we needed to bring as a defense that excitement level every single day and it's been there unmatched every day the swarming I mean we're swarming more and better than we ever have to the ball and then you have to bring that that on the field violence that contact that that that willingness uh to be really physical and that's a mental piece and we've demanded that every day from them and our players have responded in the right right way and I just think they love playing for him I I'm still old school when it comes down to there's all these things Dave you mentioned the new college football and why people play it could be for a lot of external driven things uh it could be for money it could be for power it could be for ego it could be for draft stock it could be for all these things you know I'm still old school where you know when I played I played for people and I played for people and I played for my University and I feel like this team has a little bit of that old school feel to it we have all the new changes of college football like everybody else does but for each other this team is better than I've had in the past and not saying we didn't it just has exceeded that uh I really love where they're at and I think they're playing for them I think they're you know playing for our staff I think they're playing for each other player to player coach to player player to coach it's it's very refreshing they're a fun team to coach and that's why I say when they're fun to coach that's what I mean U they really do it for someone else and not only just themselves but they're that's not the number one thing showing right now buzzwords for Cory hein's Blitz defense how much does Blitz in come in obviously he was aggressive when he was a DC before how much does that factor in how you guys the scheme up I mean it's a piece of it but you know it's not like we're doing more than we did last year you know I think I think the difference in in the defense is it's very similar to what we've had remember we weren't we weren't going off the tracks and going off the rails here and going outside of of the family of what we really want as a defense and what we core believe in um but it's his own personality and then it's our Personnel you know our Personnel allow us to do certain things that we did last year and get a chance to even do them better or do certain things that we're doing now that maybe we couldn't do last year with the Personnel that we have but it's not just that uh but I think those three buzzword that we use the ESV um is what we're doing every single day and whether that's bass whether that's just normal cover two whether that you know whatever it is that's uh I feel like that's the difference in in this year from last year will you uh describe maybe four or RBs five deep with the running backs but little glimpse into their style and and what they're like yeah I mean obviously Darius has grown up a lot in the off season and he's really you know Darius played High School wide out at times too and and then he was a running back and he did a lot of things so he's brought that that full playmaker ability to our offense in the pass game in the Run game we brought in Marcus major he played a ton of football at Oklahoma um he every time I see that number 24 I just think man man looks like 24 just bigger just a bigger version of the old 24 um with Muhammad um and Muhammad stopped by a few practices which has been really cool to see him but Marcus is I think is again another guy who's exceeded my expectations I mean he can run in between the tackles really well he can get thin real fast and he can play behind his pads really well anticipates blocks I think that's huge for a running back can you see the whole scheme and how it's working then okay here's just my read then I go to the next read I mean you can tell people who are a little robotic he is not that it naturally happens he can see blocks before they happen he can see it on the next level makes people Miss in the Hole uh and you know joejo nubin played a ton of football for us you know he was moved from safety to running back a few years back and he's played a ton of football for us and and then we have a few guys that we brought in you know feem uh EA boy has has been great as a true freshman you know I mean he's had a great training camp brought in Jared Magnum who's kind of been a journeyman different spots and we're really glad he's here he's really matured and developed big back plays behind his pads he's got better feet and more speed than I think people give him credit for and C CA bangura who was the uh the Freshman player of the year uh in the mac and uh a year two years ago and uh you know he's he's a young back but he's got good size just got to continue to bend and and he's getting better with every day and that's what I mean about our our running back room you know Derek L Captain played running back when we moved him you know from linebacker to there JoJo Newman came from safety we knew we had to emphasized the running back position and the competition's been really good and I thought derry's done a really good job with Mark of leading that room especially in practice PJ what's the biggest benefit Home games of having your first four games at home well I think you know you got 12 games they're all equally important you know I I don't look at it as just home and away I think to win at a high level you got to win on the road and you have to win at home you know I mean when you look at somebody that's going to go play in the college football playoff you can't be like oh we got this many home games and oh boy we got to go on the road I mean people are are you know they're talking about you better be 10 11 wins to get into the college football playoff and that means you got win all your games you know no matter where they are if they're in a parking lot you better win them so I just love playing in front of our fans I I think we we create uh one of the more underrated environments in college football I really do uh I love our fans I love our student body we got a gold out coming up in 10 days which the last gold out we had which you all saw that uh to open the season at Nebraska was a pretty special environment and uh I love people for that here in our state I love our fans for that again I I I think um they deserve a lot of credit because they an atmosphere that I that I feel that is a little under underrated at times playing in Huntington Bank Stadium and and it's fun our players Thrive off that they feed off that energy and it's like anything you feed off that energy at home and then you play that Underdog role when you go on the road like nobody likes you so the sounds you're using to Advantage on one side and then you go somewhere else and using that sounds to pump up your team on the other side um and kind of that all for one one for all type mentality but love playing a Huntington bank and can't wait for 10 days from now do two more for Coach PJ when you look at the offense do you look at at a position group that's maybe you're looking to see a little bit more out of wide receiver comes to mind is there something that you need to see from a position group that needs to get to the level of everyone else you know I know what you're asking Andy and I think um and I I respect your question and I'm not dodging it but I think that you know as well as I do to have an efficient offense you know here at the University of Minnesota everybody has to be involved uh even when we had baitman it was we were the best when he had Tyler Johnson and you had Co Keon you know catching balls and and and a really good running game every position has to do their job to the best of their ability and meet the expectation that's created for them within the program and U you know when that's the hardest part for whether it's media fans coaches you have an expectation of something and somebody because those somebody's fit inside something right that's something's a scheme so you have this expectation and then they show you what they can and cannot do well that's the expectation and then there's a thing called reality and you're doing everything you can as a coach to make sure the expectation and the reality actually match and if they match we're in good shape it's when the expectation and reality aren't there where the frustration comes into play and the more they're apart that space gets bigger and most of the time that's what negativity is filled with you I expected this I didn't get this you know I mean we're we're still waiting to move into our house call me frustrated I mean have is right there moving right now I mean we're moving in today I mean this is June 1 July 1 August 1 now it's August 19th and she's moving in I mean I was I was told I told her a year ago I'd help I can't help it's August 19th and our driveway is just being poured today guys how can you move in and the mover show up the same time the concrete guys show I I don't understand that so pardon the expectation not meeting reality call me crazy actually it's they don't have to worry about me the Italian Irish women's at home so who's got a huge heart she got them all lunch today every single person there bought them all lunch very nice of Special Teams her for Coach how's the Special Teams operation come together with a new Long Snapper in there you know what with with with Ryan and Allen I'll be honest just I don't really have't noticed and I think Brady week said it best he'd stand up at different events and my name is Brady weeks it's the last time I ever want you to hear my name and he sat down and that was Brady weeks uh you know I mean he was he was so valuable the two guys we have same type of thing I feel really good about where we are there they got to continue to challenge each other daily which I know they will and uh we feel we got two really good ones there so I know that uh our Specialists feel the same way and we support them every way we can and keep coaching them up thank you got it brother boat Sky M go go we're supposed to have this in our house today uh to treat all of you and uh sorry it's not done