Everything P.J. Fleck said during his Monday press conference - Oregon Week
Minnesota football head coach P.J. Fleck met with the media on Monday ahead of the Golden Gophers’ Friday night matchup against the No. 9 ranked Oregon Ducks. Here’s everything he had to say.
OPENING STATEMENT
All right, good morning, everybody. Thanks for being here.
We’ll just go right to the questions. Got an exciting top-ten matchup with the Oregon Ducks here this week, so we’re excited for Friday night.
Q: Last time you guys went to the West Coast, you had to change your schedule. Obviously, it’s going to be different here on a Friday. What are you doing different, or what are you adjusting after Cal?
FLECK: Yeah, I mean, it’s not just about, “Okay, well, we lost to Cal, so we gotta change everything,” right?
I mean, it’s a zero-sum game. You win, you lose. You’re gonna do what’s best for your football team. You’re gonna look at all the data, you’re gonna dissect that.
And I think Eric Chernoff and his staff have done a really good job putting a plan together, and it’s very, very similar. There are a few tweaks here and there, but it’s not a reactionary tweak — it’s just based on schedule, time, place, all those things to give ourselves the best chance to be ready to go.
Coming off a bye week, the preparation — preparation this week during our practice schedules, how we’re practicing this week — is different than what we did against Cal. So, giving ourselves the best chance to go out and play our best football of the year.
Q: With the road struggles, are there any changes in process with the way you’ve approached it heading out to Oregon?
FLECK: One-and-oh. We’re just looking to be one-and-oh, home or away. I mean, it’s not about that — it’s about playing your best football.
We’ve played some really good football at home and on the road. We’ve also played some really good teams on the road. So we just gotta find a way to be a little bit better each week, have a little more attention to detail in the things that we do — especially in our preparation — to go out there and play our best game of the year.
That’s the focus, whether it’s here or in Eugene, Oregon. You’ve gotta find a way in November to play your best football.
Q: What did you want to accomplish during the bye week, and how do you feel your team responded?
FLECK: Yeah, there were three things we talked about.
One, we wanted to find a way — as best we possibly can — to get our guys healthy: mentally, physically, and emotionally. I mean, it’s not just the physical piece when you get to November. It’s the mental piece, it’s the emotional piece. There’s a lot of demand on student-athletes from a lot of different areas.
So I thought we were able to accomplish that.
Two, it was kind of a process audit — to your question, Ryan. Just looking at what we do and how we do it, like we do every bye week, but really diving into that and giving it the audit it deserves.
And then three, just respond and have a really good week of practice. I thought our guys did a tremendous job of that.
Got a lot of the young guys reps, got after it last week with a lot of the young guys — they got a ton of reps to gain more experience.
And then I thought our veterans did a really nice job of the time we scheduled in for practice. And then this week, again, a little bit different of a schedule than a normal week, but it’s been really good for our players. I thought yesterday’s practice was outstanding.
Q: Did the Friday week with Nebraska help just from a process standpoint?
FLECK: You know what, a little bit, but it’s a little different based on when it’s happening and what your football team looks like. But it’s pretty similar.
This week’s a little bit different than it was the Nebraska week, coming off the bye week. So that’s the main difference — that you had the bye week prior to it.
And we’ve put ourselves in a position to hopefully be as healthy as possible. You’re never gonna be completely healthy when you get to November, but we’re doing everything we can to get as many guys back as we possibly can. Some will be back, some won’t.
Q: Number one total defense already in Ohio State. Now you get to take down the number two, that is Oregon. What makes them so difficult defensively?
FLECK: And what’s Iowa — top five? Top five, top ten? Three top-five defenses.
When you play a team like Oregon — one, they have incredible talent. I think Dan Lanning’s done a tremendous job of accumulating elite talent. That’s well documented.
But I think that when you talk about having talent alone, it doesn’t really get you anything. There are a lot of teams that are really, really talented.
We talked about the difference between skill and talent. Skill’s what you’re born with — blessed with — the length, the size, the speed, and all those things, that’s great. But then you have to develop that talent. Then you gotta connect that talent.
And I think Dan Lanning doesn’t get enough credit for how he connects that football team, how invested they are, how good they are, how well they play collectively together — especially on the defensive side of the ball.
We know he’s a really good defensive mind. He’s a great person, he’s a great coach. But when you’re talking about the defensive side, they have incredible talent over there.
It’s one thing to have it; another to connect it — have them all play together, understand how the top affects the bottom and vice versa.
They’re really talented. I mean, you talk about Ohio State’s front seven — this front seven is just as good, if not better.
And when you look at them and what the game looked like with Iowa, I think everybody understood what kind of matchup that was going to be, and it was exactly what everybody thought it was going to be.
We’ve played some really good defenses. But it makes you do a lot of the really, really small things really, really well.
When we do the small things well, when we have attention to detail within the fundamentals and we plug it into the scheme and can do it under the pressure of the situation, we play really well.
When we don’t do that, we don’t play well.
So we’ve got to continue to get more consistent as the year goes on, and Oregon presents a lot of challenges.
Whether it’s the front seven or the back end, they’re deep at every position, they’re good at every position. They don’t have many flaws, that’s for sure.
Q: You’ve seen Drake step up in clutch moments — Michigan State was the latest example. What’s been instrumental in how he’s been able to do that?
FLECK: Yeah, I think with Drake, we all knew this was gonna be a growing year. You’re always growing, you’re always developing, you’re always getting better.
But I said this a long time ago — after, I think, week three — when you make a decision as a head coach to play a freshman, I don’t care if it’s true freshman, redshirt freshman, young player, inexperienced player, especially at the key position in football, you understand there’s gonna be some really high highs and some low lows.
But I think Drake has handled and responded really well to all of them.
They’re really good, they’re really hard, he grows, he can’t wait to learn more. He’s like a sponge, and you really can’t tell after a loss or a win. His response mechanisms are built in — it’s a credit to his family, his high school coaches, and his work ethic.
I just love what he’s been able to do. There were inconsistencies throughout the year, but a lot of really good things too. That’s part of the growing and maturation process of a young quarterback.
You look at that Michigan State game — there were some really good, and some really tough. And then when we needed him the most, he came through. He’s done that a lot this year.
He’s played really well, then maybe inconsistent at times, and then bang — when we needed him most, he was there.
That’s what you see from a high school state champion — the resolve, the resiliency, the fight. And he’s scrappy now.
I know he might not be this dual-threat runner, but he thinks he is. He’s got five rushing touchdowns on the year. I don’t know if we can consider him dual-threat yet, but I like to joke with him that way.
But he’s a special kid. He’s working his tail end off, just like the rest of our football team. We’re playing a lot of young players gaining experience every week, and Drake’s leading the charge.
Q: Seems like he responds well to tempo, too. What have you seen with that, and is that something you might incorporate more?
FLECK:
Yeah, I don’t know if it’s just that. I think the team responds to how you change things up — whether it’s tempo, slowing it down — you’re looking for something to change the flow of the game a bit.
There’ve been times we’ve sped it up and haven’t had success. So I don’t think it’s just tempo. We’re doing that to get him into rhythm — sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
The flow of the game dictates that. Sometimes we can start with it, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we’ve had success with it, sometimes not.
But it’s definitely something we have in the bag that can help us.
Q: What challenges does Dante Moore present?
FLECK: What does he don’t? What does he not have that presents tons of challenges?
I mean, he’s one of the most dynamic players in all of college football. That’s pretty easy to tell — well documented. He’s very poised.
You saw that on the last drive against Iowa. You saw a lot of Big Ten quarterbacks handle pressure tremendously, whether their team won or lost.
Dante Moore came down, led his team to what they needed for the win with the field goal.
He’s incredibly poised. The team responds to him. He’s the leader of the offense.
No situation is too big for him — whether with his legs or arm. He’s dynamic, accurate, has great pocket awareness, moves well, uses good arm angles.
He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country for a reason.
So we’ve got to play incredibly sound defense, shrink the pocket, stick to our men, and not create too much space on the back end — because he’ll find it.
They’ve got people who can run on the outside and create separation, plus a really strong O-line, tight ends, and a run game.
Q: What might change when their skill guys or pass catchers vary week-to-week?
FLECK: I don’t know if it matters, Andy. When you look at their roster, their top six wideouts — they’re all phenomenal.
Whether they’re missing one or two, the other guys step in and step up. They attack the ball, catch out in front, create separation. They’re really talented.
They might be as good at creating separation as Ohio State’s guys. We’ve got to play our best defense, that’s for sure.
It all starts up front, and then our guys on the back end doing their job. It’s a great challenge.
Q: You guys lead the Big Ten in sacks, but takeaways have been tougher. How do you view that balance?
FLECK: Yeah, I mean, the ball’s everything. Sometimes you can look at a sack and then a punt and consider that a takeaway.
We’re getting more sacks, which might be limiting them from throwing it up where we can pick it off.
We’re not getting enough takeaways, that’s for sure, but we’re creating a lot of second-and-longs and third-and-longs.
We just have to be better at finishing those with punts.
We’re punching at the ball when we tackle, and when they throw it to us, we’re catching it. But we’re getting a lot of sacks on the back end too.
Those will come — we just have to keep controlling what we can control, play elite defense, pressure the quarterback, and the turnovers will come.
Q: Devin had probably his best game of the year. What went into that?
FLECK: Yeah, I think he’s had a really good year. I don’t know if it’s just his best game — he continues to change his best.
He’s been dedicated, doing the unrequired work. Full commitment. Devin’s been that way all season.
You talk about someone who’s grown and matured within the culture — Devin deserves a lot of credit.
Even NFL scouts come in asking, “Who’s this guy?” He’s figured it out. Everyone figures it out and matures at different times.
Devin’s done a really good job playing at a high level. I’m really proud of him. He’s got a ton of tackles right now.
Q: You’re talking about Devin Williams?
FLECK: I was talking about Eastern, but — shoot, we’ve got multiple Devins! That’s my fault.
Listen, Devin Williams has been awesome. So who else you wanna talk about? Devin Eastern? Let’s just go through all the Devins — we’ll cover it like Prince: one name, Devin.
But no, Devin Eastern — he just has to keep working on pad level, playing low. When he plays low, explosive, with his hands and hips — he’s one of the best in the country. Pretty unblockable.
There are times you’d love to have two or three Devin Easterns to rotate. But he knows he’s gotta play 50–60 snaps per game, and he’s excelled.
He loves football. Ever since we brought him here, he’s loved being on the field.
He’s taken on a leadership role in the D-line. It’s been fun watching him go from the guy you had to lead to the guy who now leads.
If you told me four years ago that’s how it’d look, I might’ve said, “Wow, we’ve got a long way to go.” But he’s grown up an awful lot, and it shows in his play and leadership.
