Gophers Coach P.J. Fleck spoke after losing to Penn State

All right. No one's here. So, yeah. Pretty lady in the front row. You're up. We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Fleck, and then we'll take questions. So I'm just going to give this mic to somebody. I'll give it to you, Andy, and you can ask questions. So we'll start with Coach first. I've got to give Penn State a lot of credit. Playing really, really well, especially the last few weeks. You know, when they don't turn the ball over, they win. When they turn the ball over, they lose. And they did not turn the ball over. We did not get them to turn the ball over, and we did. You know, it was a completely unacceptable first half from us. That's the best word I can use to describe it, is unacceptable. Penalties, peaked around blocks, bad eyes, missed tackles on defense, inaccuracy in the pass game, we tackled bad. We have a fumble snap, turnover, we have a really bad punt, they score off that, we get a fumble, you know, we were in rhythm, you know, I think we were moving the ball pretty well, and then for the first three drives, we stubbed ourselves in the dough, whether it was with a punt or a fumble, and you're not going to beat a team like that at home, playing really, really well, catching their stride by doing those things, and dug ourselves too deep of a hole, 28-0 at halftime, so 60 yards of offense in the first half, that was, 30 minutes is some of the worst football I've been around, unfortunately, and that 100% falls on the head football coach because I'm responsible for how our players play, and that 100% fully falls on my shoulders, and I did not have him ready to play. I challenged them at halftime, came out, and I thought they played better and showed their character and type of men they are and type of team they are in the second half of the fight. But too little, too late. So the sports are not kind. This league is not kind. And if you don't bring your best, you're going to get beat. And we didn't even come close to playing our best. It's simply that. Yeah. But like I said, that's a big head coach loss right there. Because they were not ready to play and function at a really high level. And I thought we had a really good week of practice to do it. And unfortunately, you know, we didn't do it. So give Penn State a lot of credit. Coach Campbell, they're a really good football team. They've got a lot of experienced players. A lot of guys who played a ton of football. And they're playing really well right now. So credit to them. And they took care of the football and took care of business. You don't talk about circumstances dictating your behavior, but did you feel like the travel issues caused you guys to come out flat? No, not one bit. Travel issues have nothing to do with how you play. We train, Andy hit it right on the head. We don't want the circumstance to dictate our behavior. That's a huge circumstance. Thank you very much. There's some teams that had to deal with that, some teams that didn't. We came up with the plan that we felt was really, really good for our student-athletes. That is my call. That's my decision of how we're going to go about doing that. I make the calendar. I make the schedule. I'm giving my suggestions of what I think is best for our football team. It gives us the best chance to win a football game, to play our best when we show up here, despite the circumstances. And we didn't do that. So that falls on my shoulders, but that has nothing to do with it. Normally, you ever hear me talk about anything like that. We played really horrible football in the first half, unacceptable football in the first half, but that has nothing to do with it. Coach, I know the effort was a big part of the big difference between the first and second half, but what else in X and O-Y did you kind of see that helped you take advantage of that Penn State defense? In the second half? Yeah, I was going to say, I'm not sure which half you were watching. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you clearly. Clearly. I just think we had to get in some hurry-up offense. We had to get in some vertical pass game. We had to push the ball down the field even more. I thought we were moving. We had 60 yards of offense in the first half, so this is going to sound crazy. Everybody's going to hit me on this. I thought we were moving the ball pretty well. We were moving the ball, getting some first downs, and then we fumbled the football. Then the ball would go over our head, and we had a bad punt. You're not going to win football games giving Penn State the ball on their territory twice for touchdowns. And then also, you know... We're moving the ball, and then we basically, you know, the ball goes over our heads, and you're not going to be able to do it. So second half, I just thought we settled down, and we were able to get some completion, some easier completions, push the ball down the field. Our playmakers made some plays on the outside, gave us a chance, you know, but unfortunately, defensively, we weren't able to hold up. And that's a credit to them. They got downhill on us. The quarterback's really good at distributing. They did a really good job of mixing in the run in the pass, keep you off balance. And we just got moved too far internally to different gaps. And, you know, we moved Anthony down inside because of guys being out. You know, you've got multiple starters down inside, and we're not the deepest football team, so you've got to be able to be creative, move some guys around, get some other guys who might not have played as much, play a ton of playing time, and that's how you grow up and learn. It's hard. And, you know. But we'll learn from it, that's for sure. We're going to keep learning. One thing we're going to always do is learn. We're going to learn from our losses, but give Penn State a lot of credit. PJ, it looked like Drake was under duress a lot in the first half. How much do you feel like the offensive issues are starting up front? I'm sorry, Andy. How much do you feel like the offensive issues are starting up front with the offensive line play? I think everybody takes accountability for why you don't have success on offense, defense, and special teams. You know, I mean, everyone has to take accountability. You know, we talk about how you respond. It's one, you have to take ownership. If you're not willing to take ownership, you're not going to ever make it in the world. You're not going to be a good football player. You're not going to be somebody people want on your team. I mean, that's just part of it. If you're a BCDer, no one wants to be around those types of people, coaches, players, and then you got to have some type of perspective of, you know, that we can be better, you know, all the things that we're doing are correctable, but obviously right now, yeah, there's some issues, you know, we got three starters out, and we got to play better. And the guys that are in there, we have to play better. We've got to coach better. We've got to make sure that we keep it as simple as we possibly can so we can have some effectiveness on offense. And, unfortunately, we weren't able to do that. But it's everybody. It's everybody. Everybody's got to take accountability for it. And if you're the first person to point a finger, then you probably shouldn't be on the team. You know, this is something that it's team, team, team, team, and always will be. It's a team game. It's the ultimate team game. But, again, it starts with me. Not even close to being good enough head coach in preparation in the week and how we handled what we just went through. As you mentioned, I didn't do a good job of handling that. Didn't do it well enough because we were not ready to play. You say you put the onus on yourself. What do you look to as things that you want to try to correct? I got to watch everything, Andy, you know, just of why. I'm watching it on the iPad here and there. I'm watching it in between plays. You're flipping between offense, defense, special teams. You're gaining all the data and gathering all the information you possibly can. But I got to really go back and dissect it before I give you a good answer on that. But unacceptable on all three phases. I mean, I just mentioned the first half. I mean, that's. You're not going to win any game in the Big Ten, and it doesn't matter who you play, but especially coming here, playing a team that's playing really well right now, You're you're not going to play, you're going to beat a team. You need to come close to beating a team like that if you play the way we did. Hey, Coach. Anthony Smith, kind of a homecoming here. Pennsylvania had a lot of people here. Gathered a couple of your guys. Seemed emotional after the game, and Matt Campbell came right up to him after shaking hands with you. What does he mean as a team leader perspective for you guys, you know, going forward? Yeah, Shipman's Bird, PA, young man. He's been a staple of our football team on and off the field. It's the old... An exemplary example of what it means to be a Golden Gopher. Serving and giving, he leads our football team. He's got a huge heart. He's empathetic. He's a relentless, tough football player who loves to play, loves his teammates. He's a very eclectic young man with a lot of interest. He's going to make the world a better place. He's left his imprint on this football team by the way he works, the way he prepares, the type of teammate he is, how much he cares for everyone else, the leader he's grown into. But I know his family and all of his supporters. You know, his whole family and all of his friends and family. There are a lot of people here today. And I know he wanted to bring them a win. But, you know, Anthony cares so much. And one thing I love about this football team, they care. You know, and that's a devastated locker room. And that locker room could be complete opposite. It could be, you could easily sit there and say, ah, you know. Heck with this, and then walk away, right? I mean, I see that happen all over the country all the time. That's a devastated locker room because they expected to play better, and Anthony's a great leader of that. Thank you for that. The first one to meet people in the locker room, so I know he wanted a different result, but I'm really glad he's on our football team, and he's one of the best players I've been around, one of the best people I've ever been around, and had the honor to coach. Coach, so. I hope I don't have only 12 days left with him. I hope we can find a way to get a win or two here coming up. But he's a special young man. PJ, on the defensive side, how concerned are you seeing the same breakdowns, missed tackles, coverage busts, run fits, those kinds of things? Extremely concerned. What went into the recruiting process for Carson Hanson with you guys and you guys not offering him a scholarship? I think when you look at anybody that you recruit, it's got to be a fit. They've got to like you. You've got to like them. I'm really happy for him. He's in a really good position with a really good staff. He was at his previous stop even before that. I don't live in hindsight. His life and what he's done, I don't know him that well, but I do know that it's turned out pretty good for him. You know? That's part of football. Can't get everybody, can't have everybody get you. That's just part of it. I'm really happy for him. Thank You know, he's doing a great job of representing our state at Penn State. You know, I know he's a really good player, and he's hard to game plan against because he does a ton. you for Coach, I know you said the circumstances don't dictate the outcome, and I hate to go back to this, having but what was the communication like from the conference with going in here, and did Penn State kind of reach out to you guys and make sure everybody was on the same page and to make your travel as easy as possible? me. You know, you immediately go into, you know, this job is constant crisis interrupted by brief success, period. Let's just start with that. The job, right? The job. Everybody in college football, I think, would probably agree with that. I appreciate that. And so we're sitting on the tarmac, ready to go on our plane, and I thought the people from Sun Country handled it perfectly, you know, and they let us know exactly what we were going to do. We gave it another hour, hour and a half, got our players off the plane, got our players in the hangar, waited for an update, then we got our players back to the facility. Our administration, Mark Coyle, our administration, did a tremendous job of coming up with a plan with myself, Garrett Chernoff, our GM, Sun Country. Basically, yesterday, we brought them back to the facility, got them fed, did some meetings, did a team meeting, did kind of like a normal Friday prep, and then you find out later at night, okay, you have to have a cutoff time, and we did, and we said if we don't get off by this time, then we'll go in the morning, put the schedule together, put our players to bed, got up early this morning, executed that plan. I thought Emily Litwin, our director of football operations, did an elite job, our nutritionist. Maddie and Maddie do an amazing job at making sure that our players were fed. So many different restaurants poured in yesterday on late notice. Four restaurants really helped us out, including Tony's Diner. And just so thankful for so many people stepping in. And, and, um, Coming to the relief for the players, but there was never any panic. We just went to the next plan, the contingency plan, and built another contingency plan off of that. I thought our players executed that really well. But I thought that, you know, did everything we could to put ourselves in a really good position. But, again, that has nothing to do with the outcome. I thought we handled that exactly the way that we needed to, and I thought our players always had information. We did what we could to make sure that they were as normal as possible. And a little different coming out this morning, but even the people at the Ramada were awesome here in Penn State. So just thankful for a lot of people that sprung into action, but I think everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do. I know Mark Coyle and myself were in contact with the Big Ten and A.J. and Commissioner, and everybody was great. Thanks for coming out, everybody. Thanks for covering our team. Row the Boat, Sky, Mago, Gophers.