P.J. Fleck sleeps four hours a night on average, but he only got three Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Fleck’s last 24 hours have been crazy. He started Tuesday on the Gopher Road Trip in northern Minnesota and then flew to Chicago for a football camp later that day. On Wednesday, he was back on the road trip in northern Minnesota, but still generous enough to spend nearly 20 minutes on the phone with GoMN’s One Hunnit Podcast.
“We haven’t won a championship in 50 years, guys. We have a lot of work to do,” he said when asked if he ever gets tired.
Fleck is channeling almost all of his energy into turning the Gophers into a Big Ten contender, and eventually, a national champion.
“People that love Minnesota and stay here will have success. That’s why I’ve told our players, those who stay will be champions,” Fleck said. “Because we’ve had three head coaches in three years. University of Iowa has had two coaches in 40 years. You look at Wisconsin, who we haven’t beaten in 13 years, they have Barry Alvarez’s culture still in there. Thirty years ago, that type of 13-game winning streak… that was flipped. You look at Northwestern now, with a 10-year contract for Pat Fitzgerald, they’re going to have 30 years of Randy Walker and Pat Fitzgerald’s same culture. I can go on and on about everybody in the Big Ten that way, and we have to get to that cultural sustainability.
“That is my job to be able to get to that point, to make Minnesota that dream job – and that’s what it is for me.
Ready for a fun morning in Hibbing! Great to have @Coach_Fleck back for the final day of #GRT17. pic.twitter.com/JodyXA2MmX
— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) June 7, 2017
Minnesota’s football culture has been in a constant state of change since Glen Mason was fired in 2006.
- Tim Brewster 2007-10
- Jeff Horton 2010 (interim)
- Jerry Kill 2011-15
- Tracey Claeys 2015-16
“Let’s celebrate the process of becoming a champion, and eventually we will. There’s no timeframe on that, but eventually we will.”
