P.J. Fleck’s clear message to Gophers at fall camp: ‘Compete’

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The University of Minnesota football team ended its first week of fall camp with a Saturday night practice at Huntington Bank Stadium, the first workout open to fans.

The Gophers open the 2024 season against North Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 29, under the lights in Dinkytown, a game you can watch on FOX 9. Five days into fall workouts, what does coach P.J. Fleck think of his team? They compete. He spoke with reporters after Saturday night’s practice and the message on his T-shirt was clear, as have been the conversations all week: Compete.

“We haven’t had one day where I’ve come out and been like ‘man, the energy is not there, the tempo is not there, the willingness to get better is not there, the competitiveness isn’t there.’ It’s a very competitive camp, probably the most competitive camp we’ve had in our eight years here, by far.” Fleck said. “That’s what we’ve talked about, that’s what’s on our shirts and they’ve been doing it.”

‘It’s about creating a little bit of pressure’

Fleck said the idea behind a night practice was to get under the lights, get in front of fans and put some pressure on players in live situations to see how they would react.

Both sides of the ball had their moments. Between individual sessions and team situations, Fleck said the Gophers got in about 150 repetitions over more than two hours Saturday night.

“Lights on, there’s fans here, there’s a little added pressure five days into camp. You can’t get that fast enough,” Fleck said. “If it’s going back and forth, I’m usually enjoying practice.”

Day 5 offensive highlights

New Hampshire transfer quarterback Max Brosmer hit Elijah Spencer near the end of practice on a back shoulder throw for a touchdown in a team situation. A short time later, he tried to hit a tight window over the…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/p-j-flecks-clear-message-032546964.html

Author : KMSP

Publish date : 2024-08-04 03:25:46

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