Following Minnesota's annual Pro Day on Wednesday, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met with the media. Here's everything Fleck had to say during his few minutes with the media.

Great day for Gopher football today and great day the state of Minnesota with all of our guys at NFL Pro Day today. A record number of guys out here and the fun thing about being a head coach is you get a chance to see these guys from the high school development getting here telling you that they want to play in the National Football League, have a chance to play in National Football League and you look at a guy like Nick Kallerup who came in almost like 200 pounds and now he's 270 pounds and we talk about a real developmental program that's what we're talking about on and off the field and he's a he's a great example of that.

But proud of all the guys being able to watch them live out their dream today that's why you coach. You know, take guys from where they are to where they want to be, and there's a lot of people involved in the process: the people in the bleachers, their mom and dad and brother and sister and aunt and uncle and their coaches who all got them to this stage.

And then, obviously, when you get to college, all the people involved in our organization doing the same thing. So it takes a village, it takes a lot of people, and I'm just proud of all their performances today as a lot of you got a chance to witness.

So, really proud of them. It's one of those proud days, you know. I think there are a lot of days where you don't have a lot of these moments where you're sitting there and you're standing back and watching them and you're like a proud father—you're just watching your kids do something that they've dreamed of doing—and you smile and watch them say, 'Okay, we've done our job up to this point.'

You kind of push the ducklings into the water, and now they go out and live their life on their own, and it's really exciting. So, really proud of them—they've done a great job. So, we'll have some questions.

I think it's just, you know, I was just over there talking to Ethan Robinson's dad, and you know, we didn't have Ethan very long, but you know, he said, 'You were right, it's exactly what you said it was.'

I think that's the best compliment you can get. I think we lay out a plan academically, athletically, socially, and spiritually. This is how our program is ran. It's not for everybody. I don't want it to be for everybody—that's not intended to be for everybody.

But if it's for you, this will take you from where you are to where you say you want to be. The opportunity to grow and the opportunity for your dream to come true will happen, but you have to do x, y, and z for that to happen, and you're going to be held accountable here.

You know, his dad is a man of integrity and said the same thing—'That's the best compliment. It's exactly what you said it was.' I think that, as a program, you take that personal.

Well, I think I already mentioned Nick Kallerup. You know, I think there are so many coaches here—I think 73 NFL personnel— I mean, that's a lot of people with eyes on you.

A guy like Jack Henderson, I think he opened a lot of eyes. You talk about the dedication, the sacrifice he made for the last eight and nine weeks, staying true to that. You can see his physique and what he looks like—I think he really helped himself.

Marcus Major, I think, helped himself as well. And you know the usual suspects with Aireonatae, Cody, Daniel, and Max Brosmer. But you start to look at some of those other guys—the Coopers of the world—I think they really helped themselves today.

You know, everybody knows about Aireonatae, but it's the opportunity for the other guys to get in front of the scouts that might not have been invited to the combine, but this is their combine. So, I thought they opened a lot of eyes, and I don't think there was anybody who quote-unquote 'underperformed.'

I think they all overperformed and did a tremendous job.

Yeah, what I remember from that weekend—it went fast. Like every weekend, it goes really, really quick.

I was really happy for Corey. Those are always hard conversations because, just like these players, you want them to get to where they want to be, and this is something Corey wanted to do. It was important to him. It was something that he dreamed of.

Listening to him—like, 'Why do you want to do this? What are the reasons?'—this is something he always dreamed of being at that place. Why hold him back from that?

You know, first of all, I don't think you can hold him back from that, but it was really exciting to see how excited he was about going there.

As a coach, I think you've learned that over time that it's okay. I've told you this before: I mean, I'm good with my coaches leaving. I want them to go do what they want to do—even go to a rival. I think it's a little tough—I’m not saying I encourage that piece—but other than that, you want them to go where they want to go.

Corey gave a lot to this program in a short year, but he set the tone for what I think Danny's going to do

Danny was an easy decision. You can tell I did not take long to hire Danny Collins—that was easy.

He's been with me going on 13 years. I trust him wholeheartedly. He's probably been able to call the defense for the last five or six years—he's done it in scrimmages, in practice, in a lot of different ways.

Maybe it's the best situation for us, and time will tell as you keep going forward, but I have confidence that it will—just based on the fact he's been around every coordinator we've had within this system.

He's been able to put all those pieces together from all the coordinators he was with and put it together into the 'Danny Collins Havoc Defense.' That's what's going to be exciting about it. He's had a name for it. He's ready to go with it.

This wasn't something that he was surprised about. He's been preparing his entire life for this opportunity. I actually complimented him from the staff yesterday on how much he's grown in front of the team.

When you look at the command he has and the confidence he has in front of our defense—and the confidence back—it's really untouchable. I mean, that's really cool to see this short into his tenure.

But that was really an easy decision. That wasn't very hard

You know how much I love to promote from within our program. I think that's why we get a lot of really good young coaches because they come here knowing that whatever they want to be and wherever they want to go, they'll be elevated from within.

I think that helps with the cultural sustainability for our players, which I think is really important. You know, coaches leave players' lives in and out. I think it's a lot easier and healthier when you can promote from within. Doesn't mean it happens all the time, but when you can do it, I think it helps the culture.

Feedback has been great. I think Aireonatae's had a lot of opportunities to show people—not only on the field but off the field in the interview process. Anytime he gets in front of a mic, I think you can see Aireonatae's personality. That's one of his strongest suits.

He's a real person and a real human being. He's got great character, but he's also got this great sense of humor. You get around him, and he's a lot of fun. But you know, I think it's not just the offensive linemen. If you look back before we got here, there's, I think, 14 or 15 straight years of no linemen drafted here.

Now, you look at where we're at—we've had five straight years with a first- or second-round pick in the program. There's going to be another one this year.

The guys on the side that are watching are already saying, "Well, I'm going to be the next one." You guys saw all that sign in the weight room—the five straight years of first- and second-round picks—yesterday in the weight room and today. That's all they're talking about.

"I'm going to be the next one. I just gotta put my picture a little bit further down here because it might be a freshman."

But that's what you want inside the walls—you want that competitive drive to be what these guys are.

This is a very different Pro Day than when we first got here. I think there were two NFL scouts—maybe somewhere around that—maybe one CFL guy.

Now, there's over 73 NFL personnel here—from head coaches to GMs, to position coaches, to scouts, to national scouts.

That's a compliment to our players, our culture, our administration, and the University of Minnesota. But more importantly, it's about the players—it's all about them.

So, I appreciate everybody being here. I appreciate all the coverage you give us.

Sorry for the only three questions—Paul's in charge. My answers are a little long, but we've got our spring ball coming up.

I'm going to see a lot of you here very soon. We can't wait to get started. We start tomorrow, doing it a little bit differently, as we do every year.

I'm excited for our spring ball and excited for you to get around the 2025 team. It's an exciting team, and I can't wait to start talking about them with you.

============================

- Talk about it INSIDE GOPHER NATION.

- Follow us on Twitter: @MinnesotaRivals, @RivalsDylanCC

- SUBSCRIBE to Gophers Nation