Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck met with the media on Sunday ahead of the Golden Gophers traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Duke Mayo's Bowl. Here's everything he had to say.

It's a little bit similar to what we did when we played on January 1st when we played Auburn in the Outback Bowl. That's what it was called back then. So it's only a two-day difference with that little bit of holiday break in between.

But our guys came back a few days ago from the holiday break. They've been really consistent in the way they've worked. And I think there is no secret to anything.

You're always looking to be 1-0. But I just think, like a lot of teams out there, our team really likes to play football. And they want to continue to play football as long as they can in 2024.

And it'll be 2025 when we do play. But I think they just love playing football and love getting better. And when you have a team like that, that makes the preparation a lot, I can't say easier, it just makes it a lot more enjoyable to be around each other, where they take it very seriously.

It's a chance for us to be a champion and be 1-0 and send the seniors out in the right way. So I know everybody in the country is trying to do that, too, in the bowl prep. And you've just got to find a way to get your margins in your preparation to be a little bit better than the opponent.

Yeah, I really like where we're at. I really like the high school class that we signed that will be here very soon, a lot of them. I really like our portal class that we signed.

You're signing based off need, competition, depth. And then, as I tell our football team, I've said this a long time ago as a head coach, and you start to look at roster management, your job is to continue to elevate the roster for every particular year. Whether that was high school recruiting five, six years ago, I told our team 10 years ago, my job is to replace everybody with a better version of you that's a younger version of you.

It's your job to keep your job. And that's how competition works. And you have a head start if you're in the program and you're doing what you're supposed to do.

You're working really hard. You're committed to the process. And then you bring some other guys in here who have been playing college football for a long time.

It elevates the competition within the room, and I think that's really healthy, especially as we get to the 105 and you start looking at each position, only having a concrete number of players in that room. Everybody in that room has got to be able to help you if you happen to get to them, no matter who they are, young player, older player, transfer, guy that's been in the program. But I think our players have embraced that really well.

The reason we have a really good portal class is because our players are on our team. I mean, nothing shows the program more than the players you have on the team, and we're using them as hosts and using them on official visits. And our players embrace change, and they embrace competition, and they embrace this team getting better.

And that's what I like about this football team and coaching these guys, because I know that's not that way all over the country. You know, you bring in somebody, somebody takes that personal, and they leave. Transparent conversations are really, really critical.

And no matter where anybody goes, there's always going to be competition. Nobody can ever lie to somebody and say there's not going to be competition. There's always going to be competition around you if you're doing your job.

And, you know, we're very transparent to the portal players. We're very transparent to the high school players and the players we have on our football team. But if everybody's team gophers, it doesn't matter.

Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to make this team better, and I appreciate that about our players.

Yeah, I don't know if evening out is the right word, Dave.

I think that, you know, there's – I don't think parity is the right word either. I still think that, you know, when you have the salary cap, that's one thing. But then there is no limit to the NIL right now.

And I think that's, you know, that's what sets some people apart is they can have around the same type of salary cap. That's fine. They can distribute that how they want to distribute that amongst the athletic department.

And they can highlight what sports they want to highlight. But then the NIL, that's the thing that separates it from a lot of – from it being equal, even, parity. But I think that you're starting to see us being able to get a high-quality athlete, retain a high-quality athlete and a student athlete that we can.

And, you know, four years ago when we lose a player and we have nothing – there's nothing you can do about it. You pat him on the back and shoot, you'll drive him there because it's a better opportunity for him. And I don't blame them.

But now when you're in the talk and you're in the mix, you know, players are, you know, talking between however many thousands of dollars and do you really want to make that move, do you not? Where are you in the depth chart? Where are you in the future? And you're having open, honest communication with them. But I think that it definitely helps, Dave. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say it doesn't help.

It helps. And, you know, the SEC and the Big Ten have major TV contracts that allow that money to be real, allow that money to be there. Our NIL and collective with Dinkytown Athletes, that money's there.

It's real. And I can't say that for everybody around the country, you know. I mean, a lot of stories are coming out from different people.

But here at the University of Minnesota, it's real. And I'm really proud of our administration for that, really thankful for that. Thank you for Dinkytown Athletes of making sure that it's all real.

And I think that's pretty cool.

Oh , you're going to hate the response to the question, Randy. I'd really appreciate you asking. But the injury report is just like the availability report will be out two hours before kickoff. Thanks for asking.

Yeah, I wouldn't even say it's a preparation for his pro career. I think this is the beginning of his pro career.

Max Brosmer is a player who loves playing football, period. The more he plays, the more people are going to fall in love with him. He's a player that has to keep playing.

And as he keeps playing, people are going to love watching him play football. I mean, it is a lot of fun for a coach who's been around the game a long time to watch a student athlete like that embrace the game the way he embraces it. I don't know if I've ever watched a student athlete love the game more in the preparation process.

I mean, I'm looking at Antoine Winfield, Jr. with a big smile on his face right here, and you look at Tyler Newben and the way he played the game, and I can go on and on. But enjoying the actual process and dedicating hours and hours and hours a day to the grind of it and loving that. I mean, we're walking off the field right now, and he wants to get this play installed.

And we're kind of saying, well, maybe. And so to kind of sway the votes, he's got the tight ends out there, and he's teaching them the route concept exactly the way it needs to go because when we practice it tomorrow, it's make or break. But he wants it in, and it's got to go really well for it to go in tomorrow, and that was the deal.

So he's out there making sure that it goes the way it needs to go. That's the type of leader he is. I think he's going to play his way into not only NFL camps and being drafted and all that other stuff, but he's going to be around that league for a long time because he's going to make himself that way.

And there was no surprise when he said he was going to play. Everybody's got to make decisions for themselves, and I understand that. And that doesn't mean if you don't, you don't love football, and if you do, you do love football.

Speaking just for Max, though, I mean, the more he plays, the more people are going to fall in love with him. And those are the reports I keep getting back from people is the more he plays, we just love him.

(Maybe something about your culture, though, where he wants to stay with his teammates.And there's not a right or wrong here, but maybe saying something about your culture that he's here for one year and he still wants to stay with the guys.)

The culture starts with the people. It starts with the players, period.

You can't have a culture without the players, and I think that that's what's really unique about here is, you know, we talked about the bowl prep needs to be really fun. Well, fun's earned, and the F for that is for each other. It has to be for each other.

It can't be for anybody else. It's got to be for each other. And the players are out there doing the work.

The players are out there practicing. The players are out there sacrificing. And it's got to be a lot of fun for them in the process.

And I think Eric Chernoff and our staff do a really good job of making the bowl experience, to your question, Dave, a lot of fun to be in. They want to be in bowl prep. I mean, last night we took them to a movie.

You know, it sounds crazy. I mean, I know they can go get their own movie ticket these days and go to their own movie, but there's something about still renting out the theater, being around each other, having popcorn, having snacks, and watching a movie. I think it just says a lot about the connection of this team from the staff down to the players and back up.

I think that's really, really fun to see. And I know everybody's really excited to get on that airplane and head to Charlotte and see Danny Morrison and his staff and go out there and meet all the Duke's Mayo people as well.

I think he's the best processor I've ever been around.

And I think I've said that, and I think it's well documented. I'm so consistent in that statement, because I don't think I've been around a processor like that. And I think that you've watched his learning process happen before your eyes.

You know, you watch the beginning, first half of the North Carolina game. Second half's completely different. First half of the season's completely different than the second half of the season.

First half of a game, completely different than the second. He just continues to get better as the game goes on. And, you know, the more people throw at him, the more he can keep processing and make adjustments and make changes.

But to take all the information that he's been able to get, it's probably the most complex offense we've ever had in the 12 years of me being a head football coach, and he processes it like it's the easiest. And I never take that for granted. The great thing about it is our quarterbacks now have a chance to learn from him, attach at the hip, and that's the legacy he's going to leave.

We only had him for, you know, 11 months, 12 months, but the legacy he's going to leave is what he passed down in terms of the process, the preparation to the other guys. And I think that's the ultimate, you know, definition of a leader is what you're passing down that other people are going to use to make the team and themselves better.

I mean, that's what's so great about college football. You know, I know everybody wants to see that for coaches, period. I think it's one of the quirky, really cool traditions with the Mayo dumping on the coach's head.

I think everybody has done it a little bit differently, but I think bowl head coaches are really open to that because that's what makes college football really, really special, whether it's, you know, Pop-Tarts or Mayo or, you know, Cheez-Its coming out of the Gatorade or the Powerade tub. I mean, that's just what makes it a little bit unique and a lot of fun. Again, this whole bowl prep's got to be a lot of fun. You know, I mean, it's over basically a month and some change until you play again from your last game, and that's a long time when you're playing every single week in season. So, there's got to be a lot of fun things that go into it, and yeah, I'm still down to make it a double if it happens.

Yeah, just incredible maturity.

You know, I think that's one thing for him. When doing what you have to do becomes doing what you really want to do. I think he's really got a feel for the defense, how he fits in the defense.

We move him around so much that I think early, I think that was a learning process for him from the outside to the inside to nose to three technique, whether it was the first or second down package or third down packages, but he's grown a ton mentally, physically, and emotionally, but the maturity level has gone through the roof. He knows why in everything that he's doing. He's able to play a little bit faster, and he's so versatile.

I mean, I don't think I've ever had a guy that big with that versatility at 6'6", 295 pounds, and he can do a lot of different things. You know, we were all joking around yesterday as a team just talking basketball, and everybody wants to talk basketball. All the football players want to talk basketball.

I'm sure all the basketball players want to talk football. And they were all kind of joking around, and they said, all right, who would be the first pick? And Anthony, bang came out of everybody's mouth really quick, so I know that made him feel pretty good, I'm sure, even though he probably didn't hear it. He now heard it now, but I think just his versatility and his maturity has gone through the roof.

Absolutely. I mean, you're always looking for that opportunity. You know, I'll take a guy, for instance, like Mason Carrier.

You know, Mason Carrier is a true freshman. He's a really good player. Hasn't played all year, but there's some special teams that we can use him and get him experience, so next year when we really need him to have a bigger role, he's at least played in a game against an ACC opponent, and here we go.

Obviously, other players, you're not just going to, it's not an experiment. You know, you got about a month and a half or a month and a week to really know who's in, know who's not going to play, know who's hurt, who had surgery, and then you start to look who left the program, who transferred, and then you start to build your roster and your game plan accordingly. That's why you take some time in those first week and a half to almost two weeks.

It's all Minnesota and Minnesota. There isn't a game plan that we're practicing against Virginia Tech or our opponent. It's all us because that's when guys are entering the portal a little bit faster.

That's when the mass exodus are happening. You have a better feel come that third week of who's really going to be in, who isn't. Just because a guy opts out doesn't necessarily mean he's not going to play.

Or for the opposite end of the NFL, doesn't mean he's not going to play. So I think, you know, that's, you got to look at all those things and then add who the next guys are and it all comes down to who's earned it. You know, that's one thing that we'll always keep in this program.

You know, I want to make sure I make that very clear that we're not just experimenting and throwing guys out because you're the next guy. We'll change a personnel grouping if you're the next guy and you're not ready to play or you haven't earned the chance to play. These guys on this team are earning everything they get and the bowl game is going to be a great reward for them.

Especially the lot of the young guys that are going to be able to get some reps because they've earned it and they're the next guy as well.

No, last year we had a few. This year we didn't.

I don't think there was a bigger need. Rules have kind of changed and some certain things that kind of lock players in. That's why we did that last year.

But this year, no, nobody will really accompany us to Charlotte and we look forward to them joining us here in the first two weeks of January once those get done. Once we get back from the Dukes-Mayo Bowl, we're hitting the ground running recruiting. Literally, we come back after the game and we'll have an official visit, roll right into it.

It's the world of college football. Just keep on moving.

You still don't know everything.

I think when you watch bowl games on TV, I think that when you watch them, you're sitting there going, wow, there's a lot of things that are happening that look way easier than they should be happening. I mean, there's a lot of guys playing that maybe didn't expect they were going to play. Schematics change.

What a team looked like in November is very different than what they look like in January, and that is not a negative. It's just you're preparing for ghosts. You got to have a plan for every single plan and then have a plan when that plan isn't that plan.

A lot of contingency plans going on here, but you got to take care of the ball and get takeaways. You got to tackle well and break tackles, and you got to create explosive plays and eliminate the explosive plays, no matter who's on the field. But that's what makes you bowl games really unique.

You really, truly don't know what you're preparing for, and Virginia Tech back to us. I mean, that's what's going to make it a great game, and both teams have that type of parity where you probably don't know what's really coming once the ball gets kicked off. All right.

Appreciate everybody. Thanks for coming here. Happy holidays.

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