P.J. Fleck’s 100th career win came with a little extra meaning attached.
After Minnesota’s 20-14 win over Michigan on Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium, the Gophers kept the Little Brown Jug in Minneapolis, moved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play, and gave Fleck a milestone victory in his ninth-plus season leading the program. The win also pushed him to 41-40 in Big Ten play and 70-45 at Minnesota.
Fleck said Monday that his general manager, Geritt Chernoff, had him sit down and watch a video featuring more than 100 former players talking about their experiences with him as a head coach.
"That’s why I do the job. All these student-athletes are people first, and sooner or later you’re not going to win enough games.
I still believe in the impact you make on their lives," Fleck said. "It’s a pretty long video, you go 100-plus different people talking about their experiences while playing for our culture, the moments and memories they had.
They’re not talking about the wins, they’re talking about the moments and memories. I think that’s a really big deal."
In his postgame on-field interview, Fleck called Saturday one of the best days of his life, behind only getting married and having kids. He also said he has heard from several former players since the victory.
Minnesota now turns to Purdue, looking for a fourth straight win and a 3-0 start in conference play before its bye week. The Gophers are on the road again for another night Big Ten game, this one a 7 p.m. kickoff after the 10 p.m. start two weeks ago at Washington. The game will air on Big Ten Network.
Purdue enters at 2-3 after losses to Wake Forest, UCLA and Notre Dame, then a 24-17 win at Illinois.
Fleck also explained Monday one of the details he has built into the program: "the ball is the program." At Minnesota, after every play on offense, the player with possession carries the ball directly to an official instead of tossing it away like many other teams do.
"The ball is the program, I want to see it. That’s the fastest way for it to get set.
The ball is everything, it’s so important they named the game after it. It’s a respect factor to the game," Fleck said.
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