Chuck Filiaga and the other 6th and 5th year starters at Minnesota
PJ Fleck likes to start experienced players. So the 2020 eligibility waive rule is working very well to his advantage. 12 of the 22 starters on Minnesota's offense and defense are 5th and 6th year players. Chuck Filiaga is one of them. Chuck is in his 6th year. Of note: starting Minnesota RB, Mohamed Ibrahim, is in his 6th year, and is 24 years old. If ever there was a year for Minnesota with PJ Fleck to make a run at winning the BIG10 West, and getting to the BIG10 Championship, and possibly beyond, it's this year.
Here's a list of those 12 players:
Here's a side note on Terell Smith. So far this year, PFF is grading him as the #1 man coverage DB in college. The experience is paying off. And look who's at #2. Michigan's own, Will Johnson. Not bad for a true freshman!
PFF graded Minnesota TE, Brevyn Spann-Ford, the top TE for week 2. The experience is paying off.
Maybe we'll see Minnesota against Michigan on December 3, 2022, in the BIG10 Championship.
September 15th, 2022 at 7:48 PM ^
I would love that. I can’t think of a good reason to root against Minn.
Great to see Will Johnson getting some recognition
September 15th, 2022 at 8:05 PM ^
I can’t think of a good reason to root against Minn.
Fleck is all the reason I need to root against Minny. His "Rah Rah! Row the Boat" schtick annoys the hell out of me.
I wish Big Chuck all the success in the world though.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:24 PM ^
I haven't kept up with Minnesota in the last few years. Are they still headhunters?
September 15th, 2022 at 8:54 PM ^
Someone posted their 5 elements of a smart coach earlier today in a thread. One was get players hyped and I thought hey PJ Fleck is 20% of a smart coach.
September 16th, 2022 at 1:01 AM ^
I’m in the minority, I like Fleck..I don’t understand why being a rah-rah coach is negative? He is positive, players by in, dude is the reason game day showed up to Western…
September 16th, 2022 at 6:53 AM ^
I don't think that's the issue. I don't want to speak for every person who is anti Fleck, but I just think he's a disingenuous person. He's a lot like Frames. From what I hear TV Fleck is a little different from behind the scenes Fleck.
September 16th, 2022 at 10:00 AM ^
Eh. It's a persona. Behind the scenes Fleck is really only a problem if he's a raging douche.
EDIT: Forgot about the marrying a stripper thing. Although I don't know the details. Is he still a father to his kids? Maybe his ex was insane and he was right to leave her.
September 16th, 2022 at 5:58 PM ^
What the fuck is wrong with marrying a stripper?
As far as his divorce, marriages frequently fail after the death of a child
September 16th, 2022 at 11:55 PM ^
I don’t think there is anything with marrying a stripper. It’s fucking her while you’re married and also fucking you’re bosses wife at the same time that folks struggle with.
September 16th, 2022 at 7:16 AM ^
I actually don't know that he isn't good at Xes and Os other than what people say on here. I was excited for Western when he was there. I think part of the animosity is that anyone who does well coaching at a directional Michigan school is considered as a potential Michigan coach. I know people were talking about Brian Kelly before he went to Notre Dame. After Brady Hoke refused to wear a headset our fan base was dubious of a guy clapping on the sidelines. That and his record at Minnesota hasn't been great. The row the boat thing is a cool story about dealing with grief of losing a child, but then he got divorced a year after having a fifth kid and married a woman the internet presumes was a stripper. Probably a good coach, but a lot of red flags.
September 16th, 2022 at 7:56 AM ^
"The row the boat thing is a cool story about dealing with grief of losing a child, but then he got divorced a year after having a fifth kid and married a woman the internet presumes was a stripper. Probably a good coach, but a lot of red flags."
You don't know what the story is, but it's a "red flag" because he married a rumored stripper. Nothing like passing moral judgement on a person you've never even seen in real life, let alone know personally. Feel free to continue dealing with that giant stick in your ass, but spare the rest of us your 'moral' judgements...
September 16th, 2022 at 8:57 AM ^
I think it's perfectly fine to pass moral judgements on people you've never met. I don't want to go all Godwin, but you know what I would put here as an extreme example if I did. Of course, there's nothing immoral about being a stripper or marrying a stripper and I think that the other poster saw it as a red flag speaks a lot more to their moral character.
September 16th, 2022 at 9:21 AM ^
If you root for PJ Fleck you clearly don't pay attention to what former players say about him. He is grade A scumbag and has been since WMU.
September 16th, 2022 at 9:26 AM ^
Does that make him Minny’s Brian Kelly?
September 16th, 2022 at 9:40 AM ^
1. 'Disingenuous' is an apt description. The whole running up the sideline thing. The slogan. Unproven hype. It's all in a pile of things that annoy me. And, yeah, I realize these are attributes that people assign Jim. But our head ball coach is a genuinely weird dude. Fleck is mostly show. All of that shit overshadows any legitimate coaching ability.
2. The way Western folks insisted he was staying in fucking Kalamazoo rather than jumping to a P5 job was annoying.
3. IIRC, he left his family for a woman who....eh, I'm not going there. Life happens, but he got a lot of narrative about reportedly wanting to stay in Kalamazoo because of his family. Nothing bugs me more than the fam-uh-leee trope: don't claim to be the best dad/husband ever and then demand privacy when you screw it up.
September 16th, 2022 at 5:37 PM ^
That's such a bizarre thing to let bother you, lmao. Like the SEC people who got pissed Harbaugh dared to make UM marketable.
September 16th, 2022 at 5:44 PM ^
Well I'm also bothered by people with opinions about what bothers me.
Harbaugh is genuine. Fleck's act is just that, an act. That's why I said "schtick".
September 15th, 2022 at 7:49 PM ^
Got to slay the dragon again but this year there’s a chance down in the lion’s den
September 15th, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
Dragons and lions are working together? Crap!
September 15th, 2022 at 10:03 PM ^
Maybe if things turn out right, the lions will be draggin'.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:38 PM ^
Maybe if things turn out right, the lions will be draggin'.
A yearly Detroit tradition that began in 1958!
September 15th, 2022 at 7:49 PM ^
5 of those who have been at MN for 5 years are undeclared majors. They ain’t there to play school.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:38 PM ^
I hope they are getting that juicy NIL money...
September 15th, 2022 at 7:50 PM ^
My favorite part of this post is that Will Johnson is doing well playing man coverage.
Good for Chuck Filiaga.
Minnesota has a lot of 5th and 6th year players both home grown and transfers. The rest is much more info than I needed to know about them. They do look like serious contenders in the West this year.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:39 PM ^
Literally everyone in the west looks like a serious contender for the west this year. Except for Nebraska.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:45 PM ^
Unless something dramatically changes, I don't think Iowa has the offense to really compete.
September 15th, 2022 at 11:22 PM ^
Are you saying 2 safeties and a field goal aren’t enough offense?
September 15th, 2022 at 7:51 PM ^
Didn't know Will Johnson was doing so well so far. Good job Will.
September 16th, 2022 at 7:25 AM ^
Not hearing his name called is a sign of good things.
September 15th, 2022 at 7:55 PM ^
Seems like a very smart plan
September 15th, 2022 at 7:56 PM ^
B10 West is dreadful. Minnesota could be best team out there by a couple of games. Or Illinois could. Crazy.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:05 PM ^
Iowa might be shell shocked from the BIG10 Championship.
September 15th, 2022 at 11:20 PM ^
Minnesota
We’ll play for the Championship AND The Little Brown Jug.
September 16th, 2022 at 7:42 AM ^
Would be sweet to win two trophies in one game, though technically we’re still holding both ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Major flex either way
September 16th, 2022 at 2:12 AM ^
Illinois is probably the best team in the west. They lost to Indiana. I think Indiana may lose to Rutgers.
Eff this division alignment.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:06 PM ^
How the hell are you undeclared in your 5th year of college?!
September 15th, 2022 at 8:10 PM ^
Indy, I wonder what Minny’s APR is…
September 15th, 2022 at 8:15 PM ^
I think they just haven't updated these. Terell Smith's Linkedin page says
I'm Currently a grad student at the University Of Minnesota I graduated in 3.5 with a degree in business and marketing education. Im currently in grad school working on my masters for human Resource development M Ed. Im also in my final year of Eligibility playing football at the University Of Minnesota
September 15th, 2022 at 8:37 PM ^
Apparently proper punctuation and capitalization are not covered in the business program at Minnesota.
September 15th, 2022 at 9:09 PM ^
Blue, great news. It looks like a problem with updating the player profile information on their web site.
I am sensitive to assume that Fleck doesn’t have Minny’s players focused on academics. So, these 5th / 6th year players - working on their graduate degrees - I say.. Congratulations, have a great season.
September 15th, 2022 at 10:09 PM ^
Yeah, they're called doctors.
September 15th, 2022 at 11:01 PM ^
... or halfway to their Ph.D.
*sigh*
September 16th, 2022 at 2:13 AM ^
You got a thick candy shell!
September 15th, 2022 at 8:23 PM ^
They get MSU next weekend. That should be a good game I think
September 15th, 2022 at 9:11 PM ^
MSU goes to Washington this weekend. I'm not so sure MSU wins that.
September 16th, 2022 at 2:15 AM ^
Yeah lots of UM fans calling for the demise of MSU. Same as it ever was.
MSU gets a shitty call go their way late and wins by 2. Book it.
September 15th, 2022 at 8:26 PM ^
Glad to see our guys get recognition, but is anyone else confused by Will Johnson coming in 2nd in the nation? I thought the evaluation on him through two games is basically "He's going to be really good, but he's having some of the issues you'd expect from a true freshmen playing in his first college games."
September 15th, 2022 at 8:47 PM ^
Everyone remembers the one time he got beat for the TD, but what else? According to PFF, he's supposedly been a lock-down corner the rest of the time.
I'm guilty of this too, btw. I haven't paid him much mind, and that's probably a good thing because it means he's just doing his job and there's no bad moments.