Souhan: Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck doesn’t need to overhype his program anymore

I recently attended a P.J. Fleck news conference, and something strange happened. Or didn’t happen.

I didn’t cringe.

Seriously. The Gophers football coach used the word “elite” sparingly. He spoke passionately and stayed on message, which is part of his job.

More important was what he didn’t say.

When Fleck arrived in Minnesota in 2017, and for many years since, he has often wanted to sell seemingly contradictory stories.

That with the right support he can make Gopher football great. And that because of the obvious limitations and competitive disadvantages facing the program, expectations should be kept in check.

I don’t blame him for setting those parameters, because, however floridly he would describe the reality of a Gopher football coach, he was correct. His job is to get the most he can out of this program, and he works in an inherently unfair industry.

So last week, during his last full-length news conference before the season opener, Fleck raved about the state of his program, which isn’t surprising.

What was surprising was that he didn’t make any excuses. He didn’t downplay expectations.

And he could. He coaches a disadvantaged program in what might be the best conference in college football. He is expected to contend with teams that contend for national titles, and those teams have inherent advantages: more money, more tradition, better facilities, bigger stadiums.

While no one wants to hear him complain about his plight, he could make a fact-based argument for lowered expectations.

What I heard last week was an endearing blend of pride and optimism, which is justified by these developments:

I’d rather have him publicly set high goals and fall short than depress expectations.

“I’d want a head coach that wants to talk about it,” Fleck, 44, said of the playoffs. “Especially when there’s a lot better chance for a lot of other people to get in it than when there was only four.

“As we keep evolving into the new world of college athletics, that becomes realistic for us. And if you look at what people are proposing, there’s been a lot of seasons we’ve been really close to it … you just want to continue to raise the level of expectations.“

The ability to land Perich and Voss might hint at a new way to view NIL money, which, like any financial system in college football, is bound to favor the richer programs.

What if top recruits like Perich and Voss were willing to sign with the Gophers because they would be more marketable in their home state than they would be at, say, Alabama, where all of the players are blue-chip recruits, and the fans may not know where Minnesota is located?