Gable Steveson's gold medal rally wows Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck and his staff

Like many sports fans in Minnesota, P.J. Fleck made sure he was near a TV around 6:30 Friday morning to watch Gophers heavyweight Gable Steveson wrestle for an Olympic gold medal. And like pretty much anyone who watched Steveson's spectacular rally in the final 10 seconds to beat Georgia's Geno Petriashvili, Fleck was amazed.

"We all kind of watched it together as a staff,'' Fleck said. "… You heard the entire staff room, coaches offices, all immediately at the same time. I can't say what we all said, but it was like, 'You have got to be kidding me!' ''

Trailing 8-5, Steveson scored a two-point takedown with 10 seconds left and another with 0.2 to go to edge the three-time reigning world champion.

"What an ending. What an ending,'' Fleck said. "He deserves it. … He had eight points total scored against him. In the Olympics. We're talking the Olympics. We're not talking practice.''

Fleck knew exactly what the next question would be and headed it off at the pass.

"Everybody says, 'Oh, he should be on the football team,' '' Fleck said. "Here's a sound bite: I would love to have him. There's no doubt in my mind. But for him to be here right now, he would have had to miss the Olympics. I don't think anybody wants that guy missing the Olympics after what he just did for himself, his family – that video of his family is priceless. What he has done for the University of Minnesota, for our wrestling program, for Coach [Brandon Eggum], for our brand, is tremendous.

"I can't wait to see what he goes into,'' Fleck added. "He's the next Rock. … He's going to have a tremendous career whatever he decides to do.''

Fleck acknowledged he "talked a little bit here and there'' with Steveson about football, but the Olympics were his priority.

If Steveson — who did not play football during his high school days in Apple Valley — decided to pursue the sport, Fleck has a position in mind for him.

"Oh, he'd be a tremendous three-technique [defensive tackle],'' Fleck said of the cat-quick 6-1, 260-pounder. "In our system, he'd be awesome.''

So far, so good

The Gophers have had four days of training camp, and Fleck likes what he sees so far.

"I'm really proud of the progress our team is making,'' Fleck said. "This is a very experienced team, and you can push them a lot more than a younger team. We've got a lot of questions answered.''

He said both the offense and defense have been competitive, with neither holding a big advantage over the other.

"If you've got one side dominating, then there's something going on with the other side, and that creates a lot of worry,'' Fleck said. "I love the battles back and forth.''

TE Witham retires

Tight end Bryce Witham, who would have been in his seventh year in the program, has medically retired.

"Bryce came to my office the other day, and he's decided not to play football and go on with the rest of his life,'' Fleck said. "… He gave it a shot. In January, we talked and decided that we'd make a decision in training camp. … I'm really happy for him. He's done so much for this program.''

Etc.

* Former Vikings special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf is helping the Gophers in training camp on a volunteer basis.

* Offensive tackle Daniel Faalele was held out of practice because of precautionary reasons. "He'll be back Monday,'' Fleck said.

* Saturday's F.A.M.I.L.Y Day activities and open practice at Huntington Bank Stadium were canceled because of the threat of inclement weather. Instead, the team will hold an open practice at 7 p.m. Thursday at the stadium.