INDIANAPOLIS – Merging optimism and nostalgia, P.J. Fleck took to the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday morning and counted his blessings.
"I promise you this,'' the Gophers football coach said during his news conference at Big Ten media days. "I haven't taken one day for granted being a head football coach, especially in this league.''
Fleck, 41, is entering his sixth season as Minnesota's coach after four at Western Michigan, and his message Tuesday about the 2022 Gophers was upbeat. The team is coming off a 9-4 showing in 2021 in which it tied for second in the Big Ten West and beat West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
"When your best players are your hardest workers, you have something really special,'' he said. "We have a lot of guys who chose to come back for that sixth year. … It's a fun team, a committed team, probably more than I've ever had in my six years at the University of Minnesota.''
Joining Fleck in Indianapolis were quarterback Tanner Morgan, center John Michael Schmitz, linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin and safety Tyler Nubin. Those players had their media sessions later Tuesday.
Morgan got married in early July, and Fleck noted that Schmitz also is engaged to be married. "It must be contagious,'' the coach said. " … It's been fun to watch their lives develop, on and off the field.''
Also falling under that category is running back Mohamed Ibrahim, a sixth-year senior who's working his way back from a torn Achilles' tendon suffered in last year's season opener against Ohio State.
"Here's a guy who could have gone to the National Football League,'' Fleck said. "He was primed for a huge season. He decided to come back not only for himself, but for his teammates. That kind of spread throughout our entire team — John Michael Schmitz coming back, Tanner coming back, Crab [Chris Autman-Bell] coming back. They made choices based on what Mo was going to do. … He did it to kind of put a different ending to what happened.''
