Antoine Winfield Jr., Son of Former Pro Bowl CB, Declares for 2020 NFL Draft
Jan 8, 2020
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2019, file photo. Minnesota defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr. (11) gestures during an NCAA college football game against Wisconsin, in Minneapolis. Winfield was selected to The Associated Press All-America team, Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs, File)
Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is leaving the University of Minnesota early to declare for the 2020 NFL draft.
The redshirt sophomore announced his decision on Instagram: "I looked up to my dad [three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield], and watched what he did and all he accomplished. Seeing what he was able to do empowers me to say: It's my time."
As expected, Antoine Winfield Jr. has declared for the NFL Draft (announced via Instagram). He leaves Minnesota as one of the best ever to wear maroon and gold. pic.twitter.com/uDitu9Ujq6
Winfield only played eight combined games due to injuries in 2017 and 2018. He had a terrific rebound campaign for the Gophers this season, playing in all 13 games and recording career highs in tackles (88) tackles for loss (3.5), sacks (three) and interceptions (seven).
The Texas native was named to the All-American first team and won the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year award.
B/R's Matt Miller hasn't listed Winfield on his big board because he's been waiting to see if the 21-year-old would declare. But Miller noted on Twitter the Minnesota star would rank among the top 75 prospects in the 2020 class and will likely be a second- or third-round talent.
Winfield isundersizedfor the NFL at 5'10" and 205 pounds, but his ability to find the ball will give him an opportunity to make an immediate impact as a professional.
No. 8 Minnesota Suffers 1st Loss of Season in 23-19 Upset to No. 20 Iowa
Nov 16, 2019
IOWA CITY, IOWA- NOVEMBER 16: Wide receiver Nico Ragaini #89 celebrates with offensive lineman Tyler Linderbaum #65 of the Iowa Hawkeyes after a touchdown during the first half against the Minnesota Gophers on November 16, 2019 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
No. 20 Iowa beat a Top 10 team at home for the third time in four years thanks to a 23-19 win over No. 8 Minnesota at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday.
Iowa jumped out to a 13-0 advantage after one quarter and led 20-6 at halftime, but Minnesota scored two touchdowns around an Iowa field goal to crawl within 23-19.
The Golden Gophers got the ball with 1:35 left on their own 20-yard line with no timeouts and a chance to win, but two straight Iowa sacks, an incomplete pass and an interception on a desperate fourth-down heave sealed the Hawkeyes victory.
Iowa also beat No. 3 Michigan in 2016 and No. 6 Ohio State in 2017. The Wolverines were also undefeated, and OSU entered the Hawkeyes matchup with a 7-1 mark.
The 7-3 Hawkeyes (4-3 in Big Ten) were eliminated from conference title-game contention earlier Saturday with Wisconsin's win over Nebraska, but they are bowl eligible for the seventh straight season under head coach Kirk Ferentz.
Minnesota fell to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Big Ten play but still controls its destiny for a Big Ten Championship Game appearance.
There is no scarier place for a Top 10 team in the Big Ten to play than Kinnick Stadium.
The place has gained a certain aura about it, where the conference's best sometimes struggle to hang with the Hawkeyes before eventually falling.
Iowa isn't invincible at Kinnick, of course, but it's making a habit of torpedoing the seasons of championship hopefuls.
Michigan went into Kinnick in 2016 with an undefeated record, a No. 3 ranking and one of the country's best offenses, but the Wolverines came home empty-handed after a 14-13 loss. Their point total was particularly noteworthy considering they averaged 40.3 points for the entire season.
One year later, No. 6 Ohio State strolled into Iowa City riding the high of a six-game winning streak where they had averaged 50.8 points per game and allowed just 15.6. Iowa didn't care, apparently, en route to a 55-24 blowout.
Saturday's game was somewhere in the middle of those two games: Iowa took control early and never looked back, although Minnesota did keep it close in the second half.
Still, the Hawkeyes were clearly the better team on this day, with the defense bending but not breaking and the offense executing three excellent first-half drives for the win.
Iowa is the college football equivalent of a solid NCAA tournament team that shines well enough for one game to knock off a powerhouse everyone assumed would go far. That team this year in men's hoops was Auburn, who crushed North Carolina en route to the Final Four.
Iowa is never in the national title conversation, but every so often on random Kinnick nights, it resembles one of the best teams in the country, one anyone would have trouble facing.
Gophers Can't Dig Out of Early Hole
Minnesota gained 226 yards on offense in four first-half drives but came away with just six points.
That's the biggest takeaway from the previously undefeated Golden Gophers' defeat.
Quarterback Tanner Morgan was exceptional, completing 69.4 percent of his passes at 10.2 yards per attempt. And Tyler Johnson couldn't be stopped, snagging nine passes for 170 yards and a touchdown.
But Minnesota will look back on those four first-half drives and wonder what could have been.
The Golden Gophers faced a 1st-and-10 from the Iowa 29-yard line on their first drive, but their efforts stalled before a Brock Walker 50-yard field goal try proved unsuccessful.
Minnesota then went 87 yards on its next drive and had a 1st-and-10 from the Iowa 8-yard line, but the Golden Gophers were forced to settle for a field goal.
Drive three saw Minnesota go as far as the Iowa 25-yard line, but a Kristian Welch sack ultimately led to a punt.
The last drive saw Minnesota simply run out of time, as the Golden Gophers had a 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line but were forced to kick a field goal with time running out.
Minnesota's offense came to life in the second half, but at that point, Iowa had done too much damage in the first half for the Golden Gophers to mount a comeback. The Hawkeyes executed touchdown drives of 75, 68 and 69 yards, and that proved to be the difference.
Ultimately, it's a disappointing result for Minnesota, one that puts its College Football Playoff hopes on the brink. FiveThirthyEight gives the Golden Gophers a 4 percent chance to qualify following the loss.
Minnesota is still in the driver's seat to take part in the Big Ten Championship Game, though, and that would be a fantastic accomplishment in year three of head coach P.J. Fleck's era.
What's Next?
Iowa will host Illinois on Senior Day on Saturday noon ET. Minnesota will visit Northwestern on Saturday at a to-be-announced time.
Look: Minnesota Fans Flood Field After Golden Gophers Upset No. 4 Penn State
Nov 9, 2019
The No. 17 Minnesota Golden Gophers upset the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 Saturday afternoon.
Both teams entered the game undefeated, and Minnesota didn't make it any easier for Penn State to digest its first loss afterward as nearly everyone at TCF Bank Stadium rushed the field:
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Minnesota had been waiting since 1999 for a celebration of this magnitude:
(17) Minnesota hangs on for the victory over (4) Penn State, 31-26. This is its first victory over an AP Top-5 team since 1999 (defeated No. 2 Penn State).
Rashod Bateman posted 203 receiving yards in the victory, the 2nd-most by a player in Golden Gopher history. pic.twitter.com/HgSpvki4Yu
Mayhem ensued. Players rang the Governor's Victory Bell—introduced in 1993 during the two teams' first matchup as Big Ten opponents—on the field before fans joined them in throngs:
While meeting with reporters postgame, senior linebacker Carter Coughlin said he told a teammate, "This is how TCF Bank Stadium should be," when the field began flooding with people. The Golden Gophers have one more shot this regular season to energize their home field when No. 13 Wisconsin visits on Nov. 30.
Rising Star Coach P.J. Fleck Proving He's More Than Antics with 8-0 Minnesota
Nov 8, 2019
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach P.J. Fleck of the Minnesota Gophers leads his players onto the field before the game against the Georgia Southern Eagles at TCF Bank Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS — P.J. Fleck is having an elite morning. Not just good. Not just great. "Elite," he says.
He's dressed elite, too. Not like the football coach at Minnesota, days away from the most important game of his career—drenched in a team hoodie or pullover. But more like a lawyer or a stockbroker.
His crisp long-sleeve white dress shirt with bright blue buttons snugly hugs his athletic frame. It's complemented by a red and blue striped tie that seems to glow under his office lighting. To cap off the look, he wears fashionable blue dress pants and a brown belt. A trendy watch that pulls the ensemble together.
It's fitting that Fleck is donning this outfit a day before his new seven-year, $33.25 million contract with the school is announced—and one day after Florida State fired head coach Willie Taggart, prompting a slew of rumors surrounding Fleck's future to flow freely.
Not that the contract will stop the rumors entirely. "That energy and his history of winning and putting programs in a positive light without off-field issues is very attractive," one prominent agent tells B/R, noting that there are a handful of programs that won't be scared off by Fleck's $10 million buyout.
But for now, Fleck is committed and isn't going anywhere.
"I mean what I say," he says of the speculation, knowing the news that awaits. "I expect to be here a very long time. When you don't have a right fit, the marriage doesn't last long. We just saw an example of that down south."
Few coaches have ascended college football as swiftly and boisterously as the 38-year-old Fleck has over the past five years. In 2013, his first year as a head coach, Western Michigan finished with a record of 1-11. In 2016, he and the Broncos were 13-1.
After being named the head coach at Minnesota that offseason, Fleck's program finished 5-7 in year one. Now, smack-dab in the middle of year three, the Golden Gophers are 8-0. On Saturday, Minnesota will take on also-unbeaten Penn State in one of the most momentous games the program has ever been a part of.
In all of its history, Minnesota has never had a coach like this. His voice booms with conviction no matter the topic. In one moment, he's explaining the challenge of moving the ball against Penn State's front seven. In the next, he's exploring his love of history and the concept of time.
He injects words like "elite" so naturally and frequently into the conversation, you start to question why you aren't doing the same. He doesn't just ooze optimism and confidence; it's exploding from him at all times.
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach PJ Fleck of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on September 28, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
"I'm not for everybody," he acknowledges. "And when you're a leader, you know you're not going to be for everybody. You have to be OK with not being for everybody when you're a leader. And if you are for everybody, you're not leading."
From a distance, it would be easy to believe it's an act. No coach dresses like this on an off day. The person we see in press conferences can't possibly be this way at all hours.
But those close to Fleck, many of whom have been around him since he began coaching, will attest to his authenticity. Like most, perhaps they had their doubts at first. But as the expectations and paychecks have grown, Fleck hasn't changed who he is.
"I thought there was no way he could be like this all the time," says Kirk Ciarrocca, Minnesota's offensive coordinator who first worked with Fleck at Rutgers in 2010. "But after we were around him for about a month, we realized that's who he was. And then I started asking him a lot of questions. What were your parents like? How did they bring you up?
"Cuz I'm curious … how do you end up like this?"
Every item in Fleck's office has meaning, although the painting of John F. Kennedy positioned on the wall over his right shoulder, nestled between the College GameDay and Cotton Bowl wall decor, is particularly noteworthy.
In the painting, Kennedy's arms are crossed. His head is facing downward toward the ground.
"That was after the Bay of Pigs invasion," Fleck says. "And it obviously didn't go well. As a leader, there are choices you have, and you make them every day. There are times when things go really well and others when they don't. But you can't stop. And every choice you make, you learn from it."
On the wall farthest from his desk, near the entryway, is his leadership wall. Kennedy's face can be found again. He is in one of murals, along with former presidents Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Barack Obama.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Rosa Parks are also featured, as are Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs and others. When he has recruits in his office, Fleck is often curious just how many people on the wall they can name.
Near the ceiling on one side of his office, "I AM DOING ELITE WORK, I WILL NOT COME DOWN" is written in all-caps—spanning from his desk to the entryway. On his desk, a piece of white-colored wood with the message "Positive Attracts Positive" faces toward his guest chairs.
PISCATAWAY, NJ - OCTOBER 19: Head coach P. J. Fleck of the Minnesota Golden Gophers signals inches to the referee during the fourth quarter at SHI Stadium on October 19, 2019 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Minnesota defeated Rutgers 42-7. (Photo by Corey Perr
Some of the messaging is direct. Some, implied, like the hand-drawn picture of a Great White Shark.
"A goldfish waits to be fed," Fleck says, explaining its meaning to him. "A shark goes and eats anything in the ocean at any moment. It's never full. It's always attacking."
Perhaps the most meaningful items to Fleck in the room, though, are tucked away on a shelf largely out of sight. Four action figures from his childhood stand side by side. The figurines, which include Superman and Captain America, are gifts from his mother. Each year, she sends him one for Christmas.
Life is much different than it used to be for Fleck, who grew up in Sugar Grove, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. But the gifts are a reminder of where he comes from.
"If you asked my mom and dad, I was involved in every activity known to man," he says. "Boy Scouts, pottery class, gymnastics, band, choir and every sport you can imagine. I loved everything. I wanted to do it all. And I think that's part of the energy I have right now."
But the items that unquestionably take up the most space inside his office are footballs. Fleck has a game ball from all 50 of his wins, each labeled with the opponent, score and other memorable tidbits. Depending on the visitor, the balls will be strategically placed in certain sight lines.
He points out the ball marked October 11, 2014. That one changed Fleck's life. In his second year at Western Michigan, the Broncos were down 21 points during the second quarter against Ball State. They came from behind to win 42-38 and went on to win their next five games.
"I don't want people to forget the way that this program made them feel," he says of the game balls. "I don't want them to forget how this program changed their life. And that takes the players doing that, not me. It takes the players living that type of lifestyle."
In the center of the room is his proudest ball from Minnesota to date, although a win on Saturday would alter the hierarchy.
After losing six of eight games in 2018, the Gophers closed the regular season at Wisconsin on November 24. Fleck's team won convincingly, 37-15, securing the Paul Bunyan's Axe rivalry trophy for the first time in 15 years.
In the process, Minnesota became bowl-eligible. It has not lost a game since.
Tanner Morgan never thought he would wind up at the University of Minnesota. The Gophers' starting quarterback, who has accounted for 19 touchdowns and only four interceptions this season, was set on attending Western Michigan as a senior in high school. From the first day he met Fleck, he knew this was the coach he wanted to play for.
The morning Fleck called and told him he was leaving for Minnesota, Morgan flipped his commitment. He knew little about the program. In fact, he had never been to the state.
He knew it was cold. That was about it. But hours later, he committed to Fleck at his new school.
"I was just blown away with how real and passionate he is about life and football," Morgan says. "It was a no-brainer to me. There was no other coach I'd rather play for."
For Fleck, recruiting has always come naturally. The passion won't resonate with every 18-year-old like it did with Morgan, nor does he expect it to. But Fleck doesn't change who he is, whether it helps or hurts his chances of securing a commitment.
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - SEPTEMBER 28: Head coach PJ Fleck of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on September 28, 2019 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
At Western Michigan, Ciarrocca, who served as Fleck's offensive coordinator, identified the unique quality early on. He anticipated that other programs and coaches would proclaim to recruits that Fleck is fake or over-the-top. To counter that, they devised a very simple strategy.
"They can't attack his energy, and they can't attack his messages," Ciarrocca says. "So they attack him. The number one thing we've learned is to get the people around him as much as possible, so they can make their own judgment."
Matt Simon didn't need multiple encounters to know what Fleck was about. In fact, the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Minnesota changed his career path not long after Fleck came into his life.
The two first met at Northern Illinois in 2007. Simon was a wide receiver, and Fleck joined the program to coach the wideouts. After spending time as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, this was Fleck's first job as an assistant.
"To be honest, that's why I got into coaching," Simon says. "It was him. At the time, I was a business major, and coaching wasn't even anything I thought I would ever do. But I watched him change us. I always said when I was done playing, I want to be able to do that for other people."
The significance of Saturday's game doesn't show on his face or in his body language. Having a lucrative new long-term contract in place can't hurt, but mostly: This is just the kind of week Fleck has been waiting for.
His style and personality were built for moments like this one. When the hype and optimism are delivered every day, Saturdays of this magnitude feel smaller.
"This is a huge game," he says. "Don't get me wrong. One of the biggest games of my career, of University of Minnesota's existence. But again, it's a game. It's 60 minutes. If we play our style of football, we have a chance. If we get away from our style football, we don't have a chance."
Leading up to the Penn State game, Fleck did not deny the obvious like other coaches might. Instead, he talked through his 8-0 record with his team. They embraced it together.
"You can't ignore those things with young people," he says. "You can't ignore it when you're on the way to success, because you'll always feel that it's not good enough. You've got to celebrate where you've come from to get to where you really want to be."
A win over Penn State would be the defining moment in Fleck's young coaching career. It would validate Minnesota's season in a way some have refused to do, citing the team's favorable schedule as its primary reason for being unbeaten.
That's at least one way to look at it. To Fleck, this is the new normal. Win or lose. The hope is that years from now, games of this stature will be regular occurrences. With the speculation over his future at the school in the rear view, at least for the time being, the next step is to bottle what has transpired over the past two months and carry it forward.
No matter what happens, it will look different. It will sound different. Not because Fleck wants it to be, but because it’s who he is and how he leads. It might not be for you—it’s certainly not for everyone. But given where it’s brought him, there’s no reason to change now.
Adam Kramer covers college football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KegsnEggs.
Minnesota head coach P. J. Fleck looks on during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Rutgers Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier)
The University of Minnesota announced a seven-year contract extension for head football coach P.J. Fleck on Tuesday after the Golden Gophers' 8-0 start to the 2019 season.
#Gophers AD Mark Coyle shares P.J. Fleck's new salary is $4.6 million, with the new buyout if he were to leave at $10 million. Contract is 65% guaranteed
The 38-year-old Illinois native released a statement about his new contract:
"It is a tremendous honor to lead this team and represent the University of Minnesota and this great state. Our family absolutely loves Minnesota, and we are excited to continue to call this state home. We are building a championship culture—one that our fans can be proud of—through the academic, athletic, social and spiritual development of our student-athletes. Heather and I are so thankful to our staff, [athletic director] Mark Coyle, president [Joan] Gabel and the Board of Regents for seeing the vision we have for our football program."
Minnesota faces No. 5 Penn State and No. 18 Iowa over the next two weeks before finishing the regular season with a clash against No. 16 Wisconsin. It will be a heavy favorite against Northwestern in its other game during the final month of the campaign.
FiveThirtyEightonly projects Fleck's group to have a five percent chance of making the CFP because of that difficult schedule, but that number skyrockets to 99 percent if they do the improbable and run the table.
The strong run, which includes a 5-0 mark in Big Ten play, has boosted Fleck's stock after he posted a mediocre 12-13 record across his first two years at Minnesota. He went 30-22 in four years at Western Michigan in his first head coaching job.
In turn, his name popped up in therumor millrelated to the opening at Florida State after the Seminoles fired Willie Taggart on Sunday.
College sports fans know a contract extension guarantees nothing, but it should improve Minnesota's chances of keeping Fleck if other programs do come calling in the weeks and months ahead.
For now, however, his focus is surely on trying to set the Gophers up to pull off an upset of the Nittany Lions on Saturday to prove their unbeaten record isn't a fluke.
4-Time Cancer Survivor Casey O'Brien Makes Debut for Minnesota Football
Oct 20, 2019
Minnesota Golden Gophers punter Casey O'Brien (14) holds the ball for an extra point kick during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Rutgers Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier)
The Minnesota Golden Gophers improved to 7-0 with a 42-7 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, and it was an especially special game for placeholder Casey O'Brien.
The redshirt sophomore was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, at the age of 13. According to ESPN's Tom VanHaaren, O'Brien has undergone 14 surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy through the years.
He secured a spot on Minnesota's roster as a walk-on placeholder and redshirted his first year on campus in 2017. He did not see any action as a redshirt freshman in 2018 and had not gotten on the field in any of the first six games this year.
When the Golden Gophers went up 27-0 early in the fourth quarter thanks to a six-yard touchdown by Mohamed Ibrahim, O'Brien finally got his chance to take the field with his teammates:
"That's what college football's all about."
Four-time cancer survivor Casey O'Brien just got his first hold for @GopherFootball.
He successfully took care of business, helping Minnesota extend its lead to 28 points. When he returned to the sideline, a proud (and emotional) coach in P. J. Fleck was waiting to congratulate him.
After the game, the four-time cancer survivor opened up about the special moment with Big Ten Network:
"It means the world to me," O'Brien said. "There's been so many ups and downs and nights in the hospital and surgeries and everything like that, that's gone into this moment. This is what I dreamed about, and tonight it got to come true."
Watch Minnesota's Rashod Bateman Make Epic 1-Handed TD Catch vs. SDSU
Aug 29, 2019
Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman (13) makes a catch in the end zone that was disallowed due to a penalty, during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Welcome to the 2019 college football season, Rashod Bateman.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers wide receiver answered an early touchdown from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits with a spectacular one-handed grab to put his team back ahead in the second quarter of Thursday's game:
The 42-yard catch gave him five receptions for 132 yards in the first half alone, as South Dakota State's overmatched secondary couldn't keep up with him in the open field.
Bateman impressed last season with 51 catches for 704 yards and six touchdowns, and his potential emergence into a go-to receiver this year could loom large for a Minnesota team that figures to rely on Rodney Smith and Mohamed Ibrahim in the backfield.
The Golden Gophers will need receivers to make plays on the outside when opposing defenses stack the box, and Bateman proved he can do just that in incredible fashion in the season opener.
What It's Like Being the Biggest Dude in CFB
May 20, 2019
It's not where Daniel Faalele wants to begin, but when you're 6'9" and close to 400 pounds, it's hard to start anywhere else.
As Minnesota's soon-to-be sophomore right tackle gracefully eases into a chair at the team's football complex, donning an XXXXL maroon golf shirt and size-18 Nikes, he looks resigned to it. He knows the questions are inevitable.
And in truth, it's hard not to ask the questions he has answered his entire life—about his height and weight and how it could all come together to form an athlete we have never seen before.
"It can get a little bit tiresome," Faalele says softly and politely, instantly contradicting any presumption you might have made about what someone his size should sound like. "But I get it. I understand that I'm big. And I know a lot of people are going to be a little crazy about it.”
For as long as he can remember—dating back to his days of playing rugby and basketball in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia—this has been what he's most known for.
By the age of 12, he was the size of an NFL linebacker. By 15, he was bigger than most NFL offensive linemen. As he sits here at 18, the sleeves on his golf shirt snugly hug his defined biceps, and despite a massive neck and shoulders that require custom shoulder pads, his torso is noticeably lean. He has 300 pounds of good mass—muscle, tissue and bone—which means he is, impossibly, less than 25 percent body fat.
This Hulk-like build earned him scholarship offers from some of the most desired destinations in college football, even though Faalele barely knew what American football was three years ago.
In the Big Ten, you might expect growing pains. And indeed he is still learning the nuances of the game, but he thrived as a true freshman. One of the largest players to ever grace the gridiron, Faalele carries his weight in a way that makes it look natural.
And that's why what most interests those inside the Gophers football complex isn't his size.Even if they recognize they will most likely never coach anyone like him ever again, measurements have quickly become a secondary talking point.
"This guy is more than a novelty," Minnesota offensive line coach Brian Callahan says. "This is as good as I've been around, and I've been around some good ones that are starting in the NFL. But this guy could be special."
The anticipation surrounding Faalele and what he could grow into is building. Coaches wonder how dominant he could be if his technique catches up to his physical gifts. And that time is approaching sooner than anyone could've possibly imagined.
At first, Kevin Wright was somewhat skeptical. The head coach at IMG Academy—a boarding school in Bradenton, Florida, that regularly attracts premier athletes from around the world—was certain his friend was hyperbolizing about the player he had just met.
But that friend, a former lineman, was adamant. He had just met one the biggest football players he had ever seen while visiting Melbourne. It wasn't until he sent a picture of the two of them standing side by side—Faalele a full head taller—that Wright's skepticism morphed into curiosity.
At the time, Faalele's football profile was starting to flourish. An assistant coach from Hawaii had stumbled upon Faalele, rehabbing a leg injury at a gym in Melbourne when Faalele was in ninth grade. After putting Faalele through a handful of light drills to see how he could move, he offered him a scholarship on the spot.
"I didn't realize how big of an opportunity it was until he started talking about how this could amount to a free education," Faalele says. "It just felt like a great opportunity."
After Faalele attended Michigan's Australian satellite football camp, hosted by Jim Harbaugh, more coaches caught on, and the offers started to roll in. That momentum carried over when Faalele and his mother, Ruth, decided he would attend IMG Academy for his junior and senior seasons.
When he arrived in the United States, he didn't know what a yard was or how first downs worked. So heading into his first season, Faalele made it clear to Wright that he wanted to practice and learn and didn't want to play in games. Beyond the wealth of information he absorbed every day, Faalele credits the video game Madden for helping him learn the rules of football.
He also took on a new role, water boy, helping keep coaches and players hydrated, even though he didn't have to. Wright still recalls the time Faalele handed an official a bottle of water—and the accompanying expression of pure disbelief Faalele received in return.
Throughout that first season, the offers were still coming in. "Whether it was Les Miles or others, he was just getting offered by what he looked like working out," Wright says. "I just remember head coaches coming in and just shaking their heads."
While Miles, Harbaugh and Nick Saban all coveted Faalele, it was Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck who made the best impression throughout the recruiting process—largely because football was only a portion of his pitch. Academics and even the spirituality of the decision have long been important talking points for Fleck.
"If you just want to play ball," Fleck says, "I am probably not for you."
At the time, Fleck assumed that was the case—that given his popularity in recruiting circles, Faalele was destined for Alabama or Georgia. But unlike elite players who grow up with program or geographical ties, Faalele sought comfort in familiarity.
He found it, at least at first, in the form of two IMG teammates: quarterback Zack Annexstad and guard Curtis Dunlap Jr. And both committed to Fleck and Minnesota in late 2017.
Dunlap, in particular, had a lot in common with Faalele. Both had offers from schools across the nation, both were larger than life (Dunlap was 6'5" and 370 pounds), and both were looking for a coach who was more than just a coach. Faalele's father was not a part of his childhood, and Dunlap's father died while his son was in high school.
The pair became close at IMG, and the thought of carving a football legacy together was appealing, so they both committed to Minnesota.
"I felt like some of the other schools didn't have that family environment and atmosphere I wanted," Faalele says. "I wanted to play for Coach Fleck."
The plan for Faalele's freshman season at Minnesota—just his second full season of football—was to let him develop at a pace he was comfortable with.
Though expectations were reserved, the coaching staff grew more comfortable with the idea of playing Faalele after each practice. He got his first taste of action when the game was out of reach in the season opener against New Mexico State. But he didn't see his first real action until Oct. 6 against Iowa, when coaches turned to Faalele to start the third quarter after Hawkeyes defensive lineman Anthony Nelson finished the first half with three sacks.
"We watched him in practice and knew that a defensive end wouldn't be able to run through him," Fleck says. "And because of his size, we knew that they were going to have to go further outside to run around him, which would delay pressure at least an extra half-second. That's when we put him in there."
Almost instantly, Faalele helped stabilize the offense. His play wasn't perfect—and no one expected it to be—but his influence was undeniable. After his huge first half, Nelson made only one tackle the rest of the day.
Faalele's first start came the following Saturday at Ohio State, and he continued to improve. From that point forward, he was locked in at right tackle.
"We just put him out there, and every week he just got better and better and better," Fleck says. "He is nowhere close to where he is going to be two or three years from now, but he is way further along than the day he got here. The sky really is the limit."
In the team's first four games of the season, Minnesota averaged 3.6 yards per carry—a figure skewed by a 295-yard performance against New Mexico State in the opener. In the eight games to close the year, with Faalele in the lineup, the Gophers averaged 4.7 yards per carry.
While his performance improved each week, the breakthrough came against Georgia Tech in the Quick Lane Bowl. In the second quarter, on a zone run to the right, Faalele perfectly blocked a lineman on first down. What excited the coaches, though, wasn't the fact that Faalele engaged using sound technique;what they have since watched dozens of times was the way Faalele finished his block through and beyond the whistle, pancaking the opposition to the ground.
"He can be the best there is," Dunlap says. "There really is no ceiling."
While his size has opened doors Faalele had no idea even existed a few years ago, the hope is that soon he will be known for who he is and what he can do rather than what he looks like.
Playing football can complicate this task, of course. Size and speed are the game's greatest currencies, and Faalele was born with both. But now that those gifts are being refined, those around him hope the perception will evolve.
"He gets a lot of attention, and it's warranted in some ways," Callahan says. "But I don't think he wants that to be what he's known for, being a 6'9" kid from Australia still just starting out. He wants to be known for being a damn good football player that has a chance to be very special."
Faalele did not embark on the journey alone. His mother and younger brother, Taylor, who is 13 years old and already 6'2" and 280 pounds, uprooted and moved to Minneapolis to join him in August. They viewed this as a family decision from the start, and each of them has spent the past year transitioning to a new country, routine and way of life.
On the weekends, Faalele spends much of the time with his mother. "She's always been there for me," he says. "Having her here means my main support system is always nearby."
His voice is quiet and understated—so quiet that it can be difficult to hear him unless you're in very close. His handshake, despite his having paws that require XXXXL gloves, is gentle and comforting. Though it is a nearly impossible task, Faalele is doing whatever possible to fit in.
"People see a 400-pound kid, and they think he is going to run through the window or break a door down," Fleck says. "No, he is like a normal 18-year-old. He is emotional, he has feelings, he has doubts, he's got fears. He is just like any other kid his age, only probably much bigger."
In April, Faalele embraced yet another role. During Minnesota's spring game, he was inserted at running back.
While most 400-pounders would be incapable of carrying the ball near the goal line, Faalele looked at ease. After taking the handoff cleanly, he stayed on his feet as he pinballed his way forward, lumbering through a sea of maroon and gold to find the end zone.
After he crossed the goal line, he was engulfed by teammates. Faalele raised his hand toward the sky, high above anyone else's, and began to wave.
This was his arrival. Not Iowa or Ohio State but a scrimmage in which he did something you would never have expected from someone his size.
Three years into his football career and still a few years from the NFL, he's only just started showing fans how much more he is than his height or weight.
Adam Kramer covers college football for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @KegsnEggs.
Ex-Minnesota HC Jerry Kill Says P.J. Fleck 'About Himself,' Not Players
Feb 20, 2019
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Jerry Kill of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is seen during the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 10, 2015 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Former Minnesota football head coach Jerry Kill went on the SiriusXM show Big Ten Today (h/t Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com) on Tuesday and said new Golden Gophers leader P.J. Fleck is "about himself" in the midst of other comments regarding the current coach:
"When he went into Minnesota and treated the people the way he treated my guys, telling them he had to go in and completely change the culture and that it was a bad culture and bad people. He made it sound like we didn't know what we were doing. I took it personal. You just don't treat people who have helped your career, and you don't even talk to 'em once you get the job."
Per Rittenberg, Kill said he and Fleck have talked once since the latter man got the Minnesota job:
"It wasn't good. That's the last time, and it will be the last time," Kill said. "Do I still root for the Gophers? I do. Do I enjoy him running up and down the sidelines? No. Do I think he's about the players? No. He's about himself."
Kill coached at Minnesota from 2011 to 2015. His previous stop was at Northern Illinois from 2008 to 2010.
Fleck was an assistant on his staff in 2008 and 2009 and coached Western Michigan from 2013 to 2016. The Broncos went 1-11 in his first year before going 13-1 and making the Cotton Bowl in his final campaign. Fleck then took the job at Minnesota, where he's gone 12-13 (7-6 in 2018 with a bowl win).
Health issues forced Kill off the sidelines in 2015. He is currently the Southern Illinois athletic director.
As Rittenberg noted, it's rare to see a college administrator provide criticism on a head coach. Alex Kirshner of SB Nation wrote that's it's uncommon in college football as well.
But these particular comments are a notable outlier, as it's even rarer to see a notable sports figure be exceedingly blunt and descriptive in their negative assessment of another person. Seeing or hearing such comments isn't unprecedented, but the remarks were still eye-opening.
Reaction from various media personalities did not favor Kill. Jeff Wald of Fox 9 Sports said, "Like Fleck or not, being bitter is not a good look for Kill."
Myron Medcalf of ESPN also provided his remarks:
I’m a Jerry Kill fan. I was there the day he had his first seizure at a game. Minnesota fans supported him until the end, when his health interrupted his tenure. Today, he went after P.J. Fleck and made personal comments that were completely out of line. He owes Fleck an apology.
