Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck on Ohio State: 'They do a lot of things right'

COLUMBUS — Minnesota dealt with significant roster turnover this offseason. Back in February, the Golden Gophers clocked in at 87th nationally in ESPN’s returning production metric (58%).

Couple that with an injury bug that won’t go away, and head coach P.J. Fleck has a down year on his hands. Minnesota has hit the five-loss mark for the first time since 2018, Fleck’s second season on the job. The Gophers have dropped two in a row: a heartbreaker against Illinois and then a surprising blowout at Purdue, which was on a four-game skid.

But now Fleck is headed back to No. 2 Ohio State, where he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2006. His squad has a tall task ahead of it — after all, Minnesota suffered a 52-10 defeat to No. 3 Michigan last month.

Fleck met with the media Tuesday to preview the road trip. He was asked only a few questions about Ohio State, but Lettermen Row highlighted those — and Fleck’s detailed responses — below.

What are your thoughts on Marvin Harrison Jr.?

FLECK: “He’s one of the best players in college football. He’s got good bloodline (chuckling), to say the least. But he works so hard. In basketball, I think you tell really good players — and by no means am I a great basketball coach — by how well people work without the ball. And I think when you watch Steph Curry play, Steph Curry is always working without the ball to continue to get open.

“[Harrison] could be the number one read in the progression, he could be the number three read in the progression, he could be away from a ball, he could be in a scramble drill. He’s constantly active. He’s constantly finding a way to create separation, block. He’s tough. He’s obviously one of the fastest players, obviously one of the best pass catchers, but it’s what he does when he doesn’t have the ball even in his hands. That makes him an elite receiver. The ability to create separation, he does that at an elite level, understanding different route concepts, who he’s affecting, why he’s running the actual route he is.

“And you can see that in the comfort of how people run a route. If you’re running a post route, it seems simple. It’s a post. There’s a lot of ways depending on how you’re being covered to get to where that ball is going to be thrown. And I think he has a great knack and a feel for how defenses are going to be played and how they’re going to stop him and what the route concept is and what the route calls for.”

How Ohio State OC Brian Hartline has had an impact on the Buckeyes receiver room…

FLECK: “I got a chance to be around Brian Hartline. He was a player when I was at Ohio State. You can see why that room just continues to develop the way they do because he was always that type of player. He was next to Teddy Ginn [Jr.] and Roy Hall and all these guys. He was the guy that kind of worked through the middle and did a lot of things and had to understand a lot of defenses. And he was fast, don’t get me wrong. Hartline can run. He played in the NFL for a long time. But he was such a student of the game. And it was so fun to coach him and be around him. So you can see the influence he’s had on those receivers.”

It feels like Ohio State has made the biggest jump this season on defense. What’s been key for them on that side of the ball?

FLECK: “They got really good players. They got a lot of really good players. They got really good depth. I think they’re well coached. I mean, I’ve got so much respect for Ryan [Day], and I know Ryan very well. I consider Ryan a friend. He gets them to play really hard and keep them focused. And Coach [Jim] Knowles does a really good job on defense. I mean, they swarm to the ball, they’re twitchy. They keep everything in front of them. I mean, it’s hard to get shots on these guys and down the field throws because they’re really, really twitchy, really fast, really long.

“All the front four, whoever they put in there, not only are they really good against the run, but they’re all pass rushers. I think that’s what’s different with this group than I’ve seen maybe in the past. They’ve always been good. But that front four, no matter who’s in there, are all really good pass rushers. Their linebackers are really good pass rushers. So they’re constantly making you get the ball out of your hand quickly. And they’re really smart. And they play complementary defense. So they’ll give you some short ones, but they’re not going to give you the big ones. And if they do, they’re gonna make the adjustments to make sure that doesn’t happen again. So they’re very active. They’re Ohio State. I mean, that’s the best compliment I can give them. They’re the number one team in the country. They do a lot of things right.”