Gophers' P.J. Fleck at Duke’s Mayo Bowl media day: ‘Control is for amateurs’

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota football team faces Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Friday night in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The teams held media day on Thursday, and P.J. Fleck opened a bit of a vein on how he’s grown as a head coach. Fleck will finish his eighth season at Minnesota on Friday, and says he’s learned to take less control, and let his staff and players do their jobs.

He told a story about how he had the entire staff together for dinner Wednesday night in Charlotte.

What did Fleck say?

Why it matters: Fleck is in charge of the Gophers’ offense, and every decision made in a game goes through him before every snap.

"Control is for amateurs. We went out to dinner as a staff yesterday and there were 100 people there. I looked around and I was like ‘How did I at one point think I could control this entire organization or think that I was the most important piece of this? Everybody had to wait for what I said to do well,’" Fleck said. "The longer you go, you know you’re the leader of the organization, you set the tone and the message, you need to be the example of the culture 24/7. Other than that, you’ve got to hire really good people and trust that they’re going to do their job. That’s where I’ve grown the most is allowing our people to have the control to do what they need to do the best they possibly can."

What’s at stake Friday?

What we know: Fleck is 5-0 in bowl games with the Gophers as Minnesota seeks its eighth straight bowl win overall. The winning head coach of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl gets a bath of mayonnaise dumped on their head after the game.

Fleck is 87-61 in 12 seasons as a head coach. That includes a 57-39 mark in eight seasons with the Gophers, and a 34-36 mark in Big Ten play.

The Gophers and Hokies kick off at 6:30 p.m. Friday.