Back to the Minnesota Golden Gophers Newsfeed

Minnesota Football: P.J. Fleck preaches patience with Gophers’ woeful defense

Legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant is credited with coining the oft-repeated phrase, “Defense wins championships.” And while Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck didn’t come out and say those exact words in his press conference on Monday, he made it clear he believes you have to have a dominant defense to compete in the Big Ten.

“You have to have a really good defense. I believe that in the Big Ten. That’s my belief. I’m not saying that that’s [true] for [all of] college football. But I know what works for us,” Fleck said. “I might be 39, almost 40, so I’m almost over-the-hill.