BAD BOY MOWERS PINSTRIPE BOWL: MINNESOTA VS. SYRACUSE

December 29, 2022

P.J. Fleck

Coleman Bryson

Tanner Morgan

Mariano Sori-Marin

Mohamed Ibrahim

Yankee Stadium

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Press Conference

Minnesota-28, Syracuse-20

THE MODERATOR: Head coach P.J. Fleck, quarterback Tanner Morgan. We'll also have and Mariano Sori-Marin and Mohamed Ibrahim in here in a moment. We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Fleck, and then we'll jump into questions.

P.J. FLECK: First and foremost, I want to thank everybody associated with the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. Just means a lot to us. The hospitality from the New York Yankees, our Hilton Hotel staff, everybody related to the bowl, just want to say thank you so much.

We couldn't have asked for a better week. One of the greatest bowl experiences I've ever had in my entire life, and I'm sure that the players would agree.

Got to give a lot of credit to Dino Babers and the Syracuse Orangemen. They're a really good football team. They are. And both teams had a lot of players out pregame. Had a lot of injuries on our side during the game. But it was a well-fought game on both sides.

Could have went either way. Just really glad it came out the way it did for us. Couldn't be more proud of our players. Couldn't be -- especially for our senior class. This senior class has, basically, three full seasons in a row won 11 games, 9 games, 9 games. That hasn't happened since 1900 through 1905.

I don't think that gets enough credit. I think we talk about what we haven't done at times more than what we do talk about what we do do, and that's hard. I know.

I will say that I couldn't be more proud of these seniors. They've given a lot to this program on and off the field. They've represented Minnesota in a first-class fashion, and they should be really proud.

I told them this is not goodbye. This is just goodbye for now. You have a chance to come back any time they want to come back.

Couldn't be prouder of the young guys like Coleman Bryson who got a chance to step in there, and there were a lot of young guys on that field today, but very good players that are the future of this program.

I think today had a lot of irony when you watched Athan start the first half and then he got hurt, and Tanner walked in and did what Tanner does.

I'll say one thing about this guy, he never blinked. He supported Athan all the way through it. And he has had to work through some things with his health and did a tremendous job doing that and supported Athan after he was cleared. A lot of irony that he came in to finish the game and do what he did. Couldn't be more proud of our time, like I said, and especially this guy right here.

You have a definition of a football player, of what it looks like, it's right there and right there and right here and there. I mean it. This is a really, really special group to me. Personally and professionally.

It's really hard to see them go, but they've earned the right to be able it take the next right step in their life, and it's going to be a giant one for all of them, and I couldn't be more proud of them and happy for them.

So there's the opening statement.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. On the far end of the dais we have Mariano Sori-Marin, quarterback Tanner Morgan, head coach P.J. Fleck, Coleman Bryson, Mohamed Ibrahim. Just to clarify some things real fast. Mohamed today set the single season rushing yards record at the University of Minnesota, single season touchdown record, single season points scoring record, single season carries and career rushing yards leader. Those records were all set today by Mohamed.

P.J. FLECK: And a partridge in a pear tree.

THE MODERATOR: We will now open it up for questions.

Q. Coach Fleck, the fake pitch on the kickoff return that ended up setting up your last touchdown drive, when was the first time you guys worked on that, and why was today the day to implement it?

P.J. FLECK: Coach Wenger had a great plan special teams-wise. We had a bunch of stuff in actually. Coach Wenger found some things that we wanted to do, and we rehearsed them and rehearsed them and rehearsed them. We've been practicing that for four weeks.

Coach Wenger, anytime he sees a top opportunity for fakes, he can't wait to start practicing it. We started that Week 1. When you talk about it, that's 28 days of preparation basically to get to that one play, and everybody did exactly what they were supposed to do.

Then Q did the rest. It's a great call. It's a great call by Wenger. It's a great design, and it was the right moment for it.

So, yeah, give Rob Wenger and his special teams a ton of credit on that.

Q. Mo, congratulations on the records set today.

MOHAMED IBRAHIM: Thank you.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the career rushing record, Darrell Thompson's mark. When you came into this year, did you -- how would you characterize the feasibility of that, and what does it mean to achieve it?

MOHAMED IBRAHIM: It's not something that I circled. I just took it week by week, just doing my job, executing the game plan.

And, you know, one game lead up to another, and it just adds up. You know, I talked to Darrell during winter practices leading up to this game. We're going to go out to dinner one of these days, so it's going to be fun just talking about our careers and stuff like that.

P.J. FLECK: Who is going to buy?

MOHAMED IBRAHIM: Put it on him (laughing).

THE MODERATOR: Those records, single season rushing yards, 1,665; career rushing yards, 4,668.

Q. P.J., do you have an update on Athan's condition and Cody's condition?

P.J. FLECK: Yeah, they're both good. Questionable for next week (laughing). They're going to be okay. Just some -- I can't say they're minor, but they're not major. If it was a normal season, maybe a few weeks. So that's definitely a blessing.

You know, they couldn't make it through today for sure, but they're both really tough young men. A lot of our injuries tonight were maybe a week or two or three, but nothing long-term, which is great.

Q. Tanner, you've had victory formations in bowl games before. Where does this rank, and how did it feel?

TANNER MORGAN: Yeah, it's definitely up there. You know, I think looking back I've had time to reflect over the past kind of month. The thing I just come back to is just gratefulness. I'm grateful for every teammate I've ever had. There's been a lot. Grateful for every coach.

You know, especially when you think about it, I've known Coach for, like, eight years. I've known Coach Ciarrocca for eight years. Those guys have had an incredible impact on my life and kind of what is coming next.

So to be able to be in there with those guys and look at them in the huddle calling that last play was pretty special and something that I'll cherish for a long time.

Especially Mo coming back in after he did what he did. I would like to say I think his number should be retired, Mr. Coyle and President Gabel. That's my personal opinion. Ring of honor, whatever it's called, retirement. I don't think anybody should ever wear the No. 24 again at this university because of what he has meant to the culture, to the team, but his impact as a person, which is greater than any record he has ever set.

So that's my last little pitch. I think his number should be retired tomorrow.

Q. Coleman, as you jumped there and looking from up top, it's 6 right away, but what is that feeling for you pretty much looking straight ahead of that end zone there?

COLEMAN BRYSON: I looked up at the screen actually because I couldn't believe it. What's crazy, though, is I got beat on that route three or four times during the season. And so to be able to get that and learn from it, learn from my mistakes I think is the biggest thing.

It's something that they preach all the time, and so it was cool to be able to put that into effect for sure.

Q. Tanner, for you, it's kind of been a roller coaster season for you. What was the emotion like for you to just be able to get back on the field? What has the last month been like for you? And kind of like Coach Fleck was saying, how nice of a moment really is it for you to be able to close out a game like today?

TANNER MORGAN: I mean, yeah, I wouldn't have wanted it to be the way that it happened with Athan, but I think just going back to when I received -- when I got hurt the second time, just the care that everybody had in terms of my personal health outside of who I am or was as a football player, but my personal health.

And then I think me and Coach had a conversation about just stepping into whatever role I could to help out in that time, and I think I really embraced that. And I had a lot of fun doing it, whether that was helping coach Athan, throw some ideas out there, continuing to lead, and then continuing to get healthy and then be able to play if that was an option.

I'm just thankful that I got to that point and thankful that I got to step on the field again and wear the maroon and gold for one last time. I'm proud to be an alum now.

It's been an honor to wear that jersey and to rent the No. 2 for the last six years. Can't wait to watch who wears it next.

Q. Coach, can you just describe what it's like to see Mohamed break so many records, not only in the same game, but in the same half.

P.J. FLECK: Yeah, well, first of all, I think you have to go back to -- Tanner already hit on the type of person he is. He is the ultimate overachiever, period.

There's nothing you can tell him that he can't do, and it goes back to his recruiting process. I bet you, you know, there's a lot of people who would like Mohamed Ibrahim on their team, and there's going to be a lot of NFL teams that like him on their team.

I've never seen a player better in 12 yards. That's the best compliment I can give him because that's where football is played really at the next level, within 12 yards.

You know, it goes back to watch him in high school, watching him, his desire to be the best, being able to overcome adversity. He has an incredibly poised mind, confident heart.

He has a unique ability for a young person to make really educated decisions and not be -- just rush into something. He is incredibly intelligent, and he is one of the greatest football players I've ever been around.

It's so fun because he is going to be a coach one day. At least that's what you told me. Now you just have to pick Coach Burns or me. That's going to be interesting. (Laughing.) I'll win that one, by the way, just so you know.

It's fun when you have players that you know if they choose to coach, they're going to be great coaches. Somebody told me -- that's why I wear a tie. Mike Nolan told me before I even knew I wanted to coach, "I think you would be a great coach."

Really? Is that because you're cutting me and you want to make me feel better? I'm breaking up with you, but I still want to be friends.

Then when Jim Tressel hired me, he never met me. He had to take a word from somebody else. And that's why I wear a tie.

It's fun to have these guys up here. I know this -- I don't know about Coleman, but hopefully he does -- but I know he wants to coach; he wants to coach one day, if that's what he chooses; and he wants to coach. He's dumb enough (laughing) in a good way. He got a 4.0 in Carlson School of Management and a finance degree, and he wants to coach. I've done everything I can to talk him out of it.

When you have players that can think at that level and, when we're away recruiting, can still coach the guys, that's how I think everybody respects Mo. We see him as another coach as well as a player, and I can say that about Tanner and Mariano, and he is working his way right up there.

Q. Also, does that touchdown that you had, it looked like you kind of dragged the tackler into the end zone. That kind of epitomize everything you were just talking about?

P.J. FLECK: Yeah. He will never be denied. There's a saying that said be careful what you wish for because 95% of the time you're going to get it. But when you get it, most people don't do really well with it. He does everything right with it.

Whether he is dragging somebody into the end zone, you're going to be dragged in the end zone. I mean, when people see him, I've had numerous times -- he gets embarrassed and hates when I say this, but people are like, That's Mohamed?

Yeah, that's Mohamed Ibrahim.

I thought he would be bigger.

That's him. But that shows how big of a heart he has and ambition that he has, confidence and courage that he has.

I'm just grateful he plays on our team. I would never want to play against him. He will eat you alive eventually. Eventually you're going to have to tackle him 30 times a game. Nobody wants to do that.

It's easy to do in the first quarter, but he has such great vision and great anticipation that he is going to do it all game long. That's exhausting for a defense. That's exhausting. That's what he has brought to this program.

And he set a standard for every back that walks in here, and he learned from the guys that taught him, and then he took it to a completely different level. Now he is the greatest running back in the history of our school, arguably. But I think the greatest. Because I see the complete picture.

It just shows. I think he exemplifies what row the boat is all about. Sooner or later you have to put your hand in the dirt, and you have to line up, and the talk goes out the window, and then you have to tackle this guy.

Q. Mariano, I wanted to ask you about the end of the first half and the beginning of the second. You guys were giving up some big plays especially in the passing game. What did you feel like was the issue in that, and then how did you feel like the young DBs stepped up towards the end?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yeah, you know, that drive leading into halftime, there was a few plays that they made where there was a few errors on our part in terms of communication as well as just details in our coverage. You have to give credit to Syracuse because they made some phenomenal plays in that drive as well.

But we were able to come in at halftime and respond and get the coaching points from Coach Rossi and get the defense settled and understand that there's a lot of football left to play, and we just have to clean those little mistakes up going into the second half.

Q. P.J., you saw a lot of your teams present today with the seniors. What do you like what you saw in the future of your team?

P.J. FLECK: I think you saw it with Coleman Bryson. We've been seeing it for a long time, but with Nubin's hand, we weren't going to risk that. He wasn't going to play. When you look at Darius Green and Coleman Bryson, you look at some of the young players that we have even on the offensive side of the ball that made some plays, Daniel Jackson is making plays. We already know that, but he is playing at a completely different level right now.

Le'Meke had a huge catch in the first half. I know he had a drop, but he had a huge catch in that.

But there's a lot of things behind the curtain that you haven't even -- we don't see on game day because a few years ago we were playing all freshmen. These guys were freshmen. I still remember the Indiana game with Bateman and Morgan and finishing that game. It's hard to believe that six years down the road or five years down the road, but you start to bring in guys like Coleman that eventually -- that are freshmen or redshirt freshmen, can go in and play at a high level.

We have some other guys that are ready to do that as well, they might have just had like Mohamed in front of them or Mariano as well, that we're really excited about. Maverick Baranowski, he will be a tremendous football player here when you look at him.

I can go on and on about our young guys. Jameson Geers, Brevyn Spann-Ford gets a lot of the attention, and so does Nick Kallerup. But you watch Jameson Geers play, it's impressive. We have tons of guys.

That's what's really exciting about this team. As you start to graduate really special players who have meant a lot and won a lot of games, there's a lot of freshmen behind that now have to be able to raise their game to that standard.

Listen, I'm not naive to know that our team is going to look really different tomorrow and next week, transfer portal. You know, guys that maybe got passed on the depth chart, guys that might not feel they fit. We're going to bring in other guys. We're excited about that too.

We're going to do everything we can to start building for the 2023 season as fast as possible. Enjoy this, but move on to that as well.

Q. Starting at Rutgers a long time ago, Greg Schiano was your mentor. How did Greg Schiano prepare you for this type of moment and being prepared for your guys?

P.J. FLECK: First of all, Greg, I've said a lot about Greg Schiano, and I think we're very different people, but I learned so many things from him about the detail and the organization of a program. Then you run it how you run it. He runs it different than I run it, but you got to be yourself.

That was the one thing I always respected about Greg. He was himself, and he had a job to do, and Rutgers was a really hard place, and he did a lot of things that have never been done there and is still doing those things.

But you always think back to the person that gave you your first shot. I remember I was a group of five coach at Northern Illinois, and he had no idea who I was. Now, I also had about a two-day interview. If you ever have known about Greg Schiano's interviews. You go through a lot of stages. You have an interview before you even have the interview with him there.

So Kirk Ciarrocca gave me that interview. That lasted five minutes because Kirk wanted to take his kids to Disney World. So Kirk sat me down and said, yeah, Greg, you're gong to love this guy.

I was, like, that was the interview? I got my coat and tie.

Five minutes, and Kirk just says, yeah, you're going to love this guy.

Then you go through the process with Greg, and you find out real quick from all the people inside the organization of what the standard is, what it looks like, exactly how it is, and it's either going to fit you or not.

I learned a ton from him. Especially in the detail and the organization piece of that, and it's ironic that we were here playing Garrett's Iowa State Cyclones at one point. This was a long time ago. Rutgers won.

And then Greg took me to Tampa Bay with him, which I was very fortunate with that because I was going to become an NFL coach. For all of those people that want opportunities, I remember they showed me the salary I was going to make, and I said, that's not much different from Rutgers.

Mark Dominik got on the phone, who is a GM. He is like, do you want to be a position coach in the NFL or not?

I was, like, I'll take it. You know, because it was an unbelievable opportunity. So many people when they look at dollar signs or this or that or what's in it for me? Opportunity. You want it or not?

Every single one of these guys had an opportunity at some point. Nothing was given to them. These three grew up in a world where nobody was -- nobody was bought. Nobody made any money, all that, where these guys had to earn everything they got.

I think I learned a piece of that from Greg too that you can do that in the coaching profession because I had to earn everything as a player, but then watching somebody run his program that way where everybody earns it, I have a ton of respect for. Ton of respect for him.

Q. Coach Fleck, you mentioned Jim Tressel, Senator Tressel, and how he affected your sartorial choices. When people think about 9-win teams year after year in the Big Ten, usually Michigan and Ohio State come to mind. Three full seasons you have won at least nine games, as you mentioned at the very beginning of this. How much has the Big Ten and 'iron sharpening iron' and kind of the underdog nature that you were mentioning, the bluechip nature of your program, how has that allowed your team to be able to have your name and the annals be alongside those sort of the great teams in the Big Ten who usually when you think Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, 9 wins year after year. And now Minnesota in the first time in over a century, 11-9-9.

P.J. FLECK: We talk in our program there's a difference between a chip than a crack. A crack on your shoulder is proving to everybody else that you are good enough proving to everybody else that you're worthy and proving to everybody else that I can do it.

That doesn't really matter because they're always going to find something that you're not good at. LeBron James is still proving that he is a really good basketball player to everybody outside of that locker room. I've never understood that.

So we're here to prove to ourselves. We talk about a crack on the shoulder, not a chip. A chip is just that. A crack is proving to yourself you're exactly who you say you are.

That's what we strive for. I think the Big Ten West -- when you look at the Big Ten West, you talk about 'iron sharpening iron,' the parity is so even across the board. So we talk about when you look at the East and the West, you know who is coming out of the East. Most of the time you know who is coming out of the East. One of three teams.

In the West they call it the Wild West for a reason.

We're all pretty somewhat equal, so you have no idea. This year was it a three- or four-loss team? Was it three or four in the West? Who won it? Three? Purdue had three? Three losses won in the West, but everybody just beat up on each other.

Then it was a tie-breaker and this and that and you won this and you played -- and head-to-head, and that's part of it. I got to give President Joan Gabel a ton of credit and my boss, Mark Coyle, because when he hired me, we said this is what we're going to do.

And I know there's a lot of things we haven't done yet, but we've done a lot of things on the field and off the field -- academically, athletically, socially, spiritually -- exactly how we said we were going to do it. And it's great to have the support that you get to do it exactly the way you want to do it. That doesn't happen everywhere.

I'm not naive enough to know it doesn't, and we have incredible support from people that allow us to be ourselves. And I think so many people are afraid to be themselves because when you are yourself, you're going to stand out because everybody tries to be something that they're not. That's what I hope these guys take from our program.

Just because, you know -- you don't think Minnesota, 9 wins, 11 wins, 9 wins, 9 wins. But I want you to, and these guys want everybody to. But if they don't, that's fine. We know what we can do. We know what we're capable of.

And we're always going to play that underdog role because I think really successful people have this constant drive to be the absolute best. It's almost a disease, where nothing is ever good enough for you.

And the way that you kind of trump that a little bit is you do the celebratory times. When you win something -- you ever come in our locker room, it doesn't matter who we beat. It's like we're going to the Super Bowl. They just beat X, but you thought they beat X, Y, and Z.

Well, we did win. The whole goal was to be 1-0, right? Everybody is going to compare it. We're going to say be 1-0. We were today 1-0 against Syracuse. That's all we wanted to focus on.

We have incredible people and incredible support from everybody on campus. And these guys, I couldn't ask -- I can't tell you how grateful I am -- I know Tanner talked about it -- to be their coach. It's humbling every day.

And that's why I love being at Minnesota. Because the people who are in charge of me allow me to be able to pick the people, right, that fit us. And that's what I was taught growing up and especially in this coaching profession.

You're not going to be for everybody. Nobody is. Pick the right people. You can do really special things. They have accomplished some really special things.

Q. Mainly for Mariano. You took care of business on the field, but it seemed like you also enjoyed yourself around the city this week. What were some of the highlights for you, and how would you sum up the whole experience of this week here?

MARIANO SORI-MARIN: Yeah, you know, being in New York City during the holidays was a tremendous opportunity. You know, just spending time with your teammates and your coaches and being able to capture that moment after a long season was really special.

You know, I think the highlight of my trip was the 9/11 Memorial. Just being able to reflect on that and see a part of our nation's history that was quite tragic and to see the response of the state of New York and the country as a whole.

We talk about that in our program all the time. Response. So to see it on such a tremendous scale of the entire country was really special, and we were able to learn from that as a team.

Then, you know, be able to go out and experience New York City with my Meals with Mariano was also really special. I was making jokes on the sideline after I scooped that fumble that maybe if I didn't do the Meals with Mariano I would be in the end zone right now. Who knows? I did have four meals back to back to back.

You know, just being able to be with your teammates and coaches all weeklong was just a really celebratory time, and to go out here and win the football game was the cherry on top for a really special season and for all these seniors.

Q. Question is for Mohamed. I know the season has only been over for about an hour now, but have you at all given any thought to -- I don't know if vindication is the right word, but the whole process of coming back after an injury like that and the decision to come back and to have the season that you had, I mean, just what is running through your mind when you think about what you just accomplished this season, especially coming off of a major injury?

MOHAMED IBRAHIM: That I made the right decision. Coach Fleck, when I made the decision, we was talking, and he was just, like, one day you're going to understand why you made this decision, and then you're going to love it, and you're going to say thank you to everybody that helped you throughout this whole process.

You know, back in November I was lost. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I leaned on a lot of people to give me the best advice, stuff like that, and then when I made a decision, just understanding that I can become a better football player after this injury and just taking it one day at a time not looking at the top of the hill.

Just understanding that every week you're going to get better. Every day you're going to get better. Don't rush it. Don't look at the finish line.

I finally made it to the finish line today, but not looking at the finish line, just taking it week by week. And that was my mindset throughout this whole season. Like the question before asked me about all the records and stuff like that. Just take it one day, one game at a time. That's all you really can do. You can't really look into the future like that.

And I tell all the people that get hurt, like, don't -- don't look at the finish line. It's not that important. Just become a better person, become a better man. Just take it for what it is, and you're going to be better at the end of the day.

THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you, and congratulations.