When confronted by Minnesota fans or questioned by media, Martin doubled, tripled, quadrupled… (etc.) down. To his credit, Val never backed down from his original tweets. He even posted anonymous messages he was receiving from former Gophers under Fleck. Nobody else was willing to run the Gophers program down in a public space, but others clearly have many of the same animosity Martin does, regarding their former coach.

Fleck haters come out to hate (anonymously)

Minnesota Daily News sports editor and GopherHole.com contributor, Tony Liebert, reached out to an anonymous former Minnesota Gophers football player who had more of the same complaints.

My heart is hurting???? I STAND ON WAT I SAID THE WORST THING I EVER DID WAS GO TO MINNESOTA AND PLAY FOR FLECK‼️ pic.twitter.com/jmIYpaAjCM

— Val Martin (@Iam_VMLV) June 29, 2022

Text I got this morning after I asked a former #Gophers football player his reaction to Val Martin’s tweets yesterday: pic.twitter.com/quELaCXhQB

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) June 29, 2022

Val Martin’s Twitter exchange with Minnesota fans, and some Gopher football players (see below), lasted about 48 hours. It included multiple screenshots, dozens of tweets, even more replies and a couple of live streams. Nobody else put their name on the hate they spewed for Fleck or his program. There’s obvious and legitimate reasons for their anonymity, but the fact is still worth noting.

But for every PJ Fleck hater, there’s a ‘row or die’ protege who points to the Minnesota Gophers’ culture as life changing. Over the hours and days that followed Martin’s Twitter barrage, we saw both former and current players come out in support of Fleck and his culture.

Former and current players defend Fleck’s culture

Current Gophers who came out publicly for Fleck, include (QB) Tanner Morgan, (K) Dragan Kesich, (LB) Mariano Sori-Marin, (EDGE) Thomas Rush and (DT) Trill Carter; who Martin claims punched him in the face at a practice last season.

Former players who voiced support include (LB) Carter Coughlin, (LS) Austin Sullivan (LB) and Jack Gibbens, who came in the same 2021 transfer class as Val Martin did.

Facts. Row The Boat.

— Carter Coughlin (@Cmoe34) June 30, 2022

Going to Minnesota was the best decision I ever made. R.T.B pic.twitter.com/jwuIj97W3R

— Jack Gibbens (@johngibbens18) June 30, 2022

But nobody came out of the Fleck support gates hotter than former backup punter, Matt Stephenson. He and Martin had a lengthy back and forth where Stephenson tried to debunk many narratives Val was trying to sell. One of those narratives is the idea that backups don’t matter to PJ Fleck, his assistants or his program.

No burner here your a clown ????

Guys who have bad experiences playing at Minnesota are in large just bad guys. Bad grades, bad attitudes, bad at following rules, or bad teammates.

Show me 1 person speaking out and I’ll tell you which “bad” category they fit in. https://t.co/Y5iSpNZ49q

— Matthew Stephenson (@Ya_Boy_Matty) June 30, 2022

Coach Fleck helped me through love and support while molding me into a better man… He doesn’t know shit about architecture ???? https://t.co/FQ2P0my4mP

— Matthew Stephenson (@Ya_Boy_Matty) June 30, 2022

Recap of tonight:

Coach Fleck good guy

Val Martin grump guy

Matthew Stephenson funny guy

— Matthew Stephenson (@Ya_Boy_Matty) June 30, 2022

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

To help repair their broken down defense, PJ Fleck brought three transfers in on that side of the ball. They all have one year remaining of eligibility, and all of them will play up the middle of the defense. But of the three, linebacker Jack Gibbens came in with the least amount of hype. That’s what happens, no matter what the numbers or highlight tapes look like, when you’re a grad-transfer from the FCS ranks.

But, he does look damn good when you rewind it back.

Can Gibbens Hang with the DI Big Boys?

Still, there’s a reason why most FCS players are FCS players. The same goes for DI Power-5 athletes. Just about every single power five DI football player is a physical freak. These dudes are the best of the best footballers in the world, at their age (18-21).

When I got onto the practice field last week, however, and finally got an up close look at the Minnesota Gopher football players for the first time in two years, one thing about Jack immediately stuck out. This dude is just as big, if not bigger, than any other linebacker on this roster.

That’s something I didn’t expect from an FCS player, no matter how many tackles and awards he had racked up. Defensive coordinator, Joe Rossi, had some of the same feelings.

Joe Rossi on his impressions of transfer LB Jack Gibbens: “He’s shown me he’s everything we expected and maybe even a little more.” #Gophers pic.twitter.com/FBn2JI6FLc

— Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL) April 27, 2021

How Often Will We See Gibbens on the Field?

When the whistle blows, Gibbens is everywhere, helping to lead a defense that’s been ahead of the Gopher offense during most of the practice competition that’s been open to media members. It’s clear that he’s picked up the scheme quickly and hasn’t missed a beat jumping up from a lower level of competition.

Nothing is guaranteed until the Gophers take the field at Huntington Bank Stadium in a couple of weeks vs the Ohio State Buckeyes but, so far in practice, Gibbens has seen the field with the #1 defense more than anyone outside of Mariano Sori-Marin.

Much like his defensive coordinator, PJ Fleck likes what he sees so far from Jack Gibbens.

Very instinctual, he’s very smart. He makes everyone else around him better and he doesn’t have bad days. He has hard days, but he doesn’t have a bad day. What I love about him and what he brings, and why I feel like this team is so fun to coach is when they get out there, they love being out there. They love to practice. They love to play the game of football. That’s hard to find. I’ve had less than a handful of teams that love to go out there and practice. And he brings it [too]. He can’t wait to get out on the practice field.

We expected a lot from him. He’s brought a lot and he’s exactly what we thought he was. I’m glad he’s a part of our football team.

PJ Fleck on Grad Transfer Jack Gibbens

The true test will come just 13 days from today, when the Buckeyes come to town.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

In the past, Minnesota Gophers head football coach, PJ Fleck, has been very clear on his feelings as they pertain to the transfer portal. He’s rarely interested.

According to 247Sports, Fleck has taken just four transfers in his first four recruiting classes at Minnesota (not including JUCO). For those who struggle with mathematics, that’s one transfer for every class from 2017-2020. In the 2021 class so far, he’s taken three transfers, including two on Wednesday alone.

Times, they are a-changing…

There’s more than one reason why PJ Fleck is taking more transfers than usual in 2021. The biggest has to do with NCAA rule changes that are currently in the process of becoming official.

Sometime in the next few months, major NCAA student athletes will be allowed one transfer during their college career, without it making them ineligible for the following season. No waiver necessary.

That completely changes the landscape of major college athletics. It’s also the biggest reason why Fleck is warming to the transfer portal.

Immediate eligibility has been his biggest issue with recruiting transfers. Those that he has taken prior to the 2021, both standard and JUCO, have been of the immediately eligible variety.

New WR in town

In the bigger transfer portal splash Wednesday evening, Texas A&M transfer WR, Dylan Wright, committed to the Gophers. He’s hoping to be PJ Fleck’s next big thing at WR. Dylan has all four years of eligibility remaining and enough upside to be Fleck’s next 1st round WR draft pick.

How much upside you ask? Wright was a phenom prospect coming out of high school. Had he committed to the Gophers back then, Wright would have stood as the school’s 2nd-ranked commit in football internet history at .9678 (4-star).

That’s a huge influx of talent for a position group that hasn’t really had a star commit since Rashod Bateman in 2018. Hopefully, Dylan can learn the Gopher offense quickly because it needs a jolt of big play ability to pair next to Chris Autman-Bell, who had a huge 2020 coming out party.

Experience needed on defense ASAP…

The other major reason for these transfer portal takes, and Fleck would be less willing to admit this part publicly, is an immediate need for reinforcements at multiple positions.

If you keep close tabs on Minnesota Gophers football then you know they need immediate help at receiver, linebacker and defensive line. So it’s no surprise that those are the positions these transfers fill.

On defense, Minnesota BADLY needed an infusion of experience. Defensive coordinator, Joe Rossi, has plenty of young talent in guys like Tyler Nubin, Cody Lindenberg and DeAngelo Carter… but the lack of experience was glaring in 2020.

It led to A LOT of big plays from opposing offenses. Out of 130 teams ranked in 2020, the Gophers were #124 in opponent yards per play at 6.8. Only four of the teams ranked worse are power-5.

Meet the new guys on defense

If this team is to take a step forward in 2021, a huge improvement is a must in the big play department. More importantly, the jolt of experience is up the middle, where Minnesota often got beat up this season. Jack Gibbens is an inside linebacker and Val Martin is a defensive tackle.

We don’t know how much either of these guys will play. One (Gibbens) is coming from an FCS school where he posted really good numbers on the football field and even better numbers in the classroom.

The latest, NC State graduate transfer Val Martin, was a backup DT for most of his career with the Wolfpack. At <300 pounds, he seems like an odd fit for their 3-4 defense.

Hopefully he’ll be able to make more of an impact in his one year of the Minnesota 4-3. I can’t imagine he commits here if he isn’t promised a good chance to play significant snaps.

Strategy obvious

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what PJ Fleck and the Minnesota Gophers were trying to do with these transfer portal additions. They pinpointed their biggest areas of need and they addressed them with clear fits.

With PJ, person fit comes before player fit. He won’t throw a culture bomb into the middle of his locker room. We’ll see if these additions can help the Gophers row back to the front of the Big Ten West in 2021.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers are way too young on defense, especially at linebacker. So, PJ Fleck and Co took a stab at fixing the issue through the transfer portal, a tool they’ve rarely used and when they have, the results have been mixed. Jack Gibbens was a senior at (FCS) Abilene Christian University in 2020, a season that didn’t count against future eligibility.

Gods plan is always greater. I am excited to announce that I am 100% committed to the University of Minnesota! Can’t wait to get to work! #RTB pic.twitter.com/Qz9pSiqYj1

— Jack Gibbens (@johngibbens18) December 5, 2020

We could not be more proud of @johngibbens18 for being a 2020 @NFFNetwork Campbell Trophy Finalist! ? pic.twitter.com/C0YIWDafja

— ACU Football (@ACUFootball) November 12, 2020

More about Jack Gibbens (via the Abilene Reporter News)

In the classroom and off the field, Jack looks like a 100% PJ Fleck guy. He was even a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, a trophy awarded yearly to college football’s top scholar-athlete.“

In his four years in Abilene, Gibbens racked up a 4.0 cumulative GPA and spent more time on the Dean’s list than I spent in class during college. He also wore the “C” for ACU during his junior and senior seasons and, obviously, was a regular on the Academic All-America teams.

On the field

On the field, Jack Gibbens lead ACU in tackles this season (6 games) with 42. That included 2.5 TFL’s and 1 sack. The sack came in a televised game vs Virginia. He also recorded 14 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FF, and 1 fumble recovery vs Angelo State. In 2019, Gibbens had 104 tackles and in 2018 he had 77.

We’ll see how well Gibbens can adjust to the speed of the Power 5 game. Clearly, he will do everything he can to get himself ready. Whether or not Jack has the ability and talent to play at that level, is yet to be seen.

The 4-year ACU starter is expected to be eligible in 2021 and will attend spring practices, whenever those are, according to 247Sports. PJ Fleck’s 2021 recruiting class now has 17 members and ranks #28 in the nation.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan