From the head coach that brought you “Year Zero,” P.J. Fleck has dropped a new “R” word to describe the 2023 season.

Reloading? No way.

Rebuilding? Nope.

“I kind of named it the readjustment year,” Fleck said after Saturday’s 28-14 loss to Wisconsin. “There are a lot of things to adjust moving forward. A lot of things to evaluate, but there are a lot of things outside our control.”

Following two nine-win campaigns in 2021-22, Fleck’s seventh season at Minnesota finished with four straight losses and a 5-7 record. When the Gophers previously went 5-7 in 2017, Fleck’s first year at the U, he often referred to it as “Year Zero.”

While the Gophers failed to reach six wins and bowl eligibility this season, they still will go to a bowl game.

The Gophers qualified based on a shortage of six-win teams, and the U posting the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) of all remaining five-win programs. They will learn their bowl destination next Sunday.

Fleck often breaks down assessments into three categories: coaching, scheme and players. On Saturday, he was asked about possible alterations to coaching and scheme going into 2024.

“We’ll look at the schematic piece,” Fleck said. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t execute it. Every play doesn’t look good if we don’t catch it, if we don’t throw to the open guy, if we fumble the football.”

Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis was inaccurate on two pivotal throws and had a late interception against the Badgers. No. 1 receiver Daniel Jackson dropped a pass in a big moment, and he fumbled after a long completion to kill another comeback drive.

“Every defense is called; same things we do,” Fleck said. “But when there is a missed tackle, when there is a missed fit. Bad eyes.”

The Gophers’ defense had coverage breakdowns leading to one Wisconsin touchdown, poor run fits and missed tackles contributing to other Badgers TDs.

“There is reasons for that,” Fleck added on the coaching/schematic question. “But this isn’t that type of a discussion. We have to execute. It’s more the execution (being) better. … I think that is very clear to see.”

The Gophers defense dealt with a longer list of injuries this season that created opportunities for younger players, especially at linebacker with Devon Williams and Maverick Baranowski receiving a lot of playing time.

“The investment is made to make a lot of those guys better,” Fleck said. “Sometimes you are forced into those positions. … Those guys got a lot of playing time this year, which is going to help them in the future. Nobody cares about that now, but I care about it for the future.”

In posting winning seasons in 2018-19 and 2021-22, Fleck has raised the level of expectations for the Gophers, making a down year more difficult to digest, especially in a wide-open Big Ten West Division.

“I’ve been the worst coach in America,” Fleck said. “I’ve had dips. I’ve had highs. I’ve had all types of things. I’ve seen it as an assistant coach and as a player, head coach. 5-7 is a dip. OK. Alright.”

Fleck then put his hands roughly a foot apart when further describing his view of his “readjustment” year concept. He slid them to right and left to help make his point.

“We are this far away all year,” Fleck said, with his hands spaced in front of him. “That’s why it’s a readjustment. The adjustment is if it’s this far this way, we have a completely different season. It was this far this way. Just needs to be readjusted. That takes a lot of work to get it that way.”

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