OT: PJ Fleck to Minnesota - 5 Year Deal

[thewolverines24]

The Golden Goofups swiped Fleck from WMU. Maybe this will help bring an ounce of competition to the Big 10 West at some point.

 

[tbone413]

Sad to see him leave, but happy for the guy and can't blame him at all. Rumors are his base salary will triple. I hope WMU can find a competent coach to replace him, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[thewolverines24]

Sad to see him leave, but happy for the guy and can't blame him at all. Rumors are his base salary will triple. I hope WMU can find a competent coach to replace him, but I'm not holding my breath.

My wife is a WMU alum and she is not happy with this news. They were always terrible when she was there, so she's been very happy with the program since Fleck turned it around.

 

[tbone413]

Yea same with me. My freshman year was right after the Jennings / Scheffler team went on their little run, and we won a combined 20 games my 4 years.

This season was an aberration, and now that fleck is gone I assume WMU will go back to being a below average MAC team. But it's okay, I root primarily for ND and the Michigan teams anyways, so I'll continue doing so.

 

[dubbsco]

Welcome to life as a MAC-er. I felt the same way about Brian Kelly and Butch Jones.

 

[tbone413]

Ya my older brother is a CMU alum and I couldn't help but feel bad for him / CMU after having two very good coaches poached from their program in 3 years.

In the MAC it seems you have two choices, 1) suck/be average for a period of time and then hit the jackpot with a great coach which results in 1-2 years of elite performance, quickly followed by going back to the cellar after your coach is poached.

2) have a coach who is good but not great and sticks around for 10+ years, consistently winning 8-10 games but never having a "Great" season. Ohio university comes to mind.

I'd prefer option 1 personally. Even if it's only 1memorable season every 20 years - I don't give two shits about MAC titles, or making bottom tier bowl games every year.

 

[bphillips4gg]

Welcome to life as a MAC-er. I felt the same way about Brian Kelly and Butch Jones.

I was at UC when Kelly was hired. He was a great coach and a terrible human being. Butch Jones never impressed me. Ever. He still hasn't.

 

[Michchamp]

The Golden Goofups swiped Fleck from WMU. Maybe this will help bring an ounce of competition to the Big 10 West at some point.

He's only 36, and hasn't coached outside of the MAC yet. While going from 1-11 to 13-1 in four seasons is impressive, I'm going to assume Minnesota will be the same or worse next year until we see if he can really swim with bigger fishes in a bigger pond...

His wikipedia article has this gem (emphasis added):

February 2, 2012, he was hired as the offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois University (note: his alma mater). Coach Dave Doeren said the following about Fleck's hiring, "We spoke at length about why this is the right place for him. It was very evident to me that he bleeds NIU, and he would have tremendous pride and passion working not just for me, but for the university ... ."[10] Just one day later, on February 3, 2012, Fleck abruptly resigned the Northern Illinois position to accept a position as wide receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. The move reunited him with Schiano​

he bailed on a job with his own alma mater after one day, to take a higher profile one with Greg Schiano of all people.

 

[dubbsco]

Kelly was a complete a-hole while he was here. The timing of his departure was flipping horrible. But he made the team a power in a short amount of time.

I like Bonamego, but he's just very meh at this point.

 

[Michchamp]

aaaaaand the first head coach he worked under was... Jim Tressel.

 

[thewolverines24]

aaaaaand the first head coach he worked under was... Jim Tressel.

Gross.