Minnesota has hired PJ Fleck, per reports. Fleck has long been on Athletic Director Mark Coyle's radar, and the swift hiring process proved he had his coach in place after firing Tracy Claeys on Tuesday.
Fleck, 36, was the head coach at Western Michigan. In 2013, his first season with the Broncos, he finished just 1-11. In the two following seasons, he finished 8-5. This season, the Broncos went undefeated before losing to Wisconsin by eight in the Cotton Bowl.
Fleck is a high-energy and intense coach, which led to recruiting success. The Broncos had the top-ranked recruiting class in the MAC in 2014 and 2016, the No. 2-ranked class in 2015, and are atop the MAC rankings this season.
He and his "row the boat" mantra have become nationally known, which in addition to recruiting, has also boosted ticket sales -- something Minnesota struggled with this fall.
Fleck grew up 40 miles west of Chicago, in Sugar Grove, Illinois. He played wide receiver for Northern Illinois, where he was named captain twice and an Academic All-American.
After graduating, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. Fleck registered one special teams tackle with the 49ers but spent most of his time with the team on the practice squad. In 2005, he spent the season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. After being released by the team in 2006, the 49ers offered him a position as the assistant wide receivers coach, which he turned down to continue to pursue his playing career. He tried out for the Chicago Bears but failed his physical.
In 2006, he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant tight ends and special teams coach with Ohio State, where he worked under Jim Tressel. They Buckeyes fell that year to the Urban Meyer-coached Florida Gators in the national championship.
In 2007, Fleck was hired by Joe Novak to be the wide receivers coach at Northern Illinois. Novak was also Fleck's coach when he played at NIU. After Novak retired in 2008, Fleck was just one of two assistant coaches to remain on the staff when Jerry Kill took over, and in 2009, Kill appointed him to be the recruiting coordinator in addition to wide receivers coach. The Huskies had a top 50 scoring offense in Fleck's final season with the program, 2009.
In 2010, Fleck was hired to be the wide receivers coach at Rutgers. That year, Rutgers' passing game was the strength of the offense. The next season, Rutgers' offense improved statistically in all areas, and the passing game again remained the strength.
After the season, he accepted an offer to be offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois but just one day later left Northern Illinois to become the wide receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The move followed Greg Schiano, who took the head coaching jobs with the Buccaneers after a successful tenure at Rutgers. The Buccaneers struggled, but Fleck helped lead a passing offense that finished tenth in yards per game.
In 2013, Fleck took over for Bill Cubit, later Illinois' head coach, at Western Michigan. WMU was also rumored to have had contact with Scott Shafer, who later became Syracuse's head coach, and Craig Bohl, now Wyoming's head coach.
Fleck brought instant energy to Kalamazoo, and was named the top new college football hire by a Sports Illustrated columnist. However, the results did not come right away. The Broncos finished 1-11, and Fleck said the team was lucky to get their one win. Fleck has said that his first year at Western Michigan was to establish the right culture, which is why he was quoted saying he was "the happiest 0-4 coach in the country" mid-season. In 2013, despite the poor on-field results, his team finished fifth out of 13 in the MAC in recruiting.
The Broncos started to show progress in 2014. They went 8-4 in the regular season and fell to Air Force in the Potato Bowl. Fleck was named MAC Coach of the Year and was a Maxwell Coach of the Year semifinalist. He also recruited the MAC's top recruiting class. After the season, he signed a contract making him the conference's highest-paid coach.
In 2015, the Broncos won the MAC West and finished the regular season 7-5 before defeating Middle Tennessee State in the Bahamas Bowl -- the first bowl win in the program's history. Amazingly, Western Michigan also played host to Michigan State, but the Broncos fell by two scores.
This season, Western Michigan became a national talking point, as the Broncos went 13-1, including road wins against Northwestern and Illinois. They fell on Monday in the Cotton Bowl to eighth-ranked Wisconsin by eight points. Fleck received a lot of national media attention, and Western Michigan hosted ESPN's College Gameday. Fleck was a finalist for the Football Writers Association of America Coach of the Year Award. As of today, the Broncos have the top recruiting class in the MAC and are ranked 24 spots ahead of Minnesota nationally.
Prior to taking the Minnesota job, Fleck was rumored for jobs at Purdue and Cincinnati, among others.
