P.J. Fleck

#1
05_never_again

05_never_again

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#1
I was listening to Fulmer and Doug Mathews's Coach to Coach show and caught an interesting comment from Fulmer about P.J. Fleck.

Larry Stone asked Fulmer what he thought about Fleck, and Fulmer laughed and said "I've heard conflicting things about him, but his teams look good."

Anybody know any specifics about what he might be talking about?

He went on to call him "a personality," which I don't think he meant as a compliment. Is he just saying he's a hype man who can't really coach?
 
#2
#2
05_never_again said:
I was listening to Fulmer and Doug Mathews's Coach to Coach show and caught an interesting comment from Fulmer about P.J. Fleck.

Larry Stone asked Fulmer what he thought about Fleck, and Fulmer laughed and said "I've heard conflicting things about him, but his teams look good."

Anybody know any specifics about what he might be talking about?

He went on to call him "a personality," which I don't think he meant as a compliment. Is he just saying he's a hype man who can't really coach?
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Folks are often jealous of qualities they perceive they lack and secretly admire most. The great pumpkin will never go down as Mr personality.
 
#3
#3
TUSKtimes said:
Folks are often jealous of qualities they perceive they lack and secretly admire most. The great pumpkin will never go down as Mr personality.
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Totally agree - but I'd love to know what exactly he meant by "I've heard conflicting things about him."
 
#4
#4
I listen to a radio show podcast based in Western Michigan and they've talked about him, and I think he rubbed some people the wrong way when he left for Minnesota. It could be sour grapes but there was talk that sounded like he may have been a little "Lane Kiffin" in getting players to follow him to Minnesota. Also sounded like many think his public persona is more an act than people think.

Again, not my opinion, just how they presented it.
 
#6
#6
05_never_again said:
Totally agree - but I'd love to know what exactly he meant by "I've heard conflicting things about him."
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I caught a little of his act at the B1G media day. He read tweets about himself that were suggesting the same thing fulmer just stated. He's a ball of fire and at 36 years of age, he doesn't care what most think. My personal observation was that some people just have an unfortunate way of saying things. He gave Harbaugh a run for his money in that area. Poor Urban if he ever has to upstage these two.
 
#7
#7
Espn ran a 90 minute PJ Fleck commercial. I think it is part of their 30 for 30 series. "Being PJ fleck", i think thats the title.
 
#8
#8
I've heard some say that nobody loves PJ Fleck more than PJ Fleck does...that said I think it's a generational thing and Coach Fulmer is a play it close to the vest type and these younger coaches just don't care who they offend.
 
#10
#10
If he's a fake it's a matter of time before it's found out. These things have a way of working themselves out.
 
#11
#11
Another interesting point that Mathews made in the Coach to Coach show, which I agree with, is that going to Minnesota is a curious and potentially not so great career move for him.

Whether or not what he's doing is a total dog-and-pony show, he undeniably made a name for himself after last year and very quickly parlayed that into a job at...Minnesota. Perhaps a little impatient? I bet if he stuck around at Western Michigan for a couple more years, provided the program didn't fall off a cliff, he could have parlayed that into a much better job where it is easier to recruit and win. It seems like it is very, very difficult to win more than 8-9 games at Minnesota. They are in the weaker of the 2 divisions though in the Big 10.

His gimmicks for generating interest in the program work really well at a low-level program like Western Michigan but I can see that act wearing thin with players and fans really quickly at a school that is used to having more success, especially if he doesn't win enough.
 
#12
#12
It will be interesting to see how he fares at Minnesota. He thinks he can lead them to big things. I caught part of the ESPN 30 for 30, but I had already heard some things about him. I have even seen people suggest that he is a younger Butch Jones with his energy and motivation tactics.

One of the interesting interviews from the ESPN show was his former coach at Northern Illinois, who said, "maybe I am old school, but I think he needs to tone down his rhetoric." Considering it was an all positive show, I found that interesting. Fleck doesn't back down.

I can also see a Kiffin resemblance. Young, brash, and will say about anything for attention. Additionally, he is known for being a ladies' man. There was talk of an affair at WMU. He divorced his first wife with his kids, and I believe he married his second wife pretty quickly. Don't know if second wife is related to the affair, but you can google and find some interesting discussions.
 
#13
#13
VolGee4 said:
One of the interesting interviews from the ESPN show was his former coach at Northern Illinois, who said, "maybe I am old school, but I think he needs to tone down his rhetoric." Considering it was an all positive show, I found that interesting. Fleck doesn't back down.
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Yeah - kind of a similar reason as to why I started a thread about Fulmer's comments about him. Fulmer rarely, if ever, makes public comments that are remotely interesting, frank, opinionated, or noteworthy. That's just who he is, but this statement of his, from him, stood out to me.

That's interesting people compared him to Butch, at least in terms of motivation tactics. They must be talking about motivation tactics behind the scenes, because to the cameras Butch is a robot and says the same things over and over again. Perhaps just because they began coaching in the same area, and he was an easy comparison that came to mind?
 
#15
#15
05_never_again said:
Yeah - kind of a similar reason as to why I started a thread about Fulmer's comments about him. Fulmer rarely, if ever, makes public comments that are remotely interesting, frank, opinionated, or noteworthy. That's just who he is, but this statement of his, from him, stood out to me.

That's interesting people compared him to Butch, at least in terms of motivation tactics. They must be talking about motivation tactics behind the scenes, because to the cameras Butch is a robot and says the same things over and over again. Perhaps just because they began coaching in the same area, and he was an easy comparison that came to mind?
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Fleck's mantra is "row the boat." He brought it to Minnesota from WMU. He has shirts made up for the entire program. At WMU, I think he even wore pullovers on gameday with an oar on it. I think he actually came up with it after a newborn son passed away from a heart condition, so it is personal. But, he appears to use phrases and such to motivate his players. Some people think it's cheesy, but that is one of the ways he has been compared to Butch. He apparently is also a great recruiter. The reason he turned WMU around was because he recruited better than everyone in the conference.
 
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#17
#17
VolGee4 said:
Fleck's mantra is "row the boat." He brought it to Minnesota from WMU. He has shirts made up for the entire program. At WVU, I think he even wore pullovers on gameday with an oar on it. I think he actually came up with it after a newborn son passed away from a heart condition, so it is personal. But, he appears to use phrases and such to motivate his players. Some people think it's cheesy, but that is one of the ways he has been compared to Butch. He apparently is also a great recruiter. The reason he turned WVU around was because he recruited better than everyone in the conference.
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He also has used phrases close to the "Champions of Life" like Coach Jones, but it seems to go over better when he says it.
 
#18
#18
I think he may be like Chris Petersen and just is in love with the area, or has family in the area that he doesn't want to leave.
 
#19
#19
YorkVol said:
He also has used phrases close to the "Champions of Life" like Coach Jones, but it seems to go over better when he says it.
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"Row the boat" sounds something like a hype man would say.

"Champions of Life" and "5 star hearts," particularly at the moments Butch said them, sound like something a church youth basketball coach would say.
 
#23
#23
05_never_again said:
"Row the boat" sounds something like a hype man would say.

"Champions of Life" and "5 star hearts," particularly at the moments Butch said them, sound like something a church youth basketball coach would say.
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I heard the interview on the radio and the interviewer actually said "I don't know why but it sounds so much better when you say it then when Butch Jones says it." Lots of folks just have a thing against Jones.
 
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#25
#25
eskimovol said:
You know he's at Minnesota now right?
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Lessee...

"Almost heaven, Minnesota..."

Nope, that doesn't sound right.

"There ain't no gold, and there ain't nobody like me, I'm the number one fan of the man from Minnesota...."

That definitely isn't right.

"In my mind, I'm gone to Minnesota..."
"Rocky Mountain high, Minnesota..."
"Those little town blues...It's up to you, Minnesota, Minnesota!"

None of these are working.

I'm with you, Eskimo, if Minnesota was so great, wouldn't SOMEONE have written a song about it? :)



p.s. Oh yeah! There's "Christmas Card From A Hooker in Minneapolis" by Tom Waits! :)
 
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