All Things P.J. Fleck Rumor Mill Thread - Listed as Candidate for Other Jobs

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I think people are underestimating
A. PJ’s qualifications when stacked up against other candidates and
B. The level of coaches these types of programs usually end up hiring.

Look at other mid level P4 hires in recent years.

Michigan State has hired Jon Smith and Mel Tucker, neither of whom had a resume that stacks up to PJ’s current track record.

Syracuse just hired a guy with no HC experience.

Baylor hired a guy who was an elite coordinator but had no HC experience.

Nebraska hired a guy with similar accomplishments to PJ.

West Virginia hired a guy with no P5 experience.

I’m not at all saying UNC will hire PJ, I doubt they will, but those asking “why does PJ get any consideration?”, are underselling the value of a guy who won 13 games at a G5 and won 9+ games 3 times in a 4 year period at a historically underwhelming big ten school.
 

Wait a minute. Has Shooter chimed in on this? Then we'd be get'in the real scoop.
 


Fleck has it great here. I don't think he wants to leave.

I do think his agent wants to use reasonable opportunities to upgrade his contract and get a nice commission on that.

I hope Coyle says " you know ... we just played this game last year, I do not have the appetite this year, I'm calling your bluff".
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
UCLA isn't a good job that said, they were foolish for choosing Foster at all.
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You’d have a hard time convincing me to take someone who isn’t already a head coach somewhere. Bringing your players with you is such a huge advantage to hit the ground running. Someone pointed out how Fleck’s year zero may have looked very different if he had that luxury at the time.
 

BleedGopher said:
Much easier conference to win, great place to live, low expectations, following the exact opposite of himself (old, tired, no energy), etc.

I don't want to lose Fleck, but this is a better landing spot for him than UCLA would have been.

Go Gophers!!
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Except for the fact that PJ is married and Beverly Hills is walking distance from Westwood.
 





short ornery norwegian said:
FWIW - the Athletic is first up with a list of potential candidates: (no mention of Fleck)

Tulane HC Jon Sumrall
Liberty HC Jamey Chadwell
UNLV HC Barry Odom
Iowa State HC Matt Campbell
Marshall HC Charles Huff
Memphis HC Ryan Silverfield
James Madison HC Bob Chesney
Georgia DC Glenn Schumann
Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock
Pittsburgh Steelers OC Arthur Smith (Smith is a former UNC lineman. his dad is founder of FedEx - could be a big donor to program....)
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I don't see the Fed Ex founder pouring money into UNC football as I believe he has been prominently a Memphis benefactor.
 

Lou Brown said:
I see PJ coaching here until he gets fired and then going to Northern Illinois - and dominating the MAC. You could argue PJ taking Northern Illinois to the CFP is more likely than taking our Gophers.
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Any team outside of conf USA who goes unbeaten is likely to make playoffs

Is fleck more likely to go 12-0 at a mac school or 10-2 at Minnesota

He has done both
 

Do we have anyone local in chapel hill that can take up refuge in the local Deja Vu and any flight logs
 




Fleck is firmly entrenched here in terms of the culture/philosophy he's established. His brand is stamped everywhere in the football program and I don't know how appealing it would be to start all over again from square one somewhere else, trying to reestablish that culture. And yeah, people can leave whenever, but I don't think he leaves unless he's no longer welcome here or he feels like his brand isn't sticking like it used to. All signs point to this being a really healthy program internally so I think his brand is still very on point
 

BleedGopher said:
Much easier conference to win, great place to live, low expectations, following the exact opposite of himself (old, tired, no energy), etc.

I don't want to lose Fleck, but this is a better landing spot for him than UCLA would have been.

Go Gophers!!
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The UCLA point is certainly true, but the ACC is a power 4.1 conference for football. They're not anywhere close to being on the same level financially at the Big Ten and SEC, and won't be for another decade at least when their ESPN deal expires. Two of the highest profile programs, Florida State and Clemson, are trying to get out of their grant of rights deals so they can leave the conference and become free agents. ACC schools are already falling behind in the arms race, so I'm not sure if UNC is necessarily a more attractive job than a middle-of-the-Big-Ten school like Minnesota.
 

WindyCityGopher said:
The UCLA point is certainly true, but the ACC is a power 4.1 conference for football. They're not anywhere close to being on the same level financially at the Big Ten and SEC, and won't be for another decade at least when their ESPN deal expires. Two of the highest profile programs, Florida State and Clemson, are trying to get out of their grant of rights deals so they can leave the conference and become free agents. ACC schools are already falling behind in the arms race, so I'm not sure if UNC is necessarily a more attractive job than a middle-of-the-Big-Ten school like Minnesota.
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I think that’s true for ACC and big 12 jobs that aren’t surefire expansion wants

But Clemson, Florida state, North Carolina are in a different situation than some of the others, IMO
 

GopherGrit said:
Fleck has it great here. I don't think he wants to leave.

I do think his agent wants to use reasonable opportunities to upgrade his contract and get a nice commission on that.

I hope Coyle says " you know ... we just played this game last year, I do not have the appetite this year, I'm calling your bluff".
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I wouldn't put too many chips on Coyle's ability to successfully handle a situation like this.
 

mngg11 said:
Fleck is firmly entrenched here in terms of the culture/philosophy he's established. His brand is stamped everywhere in the football program and I don't know how appealing it would be to start all over again from square one somewhere else, trying to reestablish that culture. And yeah, people can leave whenever, but I don't think he leaves unless he's no longer welcome here or he feels like his brand isn't sticking like it used to. All signs point to this being a really healthy program internally so I think his brand is still very on point
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IMO, Fleck's brand/culture/philosophy in his mind is meant for more than a middling college football market. That's why there was interest in UCLA...not necessarily for the program but for the locale. If Covid hadn't have happened, we'd be on year 2-3 of our next coach.
 


GopherGrit said:
Fleck has it great here. I don't think he wants to leave.

I do think his agent wants to use reasonable opportunities to upgrade his contract and get a nice commission on that.

I hope Coyle says " you know ... we just played this game last year, I do not have the appetite this year, I'm calling your bluff".
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This. I still like PJ, but I'm also not enthralled with continuing to raise his buyout. Call his bluff; if he leaves, he leaves.

Coyle can't afford to give PJ any more money; he's going to have to hire a competent basketball coach with a legitimate B1G salary in a few months.
 


I think Colorado would be a great spot for Fleck if Sanders were to leave.
 


MilosRevenge said:
IMO, Fleck's brand/culture/philosophy in his mind is meant for more than a middling college football market. That's why there was interest in UCLA...not necessarily for the program but for the locale. If Covid hadn't have happened, we'd be on year 2-3 of our next coach.
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IMO, RTB would disappear among the other 14000 Los Angeles area/California do good/feel good/be your best mantra campaigns. He's got a corner on the market in both Minnesota and the Midwest in his current position. His role as a B10 coach gets him constant media coverage both locally and nationally, and the performance expectations here are vastly lower than in a large market or at a helmet school. He doesn't need to worry about someone with significant AD influence or a rabid fanbase being pissed off about not getting to 9 wins annually while he's here and can continue to invest a significant amount of his time on furthering his cause. If he cares about his messaging more than having more money (and when you make 6 mil a year how much does your life really improve making 8-12 instead???) and he likes it here and continues to receive support from the school and athletic department, there isn't a logical reason to leave. I also don't want him to go, so I'm biased
 

WindyCityGopher said:
Sweet Jesus, could there be a more radically different cultural change in a program from one year to the next going from Coach Prime to Row the Boat? That would certainly shock some systems in Boulder.
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Yep! F.A.M.I.L.Y. couldn't be a more stark difference from whatever the hell it is they're doing out there right now
 

If Fleck does leave, I predict the next coach will be a big fishing honk who will replace RTB with STH for “Set the Hook!”
 

Hopefully we can follow the model that Indiana used in hiring their new coach.
 



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