Chip: P.J. Fleck puts pride, ego aside in making one of the best calls of his Gophers career

[BleedGopher]

per Chip:

P.J. Fleck received a phone call at home Christmas morning in 2019. His offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca informed him that he was leaving to take the same position at Penn State.

Fleck's wife, Heather, looked at him after he hung up.

"Christmas morning?! Come on, Kirky!'' she said, using her nickname for Ciarrocca.

"And that was before the kids even opened presents," Fleck recalled this week. "It was like, 'Yeah, that's what Santa brought to us.' "

Fleck still jokes about it because he took the news in stride, despite it being a professional blow to the Gophers football coach. What happened next in their relationship was even more telling: Fleck did not hesitate in welcoming his mentor and close friend back with open arms when he went looking for an offensive coordinator again last December.

Kudos to Fleck for how he handled a delicate situation. Not every head coach would have made that same decision, bringing back a coordinator who left for another job at a conference rival two years earlier.

Fleck's actions revealed two things: He refused to let pride or ego or anything else interfere with his decision. And he was wise to go back to a relationship that produced historic results in 2019.

Scoggins: P.J. Fleck puts pride, ego aside in making one of the best calls of his Gophers career

Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca left P.J. Fleck and the players after the epic 2019 season for Big Ten rival Penn State. Why welcome him back after that?

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[MNVCGUY]

Not a subscriber so don't know if Chip did this research for the article but it would be interesting to know how many times a coordinator has left and come back to work in the same capacity for the same head coach.

I have to believe it is extremely rare for that to happen. But thank goodness KC came back, the difference in our offense this year is night and day.

 

[Some Day...Maybe]

PJ is simply smart enough. It was a no brainer if you ask me. Ciarocca is one of the best OC’s in college football. Plus, after witnessing who he hired as OC for two years it had to be an easy call.

 

[highwayman]

It’s how an adult acts.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Not a subscriber so don't know if Chip did this research for the article but it would be interesting to know how many times a coordinator has left and come back to work in the same capacity for the same head coach.

I have to believe it is extremely rare for that to happen. But thank goodness KC came back, the difference in our offense this year is night and day.

Also how many times he left and came back… twice.


He quit for a few hours once and changed his mind even before Penn State.

 

[fmlizard]

Return Of Kirk was called on Gopher Hole as early as the Bowling Green Massacre of 9/25/21

Sanford's failure was called from...the day he was hired?

If an Internet poll of Gopher Rubes was used it would have made the same decision, but earlier.

 

[hungan1]

They are true friends.

 

[Stuff]

A lot of coaches would have "burned their bridge' with their O.C. if they left for another job. Fortunately PJ is mature enough not to.

 

[BilldGopher]

Recall too that PSU was a dumpster fire in the 2020 Covid Season from Hell and that Franklin had a number of candidate coaches to fire. Kirk though, with the regression on offense, won the lottery that at least set up the possibility of coming back.

Unfortunately that same 2020 season did not provide any good data for Coach Fleck to can Sanford so we had to go through last year.

Coach Fleck did have to put away any pride he may have had on this but we're actually just lucky KC was available. Here's to luck!

 

[BTChamp]

I think a lot of it also has to do with how Kirk left (at least what we were told). He left for family, not greed and fame and "moving up the ladder". He left with good intentions of just trying to get home, and that makes it easy for someone to understand and give a second chance. Plus these guys have been together for a long time and understand each other beyond football.

 

[Gopher_In_NYC]

per Chip:

P.J. Fleck received a phone call at home Christmas morning in 2019. His offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca informed him that he was leaving to take the same position at Penn State.

Fleck's wife, Heather, looked at him after he hung up.

"Christmas morning?! Come on, Kirky!'' she said, using her nickname for Ciarrocca.

"And that was before the kids even opened presents," Fleck recalled this week. "It was like, 'Yeah, that's what Santa brought to us.' "

Fleck still jokes about it because he took the news in stride, despite it being a professional blow to the Gophers football coach. What happened next in their relationship was even more telling: Fleck did not hesitate in welcoming his mentor and close friend back with open arms when he went looking for an offensive coordinator again last December.

Kudos to Fleck for how he handled a delicate situation. Not every head coach would have made that same decision, bringing back a coordinator who left for another job at a conference rival two years earlier.

Fleck's actions revealed two things: He refused to let pride or ego or anything else interfere with his decision. And he was wise to go back to a relationship that produced historic results in 2019.

Scoggins: P.J. Fleck puts pride, ego aside in making one of the best calls of his Gophers career

Offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca left P.J. Fleck and the players after the epic 2019 season for Big Ten rival Penn State. Why welcome him back after that?

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

That's a masterclass in Leadership.