OT: Hopes/attempts at keeping Fleck (at least a little longer)

Submitted by Kewaga. on

Again, a slow week.  Thought it was a nice read:

 

            "A 120 yard walk with Western's P.J. Fleck"

 

"We've had a real legacy in the MAC of some of the best coaches in the history of football," Johnston said a few days after the Broncos' big win. "One of the things the conference hasn't [done] is to retain one of those legacy coaches. Perhaps universities didn't have an appetite to do that. ... I think you can create an environment where a coach could say, 'Yeah I can be a legacy coach here.'" ...

 

Beauregard says there's a plan in place to try to keep Fleck. She traveled to Boise with him for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl two years ago and together they tried to dissect the Boise State program and how those Broncos inserted themselves in the realm normally reserved for college football's bluebloods and cash cows. They talked about the possibility of building something similar with their Broncos. ...

 

"He needed to see progress. He needed to see commitment and passion," she said. "He saw the response." ...

 

Beauregard says that Western Michigan is in the midst of "very positive" negotiations to extend Fleck's contract and almost certainly add a significant increase to what is already the highest salary among MAC coaches. There is nothing imminent, she says, but there are reasons for optimism in Kalamazoo.

 

Fleck is hard to keep up with, and eventually he'll be hard to keep. For now, Western Michigan is taking all the necessary steps.

 

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18238603/a-120-yard-wal…

 

MGoBoard

jmblue

December 12th, 2016 at 2:16 PM ^

It's been speculated that he may not want to leave Kalamazoo right now because he'd be leaving his children, who apparently live with his ex-wife there.   If so, I could see him deciding to stay a year and see if another job in the region (ND?  MSU?) opens up.

 

 

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Flying Dutchman

December 12th, 2016 at 3:24 PM ^

This actually was an integral element of my own theory (the kids) which turned out to be wrong.   His kids actually already live out of town, in St Louis with their mother.  That must suck to live away from your kids, but maybe PJ and I aren't wired up the same way.

My own theory had some things right, that WMU was going to dig deep to keep him, which is going on.    Also that PJ may have the foresight that taking just a mid-grade leap might be dumb (Purdue, possibly hadn't offered him anyway) or that a different geography might be a tougher step due to recruiting and connections (Oregon or Houston, possibly neither offered him) for a Midwest guy.  Or that those outside-the-Midwest jobs see the same risk in offering a Midwest guy.

Either way, I think he is at WMU until the can't miss job opens up for him.   That could be an MSU or Notre Dame, maybe a Wisconsin.   Unless they can't maintain their success at WMU, he may already be above a leap to a Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota.     And screw Cincinnati, I hate that school. 

Joined: 09/16/2009

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Brodie

December 12th, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^

The odds of a coach going directly from the MAC to one of those schools is very low. You may personally hate Cincy, but the AAC has well surpassed the MAC as the cradle of coaches in the 21st century. If PJ is banking on something better than, say, Iowa coming his way in the next few years than he may have misread the market for his particular skillset. 

Joined: 11/19/2008

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Brodie

December 12th, 2016 at 3:36 PM ^

The odds of a coach going directly from the MAC to one of those schools is very low. You may personally hate Cincy, but the AAC has well surpassed the MAC as the cradle of coaches in the 21st century. If PJ is banking on something better than, say, Iowa coming his way in the next few years than he may have misread the market for his particular skillset. 

Joined: 11/19/2008

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WestSider

December 12th, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^

at WMU for another year or two, keeps winning, and then considers a move. Its nice to have him in Michigan.His authentically enthusiastic personality is another great counter to that sour-puss in E. Lansing.

Joined: 02/04/2011

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Rick Grimes

December 12th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

Hopefully Fleck stays there at least until he's sure Western will be fine after he's gone and they won't just fall back to what they were before he got there. He also needs to be sure that when he does leave, it's going to be the right fit for him and the team who hires him. Purdue, for instance, would have been beneath him this off season. All in all, this wasn't the right time to leave Western, so he made a good decision.

Joined: 03/29/2014

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AAB

December 12th, 2016 at 2:21 PM ^

Western led the nation in turnover margin, much like Kent State during Hazell's huge year there.  They're likely to take a big step back next year, separate and apart from player departures.  Decent chance he looks like much less of a hot candidate a year from now.  

Joined: 01/14/2009

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Kevin13

December 12th, 2016 at 3:31 PM ^

they are trying to keep a top tier coach at their school and I wish them look in succeeding. But, when a big time school comes calling with $5 million a yaer contract in hand I think they will find they are fighting a loosing battle.

Joined: 01/26/2016

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JuIian

December 12th, 2016 at 4:07 PM ^

As a fellow WMU grad, I would be thrilled if he stayed. On the topic of Kazoo, I've lived in Portland and Denver and nothing compares to Shakespeare's Pub.

Joined: 12/31/2015

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Cold War

December 13th, 2016 at 6:46 AM ^

Went to the CMU / WMU tailgate and game. From conversation I overheard, most Broncos think it's dumb. But they love PJ, of course.

Joined: 01/15/2012

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