SBnation and others call P.J. Fleck the "Next Harbaugh"

Submitted by Decatur Jack on

Excerpt from SBnation's article:

He exudes more energy than anyone else in this high-energy profession.
Fleck’s path to this point calls another Big Ten coach to mind. It’s not only that Fleck and Jim Harbaugh are super-intense Midwesterners in a reserved Midwestern league.
Both are unapologetically unique in a rigid business, and there’s the irony.
When Harbaugh got to Michigan, he rattled SEC cages by pushing into the South with satellite camps. The NCAA briefly banned them, but they’ve survived in a limited form. Harbaugh took Michigan to Rome this year, and not coincidentally, the Power 5 conferences will ban such trips going forward.

That’s the Harbaugh Rule.

In Fleck’s first summer in the Twin Cities, his staff’s legal use of a loophole caused the NCAA to close it right up. Minnesota included a recruit in a video that marketed one of its camps, and it was allowed because the player was merely participating in camp activities. The NCAA issued an interpretation that recruits couldn’t be "celebritized" in such materials.

That’s the Fleck Rule.

"I’m just gonna be me," Fleck says.

Other Fleck-Harbaugh comparisons from the Minnesota Star Tribune:

Fleck will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. That is a mistake, however. Fleck is projecting to be better than Harbaugh, in almost every conceivable way. Where the antics of Michigan's coach are seen by the national media as gimmicky, annoying, almost child-like, Fleck's antics are something Harbaugh's are not - charming.
There is an image of new Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck sprinting down the sideline that has since gone viral on the internet. It reminds you of a Harbaugh-like intensity and enthusiasm. Yet, as everyone knows, Harbaugh's intensity and enthusiasm are largely fake, a by-product of Michigan's annual off-season hype machine.
You just can't help but like P.J. Fleck. His "Row the Boat" Mantra was born out of personal tragedy, and that makes him endearing. There are certainly coaches in the Big Ten who crave attention and like to make headlines - and even have a twitter account nearly as disliked as the President's - but Fleck is likeable and down to earth. He's no Harbaugh, thank heaven.
Watch P.J. Fleck take the Big Ten by storm. He'll be able to do something even the 'great' Jim Harbaugh hasn't done: win his division.

My goodness, those are some TAEKS. Michigan plays Minnesota on November 4.

Brhino

August 24th, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

" Yet, as everyone knows, Harbaugh's intensity and enthusiasm are largely fake, a by-product of Michigan's annual off-season hype machine."

The calling card of the Don't Understand Harbaugh crowd. Oakland is still in play.

Crootin

August 24th, 2017 at 8:41 PM ^

Fleck is projecting to be better than Harbaugh, in almost every conceivable way. 

 

 

LOL, "OK".  Someone embed that gif...you know the one.

war-dawg69

August 25th, 2017 at 10:26 AM ^

Last I looked Fleck has yet to receive a commitment from anyone above a three star in both recruiting classes. Are you freakin kidding me with this delusional bullshit. Another problem I have is Harbaugh is just flat out a better coach and has a way better staff in every way. I was allready looking forward to crushing the boycotters, but know with this dribble I can't wait to see Fleck's reaction to losing by fifty. Will just see how elite Minnesota is when they enter the BIG HOUSE!!!.

SLEDGE HAMMER

August 24th, 2017 at 8:46 PM ^

While Fleck certainly seems to have a unique energy, I'm not sure how he can be the "next" Harbaugh, when Harbaugh is just getting started here at Michigan.



Those quotes from the Star Tribune are mind boggling though. How can anyone think Harbaugh is anything close to fake or doing thing simply for show or hype, especially compared to PJ? Let alone that Fleck will suddenly become some world beater, their resumes to date aren't even in the same solar system. I hope PJ goes on to do good things, except against Michigan, but that writing is some serious Brown Jug depreivation butthurt.

AZBlue

August 25th, 2017 at 1:37 AM ^

Seeking attention just for the sake of it is a fairly common misconception among those that do not follow M closely. That said I think some of the earliest stuff was clearly to get Michigan (not specifically Jim) back in the national conversation.



Now that it is, Jim is just being himself but any angle that the media can come up with leads to clicks which perpetuates the cycle.

DonAZ

August 24th, 2017 at 8:48 PM ^

I like P.J. Fleck.  He clearly accomplished some good things at Western Michigan.  He's young and energetic.

I wish him well at Minnesota.  He's going to need it.  It's going to be hard in Minnesota to fill out a roster with sufficient talent to get over the "pretty good" hump into "really good."  Lou Holtz couldn't do it at Minnesota.  Nick Saban couldn't do it at Michigan State.  It's hard at off-the-radar schools that don't have a traditional of football excellence.

But I wish him well.  Except when they play Michigan.  Then I want that oar shoved you-know-where. :-)

BoFlex

August 25th, 2017 at 12:41 AM ^

Historically, Minnesota is a borderline "blood blue" program. From 1904-1960, Minnesota had 7 National Championships, and 18 B1G Conference Championships from 1900-1967.

So PJ Fleck has some "tradition" that he can try to tap and Market to recruits. Heck, even Michigan had the same amount of NCs in the same time span, so for 6 decades Minnesota was a comparable program.

DonAZ

August 25th, 2017 at 5:39 AM ^

Bronko Nagurski, 6'2" 226 lbs, Minnesota 1927 - 1929

23 Skidoo!

I understand what you're getting at ... but Minnesota's "blue blood" lineage is so far out of date it hardly matters any more. My opinion is a team can tout that long-ago stuff if they're doing good stuff today. Harvard and Yale have a bunch of NCs way back when as well, but if they made a thing of it today they'd be laughed at.

I actually like Minnesota. There are some B1G teams I hardly pay attention to (Illinois, Purdue), others I actively hate (OSU, PSU), and others I kinda like (Minnesota, Nebraska). I hope Minnesota does well under Fleck.  

But as I said, he's got a tough row to hoe ... Wisconsin is the talent Hoover up in that neck of the woods. And if a really bright star emerges from the land of 10,000 lakes ... you can bet Harbaugh and Meyer will be knocking on the door as well.

Chipper1221

August 24th, 2017 at 8:47 PM ^

Maybe I'm in the minority here but when harbaugh does pack it in I wouldn't mind looking at fleck. This is ten years from now but he's got some instate ties and the Bo prophecy of coming from an osu coaching tree

Blueblood2991

August 25th, 2017 at 12:50 AM ^

The dude was a WR coach for a couple years and openly admits that he doesn't involve himself in the Xs and Os of the game. That's the glaring difference between him and Harbaugh.  CEO type coaches can be successful, but let's pump the brakes here. 

Brady Hoke was also a good MAC coach fergodsake.

Flying Dutchman

August 25th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^

Blueblood2991 nails it.    Fleck isn't an X and O's coach, and will tell you that.   Harbaugh, by contrast, is what I believe to be an X/O wizard, to the extent that we have probably only seen the tip of the iceberg in these past 2 years.  

As a WMU grad, I have followed Fleck's recent great run pretty closely.   There was nothing exceptional about the football itself.   He was simply able to get better players than MAC schools typically are able to get.  Don't sleep on current WMU Sr RB Jarvion Franklin.  That's an NFL player.

The best example is Corey Davis.  The kid was ridiculous.   Absolute man among boys and its almost a farce that he didn't instead become a great Big Ten receiver.   Fleck is not going to be able to pull these kinds of advantages against Nebraska and Wisconsin.   If anything, he is going to have to weaken those programs by simply nabbing some of the recruits that would have otherwise gone to those schools, which I think he will do some of.

Aside:  the best example ever of MAC Man Among Boys phenomenon was Roethlisberger.  It looked like a video game that wasn't fair.  

Fleck will accomplish some things at Minnesota.   He simply won't take over the league.  He will annoy Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc and be a media darling.   If he goes on a great run he will be gone in five years and try to settle at a ND, OSU or traditional powerhouse.  

Im thinkin bou…

August 25th, 2017 at 1:20 AM ^

I just made an account for this comment (hi, thank you). My cousin works in the athletic department at WMU and the people within were not that happy with PJ fleck. He's crazy, Harbaugh is crazy with genius. From what I know, the people within at U of M love Harbaugh.

Zenogias

August 25th, 2017 at 1:36 AM ^

Watch P.J. Fleck take the Big Ten by storm. He'll be able to do something even the 'great' Jim Harbaugh hasn't done: win his division.

Love this. "Win his division." Yeah. The author can't bring himself to say "Win the Big Ten" because he knows that ain't happening, not with Minnesota having to face Ohio State, Penn State, or, what the hell, even maybe Michigan in the Championship game. But he can say "Win the division" because Minnesota plays in the West, and so doesn't have to get by any of the three top programs in the B1G. Does anyone really think that Jim Harbaugh and Michigan would have a hard time winning the B1G West, or that Minnesota would get anything but pasted playing in the East? But sure, let's pretend that the B1G East and B1G West are basically the same if it makes you feel better about PJ Fleck (who's probably pretty cool, I dunno, I got no beef with him; I just can't get over how contrived this take is).

Jeff09

August 25th, 2017 at 1:41 AM ^

Such a dumb take. Like, winning the whole goddamn NFC is easy. Something the 'great' Sabah has never done. (Which, Saban is a better college football coach than Harbaugh. Winning or not winning some very narrow divisional title in a very narrow period of time is not necessarily strong evidence of coaching quality one way or the other)

Jeff09

August 25th, 2017 at 1:38 AM ^

First of all, he's not. Second of all, fuck those guys (except Connelly). They openly trash Harbaugh and troll Michigan fans for no discernible reason and then write a complementary article about Fleck comparing him to Harbaugh? That site is also the likeliest to trot out crap like the laziest take in CFB about Harbaugh never finishing higher than 3rd in the B1G east. Which, coming from a site that openly espouses advanced stats which had Michigan ranked 6th and 3rd in 2015 and 2016 (IIRC), is ridiculous.

Blue in Paradise

August 25th, 2017 at 1:49 AM ^

which I think is wrong.  It says:"Harbaugh took Michigan to Rome this year, and not coincidentally, the Power 5 conferences will ban such trips going forward."

 

I havn't heard anything about the P5 or NCAA banning foreign trips.  Did this clown confuse this with the IMG spring week or is there smoke about banning foreign trips?

 

 

stephenrjking

August 25th, 2017 at 2:20 AM ^

Two articles. The SB Nation one just grazes on Harbaugh to point out a couple of similarities (though it gets the trip rule wrong). It's not trying to demean Harbaugh, just to describe and elevate Fleck.

The Strib article, for which the links appeared not to work, sounds like a jealous hatchet job. From someone who despairs of the Brown Jug returning to Minneapolis in his lifetime.

Khaleke The Freak

August 25th, 2017 at 7:01 AM ^

at Harbaugh's intensity being fake. And Harbaugh's SEC satellite camp loophole is much better than having a recruit show up in a Minnesota promo.