ISU dodged a bullet with PJ Fleck

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
74,523
95,506
113
Testifying
Fleck has had a 9 win season and an 11 win season, plus the 3 bowl wins I mentioned before, Jerry Kill had it going well there before he was forced to retire for health reason, but the most wins he had were 8, with zero bowl wins.

I really do not Fleck's style, all the showboating, but the guy can coach, and that is what is important, he also has not had any scandals during his time up there.
There was just a story last year of excessive injuries and I think Fleck and the AD wouldn't address it.
I'm not saying he isn't better than his predecessors at Minny or even a bad coach, I'm saying that he isn't my cup of tea.

I also think it's tough to compare B1G records vs other B1G records by another coach. I'm sure Kill played the tougher teams more but he also had 8 conference games for a while. The B1G's additions have just made the scheduling so weird.
 

Halincandenza

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2018
9,434
10,262
113
Fleck is a total douche but he must do some things right. I wouldn’t want to play for him but to each his own.
 

CyState85

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2019
976
1,388
93
Don’t you have to be a bit of a used car salesman to keep 85 scholarship athletes (18-22 year olds), around 250,000 alumni, and 30,000 season ticket holders happy?

I think Fleck is over the top but I think he exemplifies what the era of college sports is becoming and we will see many more just like him.
 

GMackey32

Hall and Oates’ #1 Fan
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 2, 2009
19,075
32,061
113
39
Ames Via Cedar Falls
There are stories of him basically locking football recruits in his office with him and badgering them until they commit. And then if they waver their commitment, he shames them by questioning their morals, etc. He's not exactly what I want in a coach, but he does win games in a bad division.
 

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
74,523
95,506
113
Testifying
Don’t you have to be a bit of a used car salesman to keep 85 scholarship athletes (18-22 year olds), around 250,000 alumni, and 30,000 season ticket holders happy?

I think Fleck is over the top but I think he exemplifies what the era of college sports is becoming and we will see many more just like him.
Nothing against CPR as a man, because I think he's a great guy, but I like the attitudes more of guys like Campbell, Fickell, Whittingham.
Even a guy like Aranda at Baylor is tough to not like, and its Baylor.
 

jcyclonee

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2006
23,262
26,176
113
Minneapolis
I wanted Fleck and I was wrong on Campbell but this just seems like petty complaints to me. If this is the worst Fleck has done, we’d be just fine
It's similar to, but not quite as bad as the time a former player turned Rick Majerus in for serving milk and cookies, baked by his mom, at a team film session.
 

dmg89

Active Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 13, 2008
352
207
43
West Des Moines
I met a guy last winter who's son played for Fleck in Minnesota and he wasn't too high on him. I said to me he comes off as fake and a used car salesman and he told me "that's exactly who he is." He's got no problem promising a kid all these things, but when they're not playing he's not telling them what they need to do better to be on the field, he's just going to play his guys.
He also said he couldn't believe how disrespectful fleck was to his assistant coaches, saying things to them, that this guy said he'd never say to another grown man.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: VeloClone

madguy30

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 15, 2011
57,264
55,155
113
Nothing against CPR as a man, because I think he's a great guy, but I like the attitudes more of guys like Campbell, Fickell, Whittingham.
Even a guy like Aranda at Baylor is tough to not like, and its Baylor.

Pretty sure Aranda has a good rep with Bucky fans (Barry and Bret do not) and his demeanor seems legit.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: CascadeClone

AuH2O

Well-Known Member
Sep 7, 2013
12,999
20,959
113
There was just a story last year of excessive injuries and I think Fleck and the AD wouldn't address it.
I'm not saying he isn't better than his predecessors at Minny or even a bad coach, I'm saying that he isn't my cup of tea.

I also think it's tough to compare B1G records vs other B1G records by another coach. I'm sure Kill played the tougher teams more but he also had 8 conference games for a while. The B1G's additions have just made the scheduling so weird.
Kill was super overrated, at least by people on CF. I know prior to the last couple years when the bottom fell out on Rhoads, most of us were ready to move on from Rhoads already. And at that time Rhoads had a better record than Kill vs. ranked teams, and their records vs. unranked teams were almost the same, Kill having a slight advantage. The difference at that time between Kill (who people thought was great) and Rhoads (who many of us already thought it was time to move on) was one playing a lot more ranked teams. Now, the bottom did fall out on Rhoads, so Kill certainly was better, but as much as I like Rhoads, his post-ISU career suggests that isn't a super-high bar to judge a P5 head coach.

We can talk about how Minnesota isn't a great job, but in the end it's a power conference school in a major metro and fairly populated state with no other D1 or even FCS schools. Fleck's record is also pumped up by soft scheduling and a crap division.

Fleck is so transparently phony, but so are a lot of college coaches. You can be an obvious snake oil salesman, and still be successful as a college coach. I know someone that came to Fleck's staff from another D1 program when Fleck took the Minnesota job. Initially he really regretted the decision and couldn't stand Fleck. He said it took awhile, but Fleck grew on him. He's still very much a strange guy and can be a self-centered Dbag. But this guy said Fleck also has times where he's a genuine, generous guy. It almost sounds like he's a bit manic.
 

JP4CY

Lord, beer me strength.
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
74,523
95,506
113
Testifying
Hate to say it because it's Baylor, but I think if I was generating the perfect football coaching cyborg, it would basically be an exact replica of Aranda.
Even when Gatorade was being dumped him he just stood there stoic. So far he seems very professional.
 

ackatch

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jul 22, 2021
896
1,540
93
Waukee
We can talk about how Minnesota isn't a great job, but in the end it's a power conference school in a major metro and fairly populated state with no other D1 or even FCS schools.
In a major metro where no one cares about them. As someone who just moved back to DSM from MSP, it's been remarkable to not have to see PJ's press conferences anymore on the nightly news.
 

Remo Gaggi

Well-Known Member
Aug 28, 2018
4,220
5,961
113
I think you underestimate the level of TOE's sanctimoniousness. When it comes to this story, they have all moved on, and have shown they don't care. Their self-righteous attitude that they can do absolutely no wrong has them so far removed from reality, that even if this came back to front page news they would laugh it off just like the first time. Hell KF has already gotten rid of the entire diversity board that was put in place to keep him and his program and their racism in check.
Don't say anything bad about the University of Iowa, or their wonderful coaches, players and fans. I got scolded by a few nice people on this site for doing just that and they immediately jumped on my ass. Be careful. Go Hawks!
 

CascadeClone

Well-Known Member
Oct 24, 2009
10,874
13,953
113
I've been unfortunate to have met Fleck on a few occasions. He's a puke. Nothing but an over the top salesman. Can he coach? Who the **** knows.
He does have a great staff and he's winning in a **** division. Once again, he's a douchebag.

The Venn diagram of "successful coach" and "good person" has a lot less overlap than we all wish it did.
 

cytor

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 20, 2011
8,129
12,972
113
Fleck is nuttier than squirrel poop. I have seen enough Gopher games, that he also makes poor in-game decisions that will cost him victories (anyone watch last year's game at Kinnick?).

That being said, his kooky demeanor does get him some traction.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JimmyChitwood