Penn State will face a variety of head coaches this season, some that they are familiar with and some they may never have faced before or even heard of. This week, they will be facing a head coach very familiar with the Big Ten who also is no stranger to building a solid culture.
Here's more onMinnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Head Coach
Overall record:101-68
Record against Penn State
: 1-2Record against ranked teams: 8-22
Record against Big Ten: 42-43
No matter where P.J. Fleck ends up, he always brings a positive energy with him. He also almost always wins. While he has only had two coaching gigs at the college level, he has overseen seismic program shifts that will ensure his legacy with both programs. However, before he was a coach, he was a player at the University
of Northern Illinois and then in the NFL with the 49ers. A series of unfortunate instances forced Fleck into coaching, where he was hired as the wide receivers coach for Ohio State in 2006.
That season, the Buckeyes were the No. 1 team in the nation and lost to Florida in the national championship game. Then in '07, he went back to his alma mater Northern Illinois to fill the same position. He was one of only two assistants to be retained once Jerry Kill became the new head coach. In 2010 he then was hired by Greg Schiano at Rutgers, getting his first taste of the Big Ten. His one last assistant coaching gig was initially back with NIU, but the next day, he accepted a different role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where his passionate coaching style came to fruition.
His first head coaching gig was with Western Michigan, where he oversaw one of the biggest MAC turnarounds ever. In his first season, he went 1-11, including 0-7 in conference play. However, in his second year, he led the Broncos to 8-4 and a bowl game and was named the MAC Coach of the Year. He was also a semifinalist for the Maxwell Coach of the Year award as well. His third season, despite more losses, could be seen as his best season for WMU. They ended up going 7-5 with their first ever win over a top 25 school. They also won their first ever bowl game against Middle Tennessee. Most impressively, it was their first time going to bowl games in consecutive seasons.
To top it all off, they went undefeated in Fleck's final season, finishing ranked 12th in the AP poll and 14th in the coaches poll. It was only their second ever undefeated season, and it was also Fleck's second MAC Coach of the Year award. And yet, this was just the top of the iceberg.
In 2017, Fleck became the head coach of Minnesota and never looked back. In his first season, the Golden Gophers barely missed out on bowl eligibility and in his second season, they were able to get to a bowl and win. However, he is most remembered for his historic 2019 season, where he had the Gophers start 9-0 with a win against then 4th ranked Penn State, Minnesota's first home win over a top five opponent since 1977. They finished the season 11-2 and ranked 10th in both the AP and coaches poll, ther highest such rankings since 1962. To top it off, Fleck won Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Since then, Minnesota hasn't quite reached those heights agains, yet they always manage to hang tough in the competitive Big Ten. This season though, while they've have some impressive wins and close upset calls, they haven't looked as feisty as Big Ten fans know them to be. Still, with coach Fleck at the helm, anything is possible.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: A quick glance at Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck
