The University of Minnesota hired former Western Michigan coach P.J Fleck today. Fleck will get a 5 year, $18.5 million dollar contract to lead the program. 

By John Sarianides

The University of Minnesota hired former Western Michigan coach P.J Fleck to replace Tracy Claeys who was fired earlier this week after guiding the Golden Gophers to a 9-4 season and a win in the Holiday Bowl over Washington State.

According to athletic director Mark Coyle, there were several reasons for Claeys termination from the school. The primary reason was Claeys support of ten of his players who were suspended for the Holiday Bowl after they were accused to pressuring a young women to have sex with them at a party.

Truth be told, Coyle never believed in Claeys. He didn’t support the coach during the season and when he saw the opportunity to remove, Claeys, he did. Did Tracy Claeys deserve to be fired? No. He did a terrific job at Minnesota. Coyle obviously felt differently. He didn’t think there was any excitement for the program and he didn’t think that the school could compete with blue bloods in the Big Ten.

Coyle’s hope is that Fleck will change that. Fleck couldn’t be any different from Claeys or his predecessor Jerry Kill. Fleck is a ball of energy. He loves corny motivational sayings and he loves to give passionate pregame speeches. There is no question that he will be more hands on and more active than Claeys. That’s not a knock on Claeys because he is overweight, that’s the truth.

Fleck is the right guy to take Minnesota to the next level. He has already recruited the midwest during his time at Ohio State and Western Michigan and he has ties to the West Coast as well. Fleck also coached with the Tampa Bay Bucs so he has ties in Florida, a state that Minnesota has recruited well through the years. He will get players to buy in and come to Minnesota, even if the current players on the roster don’t want to.

In my opinion, Claeys got a raw deal. He didn’t deserve to be fired, especially if it is because he supported his players. That’s garbage! My hope is that he gets another opportunity to be a head coach again. That being said, I think Minnesota peaked under Claeys this past season. I don’t think he could have taken the program anywhere beyond nine wins.

Fleck will take the program to the next level and when he does, the rest of the Big Ten and all of college football for that matter will know that the Gophers have arrived. Regardless of whether or not you find Fleck to be annoying (a lot of people do) the man can recruit and he can coach. That’s why Minnesota hired him.

It will be tough early on for Fleck to get the players to buy in, but if he is given a chance and given time, he will get the Gophers going back in the right direction. In fact, I think Minnesota will be in the running for a Big Ten West division title next season. The cupboard is far from bare and the players will buy into Fleck once they get to know him.