“Remembering those who fell that we may rise” reads the inscription on the souvenir coffee mug I bought at an exhibition honoring the centennial of the Irish revolution. I was in Dublin this past May as they commemorated the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rebellion; or Easter Rising.
Obviously, college football is pretty insignificant when compared to generational Earth shattering events like a republic uprising against an empire to commence the journey towards becoming a sovereign independent nation.
We’re probably being overly melodramatic and excessively grandiose here. Fitting as we’re writing about P.J. Fleck, the master showman of college football. And football, like war or life, is a zero sum game. Someone’s gain is another’s loss.
For Western Michigan football coach P.J. Fleck, as his alma mater, Northern Illinois declines, the program he leads is rising. After graduating from NIU, Fleck went on to have a cup of coffee in the NFL. His San Francisco 49ers jersey adorns the wall of Fatty’s in DeKalb; the main NIU Huskies fan bar and the place to be on game days.
It’s where the Northern Illinois coaches shows are held; and it’s an establishment where Fleck is and always will be a campus hero.
Fleck return to NIU as an assistant coach, but he now leads the WMU Broncos, who look like they just might be poised to do something special this year.
P.J. Fleck Bowl FYIs-
NIU Huskies (1-4, 1-0 MAC) at No. 25 Western Michigan Broncos (5-0,1-0 MAC)
Kalamazoo, Michigan | Waldo Stadium | 30,200
Saturday, October 8, 2016 | 5:30 p.m. (CT) | CBS Sports Network
Radio: AM 560 WIND (Chicago) | WLBK AM 1360/FM 98.9 (DeKalb) | Sportsfan 1330 AM (Rockford) | TuneIn
SPREAD: Western Michigan -20
The Purdue Boilermakers community is eyeing P.J. Fleck as a potential replacement for Darell Hazell.
Take a look at this Boilers coaching candidates piece from our good friends Hammer and Rails, the SB Nation Purdue Boilermakers community.
An excerpt:
Fleck is a young guy, younger than me, even. He is also a decent recruiter. His classes have been consistently better than Hazell’s (at WESTERN MICHIGAN no less). His current 2017 class is ranked 41st according to Rivals. That’s ahead of Mississippi, Stanford, Wisconsin, Texas, UCLA, and Purdue (We’re No. 62).
WMU seriously have a clear path to likely being undefeated come late November, and potentially a BCS Bowl Bracket buster (yes, these bowls have new names these days) just like NIU was in 2012.
The Huskies have won the MAC West division six years in a row. Only one other school in history has reached their conference title game six consecutive times, Marshall during their MAC days; before they bolted for greener pastures.
Unfortunately, NIU is off to a 1-4 start this season, and it’s been every bit as 0-3 as it sounds. It’s been a brutal opening to the season, and now the Huskies must soldier on without starting QB Drew Hare. His career is over, and that’s unfortunate because he was really good. The team has also moved on from QB2 Ryan Graham to QB3 Anthony Maddie.
Saturday will mark the passing of the torch, as P.J. Fleck is ready to overtake his alma mater for MAC West dominance.
It seems imminent that Fleck will top group of five recruiting for the fourth straight year. Yes, Western Michigan have had the top rated recruiting class for a group of five team the past three years. So what’s the secret to his Fleck’s recruiting, and then subsequent on field success?
We don’t know the answer, but we can tell you much more about who he is and the ROW THE BOAT! message he eats, sleeps, lives and breathes. The same message that he portrays in the media in a VERY ALL CAPS!!! MANNER!!!!
The YELLING and LOUD NOISES! delivery does appeal to broad segments of the college football community so it does make sense. In order to win in college football you must appeal to the DO YOU EVEN LIFT, BRO?! crowd.
-In this video, Fleck explains the WMU “traditions” at Waldo Stadium; i.e. the slogans, chants, hand gestures, cheers, songs, soundbites etc. that you’ll see and hear at the stadium. You can’t really call these things “traditions” yet, as WMU doesn’t have any real college football history. However, like he says at the end of the vid, all traditions have to begin somewhere with something.
He’s right.
“TRADITION!!! Tradition!”
As Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof” would say. P.J. Fleck guided the Broncos to their first ever bowl win just last year. Watching him do the hand motions thing is quite entertaining.
-Our next video is P.J. Fleck explaining the Chemis-Tree
-Finally, Fleck gave a long talk to Paw Paw middle school, not far from the Kalamazoo campus.
Pay special attention as he singles out a kid who was supposedly misbehaving and makes him sit on the floor.
Good times!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQz-fJt_Ah4
-Also, you should listen to the P.J. Fleck postgame press conference after the win at Northwestern.
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/pj-fleck-post-victory-at-northwestern-press-conference
Prediction: Western Michigan 56, Northern Illinois 17
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.