If you write an Illinois Fighting Illini Head Coaching Candidates listicle, Federal law mandates that you must include Western Michigan Coach P.J. Fleck.
The DOJ or FBI or CIA will likely come after you if publish a list sans Fleck.
Now Fleck does have a lot of merit as a candidate. He’s a bonafide contender for the gig. However, I’ve also seen a couple articles that have designated Fleck the best case scenario. I refuse to exist in a universe where a guy who went 1-11 against a MAC schedule is “the dream hire” for Illini football.
Say what you want, but the University of Grange and Butkus and two BCS bowls is not a place where a guy with a 9-17 career record is the ceiling. If you want to know how the Illini football head coaching gig is viewed nationally, you can read about that here. We solicited the opinion of a couple of national pundits, asking them what kind of coaching commodity Illinois could attract.
Let’s just chillax on this P.J. Fleck idea for now.
1. Let’s see if #Cubitism is a thing
Remember that Saturday’s drubbing off a low-major that went 2-10 last season doesn’t mean all that much. All the Fleck pros and cons have the same relevance Friday night during the Becknado as they do today.
At least this is good for a laugh. #Illini pic.twitter.com/gpZYDPfHyt
— Dave Wischnowsky (@wischlist) September 5, 2015
Yes, Illinois dominated a team they were supposed to dominate yesterday. It’s the first time this has happened since the Miami of Ohio game in early 2013. However, these games are just the college football version of the NFL preseason. You can attribute some meaning, just about as much meaning as there is in that make out session you had with a stranger at a bar on St. Patrick’s Day.
It would be extremely coincidental (some would say ironic, but those people don’t know how to define irony) to hire Bill Cubit’s successor to replace Bill Cubit.
“Illinois Fighting Illini Football: Kalamazoo’s Big Ten team”
I’m not saying Cubit is the answer, but if he goes 7-5 or better, while missing the team’s best player in WR Mikey Dudek, he deserves to keep the job.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/639944805565526016
2. He may be an ace recruiter in Chicago, but that quality is overrated
Yes, Fleck is from Illinois. He was a star player at Northern Illinois, so indeed he can recruit the state and the Chicagoland area. However, the area isn’t as rich in talent as you think it is. Look it up on all those nerdlinger recruiting sites. The rankings data verify that Chicagoland isn’t the end all be all when it comes to top talent.This isn’t basketball.
3. The Pat Fitzgerald comparisons will be fast and furious
Illinois hiring P.J. Fleck would be very similar to Northwestern hiring Pat Fitzgerald. One of the youngest coaches in the nation, almost exactly the same age. If this hire happens, get ready to enter the Illini version of Fitzerland. You’ll see just as many articles comparing the two men as there are “Fast and Furious” films.
4. The Homecoming narrative will be more recycled than the “Police Academy” series
For whatever reason, the media LOVES the “homecoming” heuristic.
It’s lazy journalism, but the media have a confirmation bias here. The sports media loves a “local boy does good” story like MSNBC likes to slant left-wing, FOX News Channel likes to slant right-wing and CNN slants towards anything involving a missing airplane.
5. If you thought the sloganeering was annoying with Tim Beckman, you haven’t seen anything yet
We all made fun of #WINT and #OSKEE, and rightly so.
Still, P.J. Fleck wore a shirt with “ROWER” on it Friday night in the season opening loss to Michigan State. “Row the Boat” is a lot more than a slogan plastered all over the WMU football buildings. He has oars and row boats all over the place too.
John Groce had “E1H: Everyone helps” and “Ten toes in.” It seems like everyone has to have a gimmicky catch-phrase these days.
6. How much of this is just “flavor of the month?”
Hiring Fleck might be the football version of the John Groce hire. Groce pulled off a couple of nice upsets and took Ohio to the Sweet 16. Look at all the jobs Archie Miller was offered, simply due to Dayton’s Elite 8 run.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/639971270252232705
Fleck took another step forward in the loss to #5 MSU Friday night. The Spartans were looking ahead to Oregon and the Broncos gave ’em a decent fight in the second half. MSU outgained WMU by just 70 yards overall.
We’ll see how Western Michigan’s season plays out, and Cubit will get his chance as well. Maybe, come November, we’ll be talking about other names instead of P.J. Fleck.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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