Game 7—Western Michigan Broncos (2016)

[NWAkron]

Fleck, like basketball coaches Groce, Hurley, created a brand for himself.  when I watched Fleck, I always thought he was preening for the cameras, making himself a BRAND and building himself up more than he was the school's program.

Edited January 6, 2017 by NWAkron

[zipsoutsider]

6 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

Fleck, like basketball coaches Groce, Hurley, created a brand for himself.  when I watched Fleck, I always thought he was preening for the cameras, making himself a BRAND and building himself up more than he was the school's program.

I 100% agree. I found this comment about him in an article about his recent engagement (now married) after divorcing his wife, mother of 4 kids, from a Broncos fan.

 

Quote

I don't really care about his personal life, my thing with him is that he loves the spotlight. Everything about him screams "hey, look at me". He has become the face of Bronco Football as opposed to the student athlete. Print media for other Bronco sports features the players... Usually seniors... Not football... All PJ. Just look at the billboards and all media, his face is the first one you see. Somehow, I doubt this is the marketing departments decision. When I've heard him speak, he doesn't acknowledge his staff. It is all about him. Scholarships are offered all the time to players and have been for years, usually privately in a locker room or in a families living room...PJ films everything and plasters it all over social media inadvertently letting everyone know what a great guy he is. Just my personal opinion and observation.I don't really care about his personal life, my thing with him is that he loves the spotlight. Everything about him screams "hey, look at me". He has become the face of Bronco Football as opposed to the student athlete. Print media for other Bronco sports features the players... Usually seniors... Not football... All PJ. Just look at the billboards and all media, his face is the first one you see. Somehow, I doubt this is the marketing departments decision. When I've heard him speak, he doesn't acknowledge his staff. It is all about him. Scholarships are offered all the time to players and have been for years, usually privately in a locker room or in a families living room...PJ films everything and plasters it all over social media inadvertently letting everyone know what a great guy he is. Just my personal opinion and observation.

 

I take a lot of heat about supporting Bowden, but IMHO, he is always deflecting attention back to the kids and his staff. I have heard him talk about wanting to build a winning program - a perennial winner, not a one and done and the fact that he has roots here and plans on staying. Does he use the Bowden name? Sure, but not that much, truthfully, and nothing compared to Fleck.

 

WMU had their year of glory. Now what?

 

[kreed5120]

Not saying Fleck isn't flamboyant because he is, but I feel it is natural in college athletics for the coach to be the face of the organization. Dambrot defects attention as much as any coach I know, but I'd still label him the face of Zips basketball. In a world where players only stay 3-4 years (or in the case of basketball potentially as little as 1) and start maybe 2 of those years, it is easy to see why that's the case.

[NWAkron]

It sure is a fine line.  Coaching is a cutthroat world.  You are hero one moment and a big loser the next.  One day you are getting couple million a year and you and your family are treated like royalty.  Next day you are an assistant basketball coach at some SUNY school.  If you don't build yourself up, who will?  However, doesn't mean the WMU fans don't have a right to be bitter or feel used.  But it's a tradition in MAC football programs that these guys leave.  WMU knew the score.

[zipsoutsider]

43 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

It sure is a fine line.  Coaching is a cutthroat world.  You are hero one moment and a big loser the next.  One day you are getting couple million a year and you and your family are treated like royalty.  Next day you are an assistant basketball coach at some SUNY school.  If you don't build yourself up, who will?  However, doesn't mean the WMU fans don't have a right to be bitter or feel used.  But it's a tradition in MAC football programs that these guys leave.  WMU knew the score.

It is worth noting that the comments are a few months old, from the Bronco fan. I agree, they all knew he would leave. I can also understand why the players might feel betrayed. I think they all bought into what he was selling.

 

[zippy5]

Fleck is cheesy. But it worked, so who am I to critique? I just think eventually all the sayings and themes would get stale

[zipsoutsider]

1 hour ago, zippy5 said:

Fleck is cheesy. But it worked, so who am I to critique? I just think eventually all the sayings and themes would get stale

Update: Coach Fleck has arrived!

Hear his first message to the #Gophers. pic.twitter.com/aaKSRvAeoq

— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) January 6, 2017

Meet the Row the boat: Ski U Ma.

 

 

[94zipgrad]

20 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

Meet the Row the boat: Ski U Ma.

 

 

http://www.gopherhole.com/page/show/334856-ski-u-mah

 

In 1884, two Minnesota rugby players, John W. Adams and Win Sargent, tried to think of a fitting team yell. They used the word “Ski”, a Sioux battle cry meaning victory, and combined it with “U-Mah” (representing the University of Minnesota and rhyming with “rah-rah-rah”) to create a team cheer.

Edited January 6, 2017 by 94zipgrad

[Blue & Gold]

What'd he say about my mom?!?!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Ok...how many of you Zips fans would take Adolph Hitler as your head coach, Charles Manson as your defensive coordinator and John Wayne Gacy as your offensive coordinator if it netted you a #15 ranking and a Cotton Bowl berth?

 

The WMU kids loved playing for Fleck, and he won. Props to him. 

[Zipgrad01]

1 hour ago, zipsoutsider said:

Meet the Row the boat: Ski U Ma.

 

 

If Bowden was worth a damn he would already be gone. He isn't, so here we are..... anyone who says they wouldn't love to have fleck do what he did and leave is lying. 

Edited January 6, 2017 by Zipgrad01

[skip-zip]

Hitler?  No.  Fleck?  Yes.

 

I'm sure it would be a Dream Come True for all of us to experience what WMU experienced this year.  

[zipsoutsider]

I'll say no to the evil potentates and Fleck, thanks, though.

[LZIp]

So Fleck flipped at least 6 WMU recruits to Minnesota last night...

 

[Balsy]

15 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Ok...how many of you Zips fans would take Adolph Hitler as your head coach, Charles Manson as your defensive coordinator and John Wayne Gacy as your offensive coordinator if it netted you a #15 ranking and a Cotton Bowl berth?

 

I wouldn't.  I want an Ohio University style program.  Not a Kent or WMU or BGSU one-and-done.

Edited January 7, 2017 by Balsy

[zippy5]

Kinda scummy to raid the class like that. Usually a recruit or two will follow, which is understandable. But 6 on your first day? Yikes

[Buckzip]

21 hours ago, Zipgrad01 said:

If Bowden was worth a damn he would already be gone. He isn't, so here we are..... anyone who says they wouldn't love to have fleck do what he did and leave is lying. 

Disagree and agree on this one. If he was great he would be gone. Anything less than that and he is too old for another school to commit to him. 

 

He is the type that is good enough to keep his job at Akron but not good enough for a larger school to want him. I really thought he would recruit better than he has. Just because guys are local doesn't mean they are good. 

[Balsy]

17 minutes ago, Buckzip said:

Disagree and agree on this one. If he was great he would be gone. Anything less than that and he is too old for another school to commit to him. 

 

He is the type that is good enough to keep his job at Akron but not good enough for a larger school to want him. I really thought he would recruit better than he has. Just because guys are local doesn't mean they are good. 

 

Jury is still out on the local recruits.  We didn't start getting a lot of them until last/this year's class.  I'm interested in seeing how the local recruits rise to the occasion to put Akron in better standing.

[Dr Z]

22 hours ago, Zipgrad01 said:

 anyone who says they wouldn't love to have fleck do what he did and leave is lying. 

Any coach at Flecks age that does what he did in the MAC is moving on, like it or not. That is the nature of the conference. Hope it happens in Akron. 

[LZIp]

45 minutes ago, Buckzip said:

Disagree and agree on this one. If he was great he would be gone. Anything less than that and he is too old for another school to commit to him. 

 

He is the type that is good enough to keep his job at Akron but not good enough for a larger school to want him. I really thought he would recruit better than he has. Just because guys are local doesn't mean they are good. 

Do you think WMU got embarrassed by Wisconsin?

[Zipgrad01]

3 hours ago, Dr Z said:

Any coach at Flecks age that does what he did in the MAC is moving on, like it or not. That is the nature of the conference. Hope it happens in Akron. 

I agree completely. Sign me up for wanting to bring in the next Fleck. 

[Balsy]

1 hour ago, Zipgrad01 said:

I agree completely. Sign me up for wanting to bring in the next Fleck. 

 

Why so we can be a one-and-done like Kent?  No thanks.  Bring in (or Keep *cough* Bowden *cough*) someone who wants to build something.

[Zipgrad01]

43 minutes ago, Balsy said:

 

Why so we can be a one-and-done like Kent?  No thanks.  Bring in (or Keep *cough* Bowden *cough*) someone who wants to build something.

Bowden is a chump. Enjoy 5-7. And I am SO surprised zipoutsider liked your post. 

[skip-zip]

2 hours ago, Zipgrad01 said:

I agree completely. Sign me up for wanting to bring in the next Fleck. 

 

Even though I am all about integrity, etc.,  I have to say that I would love to enjoy a year here at Akron like they had at WMU this year.  

[Blue & Gold]

Yahoo.com: 6 recruits flip on Minnesota coach's first day

 

 

Fleck is known as a ferocious recruiter. When introduced to the media on Friday, he made it clear that recruiting is what makes his program go.

“The number one thing in this culture in this program is recruiting,” Fleck said. “Recruiting is the number one pipeline, and lifeline to any program. What does that mean? It means we are going to recruit our student-athletes every single day with the positivity and energy of the University of Minnesota football every day to think University of Minnesota is the greatest place on earth. That is what we’re going to do.”