P. J. Fleck
Western Michigan has 2 wins against B10 this year.
They've beaten Northwestern and Illinois.
That is as many B10 wins as either Purdue, Illinois, or Rutgers will get in 9 games this season.
Coach P. J. Fleck is a rising star at age 35.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is coaching in B10 next year.
The Purdue and Penn State jobs will probably be open to name 2.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:08 AM ^
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September 19th, 2016 at 9:15 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:22 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:33 AM ^
I think this is correct. The admins at PSU want stability after the past half decade. Franklin's recruiting at or above PSU's historic norm.
He would have been in trouble if Pitt had won in a blow out, but PSU came back and made it a game. He's probably only in trouble if they have a losing Big 10 record (which isn't outside the realm, but it would mean losing against the top 3, plus two of Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland).
September 19th, 2016 at 10:55 AM ^
This is possible. I could see them losing to Iowa and Minnesota this year.
September 19th, 2016 at 11:26 AM ^
Even if they have a bad year, he might not be a goner. He has managed to take them to a bowl in his first two years, which may not be the accomplishment it once was, but it remains something of a benchmark. I don't get the sense that 2016 is do-or-die time for him. 2017 might be.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:09 AM ^
WMU is a better job than Purdue, honestly. That may be Fleck's doing, but they out recruit Purdue, their trajectory and recent success is way above Purdue, and they would certainly whoop Purdue on the field. On top of all that Purdue just recently extended (!!!) Hazell for God knows what reason. SO, I'd be appalled if Fleck landed at Purdue next year, he deserves better.
I think he'd be great at WVU if their season goes down hill, idk how many more mediocre years they'll keep Holgerson for. LSU, USC, and Texas are probably too big for him right now. He probably doesnt want Penn State. Northwestern could fire Fitzgerald if they end up like 2-10. I could see him ending up at Baylor. School that needs a coach and a fresh start. He'd have a ton of talent and fertile recruiting grounds, brand new stadium, and players on the roster that know they can win a lot of games. No way Baylor keeps Jim Grobe for the long haul.
September 19th, 2016 at 7:24 PM ^
NW will never fire Fitz. They guy has a winning record at NW. That's *winning* record. *At NW*
They guy is an alum, stepped up when the previous coach passed away and has been there for 10 years. A winning record at NW over a decade.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:10 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:30 AM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if he gets an offer from a P5 team that's better than one of the hopeless schools like Purdue and Kansas. Maybe something like Boston College or Kentucky.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^
Oh shit Kentucky. UK is definitely firing Stoops this year, good call. That's potentially a good move - a school in a weak division that can cut him a large check.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:57 AM ^
It'll be interesting to see what Kentucky decides. On the one hand, Stoops's results on the field suggest he absolutely should be canned. On the other, not only does he have a $12 million(!!!) buyout, but all of his coaches have guaranteed contracts through 2018, and the offensive coordinator is guaranteed through 2019!
It will apparently cost about $18 million to clear the current staff out. That's really steep for a basketball school, even with increased tv revenue. I wonder if they just resign themselves to two more bad years in a sport they're usually bad at and that is clearly secondary for their fans.
http://www.aseaofblue.com/2016/9/14/12911562/mark-stoops-buyout-costly-…
September 19th, 2016 at 10:13 AM ^
Kentucky football fans should be mad beyond belief at the school's administration for giving Stoops that extension and massive buyout before he'd even made a bowl game -- UK was 5-3 in 2014 when the extension was announced. They lost their last four games of that season to go 5-7.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
Even Iowa's AD looks at that and thinks "That extension's just crazy."
September 19th, 2016 at 10:07 AM ^
I think these days BC should be included in the "hopeless" school list but Kentucky is intriguing. Stoops has recruited pretty well (for UK) but has clearly shown that he's not a good coach. Fleck could do some good things in Lexington.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:10 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^
Does someone really want Petrino's bad enough to try to lure him away from Louisville? While they're not a traditional powerhouse he can clearly make them a top 10 program, as he has done in both stints there. He is in a conference that is not usually deep in talented teams. He is at a school that places a lot of value on athletics. I don't think he would leave for anything other than a super, and I don't think there's a super that would take a chance on him - PSU and USC can't afford another coach with a scandal and Texas will aim higher.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:36 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^
He's already at a P5 program that is ranked in the top 3 and has won a BCS bowl in recent years (now NY6 or some shit). I kind of think he's at his optimal spot. Plus he has a much longer leash when he coaches at the same school as the Dirty Don, Rick Pitino.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
Agreed. Petrino is an older guy who has already seen that the grass is not necessarily greener at a bigger program. I bet he will stay at Louisville until he retires or does something incredibly stupid and they have to fire him.
It's not like the old days when Louisville was not in a power conference anyway.
September 19th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
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September 19th, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^
He's already at a P5 program that is ranked in the top 3 and has won a BCS bowl in recent years (now NY6 or some shit). I kind of think he's at his optimal spot. Plus he has a much longer leash when he coaches at the same school as the Dirty Don, Rick Pitino.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^
Lamar Jackson is making Petrino relavant. Without him Louisville would be an average team at best.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^
Did he have Lamar Jackson the last time he had Louisville ranked in the top 3, 10 years ago? Jackson is a phenomenal player, obviously, but it's no fluke that he comes back and they match their highest ranking ever. Their D also held FSU to 20 points, which may be more impressive than what Jackson did on Saturday.
He's a great coach. He's an idiot, but he would have Louisville in the Top 25 with or without Jackson.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:06 AM ^
Lamar Jackson is Louisvilles offense. I would bet money they would not finish in the top 25 this year without him. There defense looked good compared to what. Florida state mentally thru in the towel before half time.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:34 AM ^
Ok glad we will be able to see that bet through.
Compared to FSU scoring just as much on Ole Miss as Alabama did. Not sure what Ole Miss is this year on D, but if FSU has the same talent on offense as Alabama, and Louisville could hold Bama to 20 points, then Lousiville can beat Bama with no problem.
September 19th, 2016 at 11:02 AM ^
I agree that Louisville would be trouble to bama because they always have fits with DT QBs. But to compare Louisvilles D to bamas D is crazy.
September 19th, 2016 at 3:49 PM ^
I didn't make that comparison.
I compared Florida State's offense to Alabama's offense to show the amount of talent that Louisville's defense just held in check.
September 19th, 2016 at 11:40 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 11:28 AM ^
Ok buddy. You do realize that Petrino recruited Jackson. That's kind of a part of the whole coaching thing. You identify great players and then put them in a position to use their abilities to win football games.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^
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September 19th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^
If I remember correctly, his current contract with Louisville is extremely punitive if he leaves for another job. Since he has such a reputation as a job-hopper, and was coming off a rather disgraceful incident at Arkansas, it was a condition of hiring him.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:22 AM ^
Schiano might get some looks at OSU. Also Fisch? Petrino has too much baggage and is fine at Louisville. He's not going anywhere except maybe a place like Auburn, but still doubtful.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^
is a career ender. It would not surprise me if they bring back Joe Tiller like Kansas State did Bill Snyder.
It will take Penn State at least 50 years to change the culture and have people who are enmeshed and in denial in that cesspool of stink to move into the after life. Any new coach is immediately going to have to deal with that undesired force regardless if he wants to or not. I believe readers above are correct that it will be a former PSU player or coach who will return and "try to save the football program" from the unfair attacks of a normal society who sees what happened there with remarkable clarity.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:36 AM ^
To be fair to Purdue, if Purdue could ever manage to find, like, the opposite of Darrell Hazell, then Purdue could possibly be a career-builder although at this point it would take that person - assuming they exist and are foolishly brave - some time and require a lot of patience from the Purdue fanbase. I am not saying they can't do it, but each year that they sit mired in being unable to football well makes it that much harder.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:20 AM ^
Herman will be the biggest coach on the market, some desperate team will make a run at petrino but who knows. Fleck is probably looking at mid to lower level big 10 ten type jobs as his ceiling right now, the bowling green coach turned two big ten wins into the syracuse job. He has to build himself a little mroe if he wants to get to the penn state level. Also Franklin probably won't get fired this year.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^
Agree on Franklin. He's got another year barring an absolute disaster, but next year the pressure will be intense.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:20 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^
I never understand why good MAC coaches jump at the first crappy B1G job offered to them. I get the prestige and money of the big ten. But the best offer he could hope for would be ~$2M from Purdue.
Honestly, If I'm PJ Fleck I'd hold out until in Dantonio retires and make a run for the MSU job. The guy is 60 years old and has already had heart trouble. He does appear to be in good shape, but I doubt he coaches more than 5 more years.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^
September 20th, 2016 at 11:45 AM ^
That is a good point. And like I said he looks to be in good shape for a 60 year old man.
He has two daughters who are probably in their mid to late 20s at this point. I'd imagine that once they start having his grandchildren the call of family will be strong. I don't Dantonio is the coach of MSU at the beginning of the 2021 season.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^
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September 19th, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
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September 19th, 2016 at 9:44 AM ^
I'm not coming up with a lot of hot seats this season. So many were filled last season or have established coaches, for once.
Hot: Purdue, Auburn, USC, LSU
Warm: PSU, Texas?, BC (not that familiar)
Questionable: Minnesota? (not sure Claeys is considered long term), Baylor (same)
What am I missing? Unfortunately for Fleck, none of these jump out as great fits for him. Maybe Minnesota if something happens there, but it doesn't seem urgent there especially considering Jerry Kill still seems to be involved in the department and this is basically his staff.
September 19th, 2016 at 9:53 AM ^
September 19th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
Washington State, West Virginia, Boston College, maybe Vanderbilt and Colorado? These coaches aren't on as hot of a seat, but if their team has a bad year, their coach could be gone.
September 19th, 2016 at 10:32 AM ^
I thought Claeys axed a good portion of that staff?
September 19th, 2016 at 10:23 AM ^
I know there is a lot of hype for P.J. Fleck, but I think schools evaluating him will probably be extremely careful in vetting him. He has yet to win or even play for the MAC championship.
And who is the last hot MAC coach to work out? Brian Kelly, Brady Hoke, or Butch Jones? And those guys had to coach at another mid-major (Cincinnati & SDSU) before getting a crack at a good Power 5 job. I guess some of this may be due to the quality of jobs. But the track record for Jerry Kill, Al Golden, Mike Haywood, Turner Gill, Tim Beckman, Dave Doeren, Darrell Hazell, Dave Clawson, Dino Babers, and Matt Campbell is not so hot right now.