CHICAGO – You've heard of the King in the North, but have you heard about the King of the Toos?
He strolled to the podium in a plaid gold jacket, maroon pants, tie and overstuffed pocket square as the opening act for Day 2 of Big Ten Media Days, and with every mile-in-a-minute-marathon-run-on sentence it's become clear.
Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck is going to shake up the Big Ten West and perhaps the Big Ten in general. To what extent the 36-year-old coach does that in 2017 is the question everybody wants answered next.
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Is he the next King in the North or the next court jester?
"I'm the 'King of the Toos,'" Fleck said. "T-O-O, toos. Too small, too short, too inexperienced, too young, whatever. That's who we are, and that's who our staff is."
Too much? Remember the Micro Machines guy? Fleck sounds like that. He says so much so fast that it's difficult to parse it all together. Take another one of his answers from the podium.
"I was always involved in education," Fleck said. "I'm an elementary education major. Taught basically sixth grade social studies. I've loved Ancient Rome. I was brought up and developed to teach 36 sixth graders a lesson plan 36 different ways. If you think of a head football coach and teaching lessons and teaching life and football, you've gotta do it 125 different ways at times to be able to reach and connect with your players. Not only to just reach, but educate. I've always wanted to be a teacher."
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What just happened? Seriously, take a breath in there. Fleck's rise is well-documented. He turned bottom-feeder Western Michigan into a 13-1 Group of 5 buster in the Mid-American Conference, a path that ended in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
P.J. Fleck said he wore this jacket in honor of Sid. Called it his "Sid Hartman jacket." pic.twitter.com/2ESTrXBiXA
— chipscoggins (@chipscoggins) July 25, 2017
He's inherited a program that was on an upward trajectory under Jerry Kill before he resigned because of health concerns in 2015. Tracy Claeys' departure followed a sexual assault investigation and a player boycott. The Gophers are 31-22 over that four-year stretch with back-to-back bowl victories the last two seasons, but it's a program that hasn't taken the next step against Wisconsin and Iowa the last three seasons.
In strolls Fleck, with the intent to marry "Row the Boat” with "Ski-U-Mah" at 100 mph in a conference where stoicism is practiced, if not preferred. Fleck recounted those first few meetings and the three-part response.
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A few players couldn't take it. Too intense.
A few bought in. Too cool.
A few more preferred to wait and see. To be determined.
"Any time a coach, caffeinated or not, walks into a program, you're going to get those three responses and then it's always going to see what happen," Fleck said.
Star running back Rodney Smith, who rushed for 1,158 yards and 16 TDs, was surprised at the answer he received.
"(Fleck) straight up told me I was a guy who was in the middle," Smith said. "I wanted to buy in right away, but off the field he saw room for growth and he took me under his wing and made sure I was quick to buy in."
Fleck figures to build around the Smith and Shannon Brooks, a formula that worked for another former Gophers coach with Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III en route to a 10-3 season in 2003.
"The old saying, we said this at Western Michigan, it's amazing that Glen Mason said it, 'You need a pair and a spare,' that is true," Fleck said.
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The rest will come with settling the quarterback competition between leading candidates Conor Rhoda and Demry Croft and building what Fleck calls "elite depth.” It's not going to happen overnight, but you get the feeling it's going to happen quick either way.
Fleck will keep Minnesota in the viral cycle and see if it spreads. The TV show "Being P.J. Fleck” will be out for consumption. He says it's "not self-promoting, but I think every head coach in America is self-promoting at some point."
He'll have to. To be the King in the North, Minnesota still needs to break a 13-game losing streak to Wisconsin before even entertaining a shot at one of the Big Ten East heavyweights. Keep in mind Fleck was the opening act, but Penn State's James Franklin and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh drew more attention Tuesday. The battle for the Big Ten throne continues to play out in the Big Ten East.
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Fleck is trying to help change that.
"One thing I am hired to do is bring national exposure, national attention to the University of Minnesota," Fleck said. "And that's what we're going to do."
The self-proclaimed 'King of the Toos' is here, and the next step is boom or bust. It's good for the Big Ten, no question.
Too intense, too cool or to be determined? We can't wait to see how the Gophers respond.
