The University of Minnesota introduced new football coach P.J. Fleck on Friday afternoon after he agreed to a five-year contract worth $18.5 million.
"I am not here to change tradition," Fleck said at a Friday afternoon press conference. "I am here to change the culture."
"He's a leader," said athletic director Mark Coyle, who handed Fleck a Gophers jersey with the No. 1 on it.
"We both share a vision of winning a national championship," Fleck said about himself and Coyle.
"I am more than football," Fleck said "Our kids will be more than football. What does that mean? We are going to serve and give as much as can. In the new era of Gopher football it is not about us. We're going to connect people to Gopher football who don't even like football. ... Our players will have incredible, elite actions every single day. When you watch Gophers football from this point on, it will be different."
Fleck said that former Gophers coach Jerry Kill taught him a lot about the profession when he was an assistant on Kill's staff at Northern Illinois, where Fleck played wide receiver as a student.
The press conference with Fleck lasted about 40 minutes, during which he spoke excitedly about himself and changes that he intends to make in the program. He said that media members will be welcome at his practices, which he promised would be different from anything they have seen before.
Asked about the recent issues with the football program, including the sexual assault allegations that led to the suspension of 10 players for the Holiday Bowl and a two-day boycott by team members, Fleck said he didn't know much about what had taken place.
"My focus is on them now, not them back then," Fleck said, adding that he shared that message with players during a session with them early Friday afternoon.
Fleck said he intends to bring some members of his Western Michigan staff to Minnesota and will look to fill the rest of the positions quickly. When former coach Tracy Claeys was fired on Tuesday, all but two members of his staff were let go.
Fleck, 36, will be the youngest head coach among the top college football conferences known as the Power Five.
Fleck landed in the Twin Cities via a private plane around noon Friday and shot a quick video, which was posted on the (at)GopherFootball Twitter account.
The 36-year-old Fleck led Western Michigan to a storybook 13-0 start to the season before losing to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl.
Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle fired Tracy Claeys on Tuesday, amid fallout from a sexual assault investigation that resulted in the suspension of 10 players and a two-day player boycott.
"P.J. is a proven winner and a strong leader. He's built a unique, positive culture that gets the best out of his students on the field and in the classroom," Coyle said in a statement provided by the university. "His infectious energy and passion make him a terrific coach and dynamic recruiter. I am excited he will be leading the Gophers for years to come."
In the release, Fleck was quoted as saying: "I look forward to meeting my new players and getting to know them as quickly as possible. I am excited to put together a staff and turn my efforts to recruiting, but also want Gopher fans to know that my wife, Heather, and I and our four children will be visible in the community and we are eager to connect with them. I am ready to go."
Fleck made $800,000 this season, but he and Western Michigan reportedly had been negotiating a lucrative contract extension. One source had told the Star Tribune that if the Gophers did hire Fleck, it likely would take a deal richer than the six-year, $20 million deal that Purdue recently gave Jeff Brohm. Another source said Minnesota made it known that its ceiling for the salary was $3.5 million per year.
Western Michigan athletic director Kathy Beauregard tweeted the news this morning.
During their coaching search, the Gophers also gave strong consideration to former LSU coach Les Miles, who flew to Minnesota this week to speak to university officials, according to sources.
But Fleck was viewed as Minnesota's leading candidate from the start. Coyle expressed interest in Fleck in 2015, when Coyle was the AD at Syracuse for that opening, but Fleck did not interview.
This season, Fleck's name has surfaced in other big searches around the country, namely at Oregon and Purdue, and his name was at the top of many most-wanted lists.
Phillip John Fleck is a fiery, energetic coach. His "Row The Boat" mantra became his calling card, with an RTB hashtag shadowing his rise in college football. The Broncos weren't on anyone's radar until he pushed them to prominence this season. WMU was reportedly working to get him to sign a long contract extension.
In a statement that was posted on a Kalamazoo television station web site, Fleck wrote to Western Michigan fans: "It is with mixed emotions that I announce my decision to leave Western Michigan University for the head football coaching job at the University of Minnesota. Although I am grateful for and excited about this opportunity, this was a very difficult decision to make; one that involved much introspection and prayer. Heather and I love Kalamazoo and the Western Michigan University family of staff, students, alumni and fans. I simply feel called to take on this new challenge and to start a new chapter in my family's journey. I am proud of what we have accomplished together in Kalamazoo. I feel we have left WMU football in a much better place than when we arrived here. That was our mission. I'll always be your fan and friend."
During a press conference at Western Michigan this morning, Beauregard said: "It's a good thing when people want your people. We've enhanced the Western Michigan University brand throughout all this. ... Would I have liked the opportunity to work longer with (Fleck)? Yes. But that's his choice."
The Gophers went 9-4 this season and won the Holiday Bowl over Washington State, 17-12. It was Minnesota's first nine-win season since it went 10-3 under Glen Mason in 2003.
Western Michigan was Fleck's first head coaching job. He was the wide receivers coach for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and coached receivers at Rutgers from 2010-11. Before that, he was recruiting coordinator and receivers coach at Northern Illinois, where he played college football and was a member of former coach Jerry Kill's staff.
"I am not perfect," Fleck said. "But I am real. You will not meet a more real person in the world."
