P. J. Fleck

Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played college football as a wide receiver for the Northern Illinois Huskies. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2004, spending a majority of his short NFL career on the practice squad. Since then, he has pursued a coaching career. He has formerly been the wide receivers coach for Northern Illinois (2007–2009), Rutgers (2010–2011), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2012). Fleck was also previously the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos football team from 2013 until 2016. In 2019, two years following his hiring by Minnesota, Fleck led the Golden Gophers to one of their best seasons in half a century, earning their most wins since 1904. Playing career