Who the Heck is PJ Fleck?

So, who the heck is PJ Fleck? Well, the short answer is he's the new head football coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. A bit longer answer is that he's the former head coach of Western Michigan -- where the Broncos climbed to #15 behind an undefeated regular season before losing to Wisconsin last week in the Cotton Bowl.

Fleck played as a wide receiver for Northern Illinois from 1999 to 2003 and with the San Francisco 49ers from 2004 to 2005.

Fleck served under notable head coaches such as Jim Tressel at Ohio State in 2006, Jerry Kill at Northern Illinois from 2008-2009, and with Greg Schiano at Rutgers from 2010-2011 and on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff in 2012.

In his four seasons at Western Michigan the team records played out like this:

• 2013:  1-11
• 2014:  8-5
• 2015:  8-5
• 2016:  13-1
• WMU Overall:  30-22

On the personal side Fleck has five children, stepson Gavin Jackson, son Carter Joseph (C. J.), son, Colt, daughter, Paisley Jane (P.J.) and daughter Harper. Colt died shortly after birth because of a heart condition. Paisley was born on December 17, 2012, the same day Fleck was announced as the new coach at Western Michigan University. He divorced in 2015. He married Heather Jackson on Feb. 11, 2016.

Welcome aboard coach. Go Gophers!