PJ Fleck Wife, Affair, Divorce, Family, Age, Biography, Other Facts

Very few are able to transition from a playing career to a coaching career. Even fewer succeed. PJ Fleck began his football career in high school and aimed for network greatness. And for a time, that seemed to be the case given his contribution to his teams and the individual awards he earned.

However, tragedy struck when he suffered a serious shoulder injury that left him never to return to his best. After unsuccessfully trying to resume his playing career, he decided to become a coach. These days, Fleck is being touted as a successful coach — and one of the youngest too — in the halls of college football and even the NFL. Her story reminds us that sometimes the way forward is not to hold on to something, but to let it be and seek out new opportunities.

Biography of PJ Fleck (Age)

Philip John Fleck was born in Sugar Grove, Illinois on November 29, 1980. He attended Kaneland High School in Illinois. It was there that he began his playing career and helped them win back-to-back league titles unbeaten in 1997 and 1998. He also played track and basketball.

Next, Fleck was admitted into Northern Illinois University where he played under Joe Novak, who was the head coach at the time. He continued to excel and in his senior year was voted captain twice by his teammates. Fleck’s time with the Huskies saw him set a record 87 punt returns, which remains unbroken in 2018.

After the 2004 NFL Draft, PJ Fleck was snapped up by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent. After spending much of the 2004 season in training, he was promoted in time to play his final game of the campaign. The following season, he was sidelined again due to a serious injury he suffered in pre-season. As a result, he was released in June 2006, having turned down the role of future receivers coach.

After a failed attempt to resume his career with the Chicago Bears, Fleck decided it was time to consider coaching as an alternative. During his coaching career, Fleck has worked with former coaches and teammates, while continuing to rise through the ranks to gain recognition.

Fleck’s first stint as a coach was in 2006 at Ohio State University under head coach Jim Tressel. He was an offensive graduate assistant for a year before becoming a receivers coach for his alma mater Northern Illinois, led by head coach Joe Novak, who had coached him while in school. He stayed on past Novak’s retirement and eventually left at the end of the 2009 season.

Subsequently, his career saw him take on coaching roles at Rutgers University, second stint at Northern Illinois University, although the latter lasted 24 hours, while Fleck took on the role of receivers coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFL team.

PJ Fleck’s first job as a head coach came on December 17, 2012, when Western Michigan University signed a five-year contract worth $392,000 per season. He was thus the youngest and first head coach in the Football Bowl Division (FBS) of college football to be born in the 1980s. Fleck’s stint at Western Michigan for four seasons was both controversial and relatively successful. .

PJ’s first season was a disaster as the team finished with a 1-11 record. However, in the 2014 season, the team went to an 8-4 record, earning Fleck’s success. MAC Coach of the Year award. He also signed a new contract which more than doubled his annual win tally and was to see him at the club through 2020. The 2015 regular season ended with a 7-5 record. Their victories included top teams with bowl experience.

PJ Fleck’s final season with WMU was their best yet. They made history by becoming the first team to defeat two Big Ten teams in one season. WMU also retained its title as the MAC’s top-rated recruiting class for the fourth year in a row. Fleck and his team finished the regular season undefeated with a 12-0 record and also defeated Ohio State to win their first conference world title since 1988. Fleck was again named MAC Coach of the year

He became head coach at the University of Minnesota on January 6, 2017. He signed a five-year, $18 million contract which he extended for a year on November 21, 2017. In his first three games, his team beat their opponents by a kilometer and then they lost momentum, eventually ending the season with a 5-7 record. This made them ineligible to play in the post-season.

PJ Fleck’s Family – Children, Wife, Affair, Divorce

Fleck has been married twice. His first marriage was to a woman known only by her first name, Tracie. They had three children, two boys and a girl. Carter, Colt and Paisley. The couple would eventually divorce and many believe it was caused by a rumor that Fleck was having an affair a few years ago. PJ is rumored to be having an affair with a woman named Bonnie Zeigler. She was married to Aaron Zeigler, president of the Zeigler Auto Group in Kalamazoo, which was a big boost in football in West Michigan. The rumors were never substantiated, but the damage was done.

Fleck tied the knot a second time with HeatherJackson on Feb. 11, 2016. She married her son, Gavin, from a previous marriage. Fleck and Heather also had one child, a daughter named Harper.

Other facts about PJ Fleck

1. Fleck’s famous mantra was inspired by his son Colt

PJ came up with the phrase “rowing the boat” while out west in Michigan. It was part of his strategy to consolidate the team’s overall performance. It turns out that this phrase was inspired by the death of his son, Colt, who died shortly after birth from heart disease. He invented it as a way to cope with his death. After Fleck left WMU, there was a dispute over the intellectual property rights to the phrase. The two parties eventually settled out of court.

2. December 17 is a special date for Fleck

This is for two reasons. The first is that it was the day he wrote his first head coaching job. The second and most important is that his daughter, Paisley, was born exactly on the day the contract was signed, December 17, 2012.

3. Fleck is a member of his high school’s Hall of Fame.

Fleck was something of a sensation in his high school and posted records that have not been broken by any player after him. To recognize his contribution to the school football team and football as a whole, he was inducted into the Kaneland High School Hall of Fame in 2014.

4. Fleck organizes an annual football camp

Each year, PJ Fleck prepares a footballcamp ball, the proceeds of which go to a series of associations, foundations and funds. These include the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation (Friends of Carra), the Alopecia Foundation (Locks of Love), the Coach Kill Cancer Fund and the PJ Fleck Scholarship Fund. The annual camp is titled “Live Your Dream”.