Not sure where it started, but Fleck brought a lot of people with him from WMU.
This is from a KARE 11 article talking about Fleck's first staff at Minnesota.
Here are the guys that had worked with Fleck before he came here.
- Ciarrocca came to Minnesota after serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Western Michigan since 2013.
- Burns came to Minnesota after spending one season coaching the running backs at Western Michigan.
- Callahan was a veteran coach. He came to coach the tight ends at Minnesota as well as coach the offensive tackles. He had coached the offensive line at Western Michigan since 2013
- Simon (wide receivers) coached receivers at Western Michigan since 2014.
- Smith (defensive coordinator) was
not at WMU, but he worked previously with Fleck at
Rutgers.
- Wenger (special teams coordinator) was hired at Western Michigan in 2013 as a graduate assistant, but was quickly promoted to special teams coordinator.
- Chernoff (General Manager) came to oversee all off-field aspects of the program at Minnesota. He joined the Western Michigan staff in March 2016 as director of player personnel after spending five years in the same role at Iowa State.
- Nichol (head strength and conditioning coach) previously held the same position at Western Michigan since 2013.
- Hendrickson (director of player personnel) joined the Gophers from Western Michigan. He also served as a college scout for the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns
- Childers (director of video) was named video coordinator at Western Michigan at the conclusion of the 2013 season. He worked at his alma mater, Idaho, as the video services coordinator from 2011-13.
The ones who were new to Flack?
Warinner (offensive line) joined Fleck’s staff after serving as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Ohio State in 2016.
Linguist (defensive backs) coached the safeties at Mississippi State in 2016.
Paup (defensive line) who was a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year with the Buffalo Bills and spent the last four seasons at his alma mater Northern Iowa coaching the defensive line
https://www.kare11.com/article/sports/college/ncaa/fleck-fills-out-u-of-m-coaching-staff/387024799