DanielHouse
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by: Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL)
When former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel answered his phone in 2002, he didn’t think the conversation would help shape another person’s life.
Northern Illinois assistant Mike Sabock was a former teammate of Tressel’s at Baldwin-Wallace College in the 1970s. Sabock was calling to mention a Northern Illinois wide receiver he should keep on his radar for a graduate assistant position. P.J. Fleck, a 5-foot-10 junior from Sugar Grove, Illinois, was just a little bit different than everyone else.
“I remember [Sabock] getting a hold of me when P.J. was a junior and saying, ‘Hey, this kid is going to be a great coach some day. You’ve gotta keep an eye on him for a graduate assistant,’” Jim Tressel said.
Sabock was persistent and called Tressel again the next year. He didn’t want Ohio State’s head coach to forget about the energetic wide receiver. Following his final season at Northern Illinois, Fleck signed with the San Francisco 49ers and played two seasons in the NFL. After his professional football career ended in 2005, the stars aligned for Fleck to work with Jim Tressel at Ohio State.
“We recalled that Mike Sabock had been persistent about him. [Sabock] said, ‘Don’t forget about P.J., he’s going to be an extraordinary coach.’ So the timing hit right,” Tressel said. “I remember when he arrived here. He hit the ground running. He was non-stop and connected immediately with the players. He did whatever the coaches needed done. He was constantly asking questions and searching for answers.”
Fleck spent seven months working as a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes. He helped with a variety of tasks and was in charge of making sure each coach had what they needed to be successful. Whether it was assisting a coach on the field, or bringing Tressel and the staff fast-food chicken, Fleck was ready to provide a helping hand.
“I picked up Raising Cane’s for Jim Tressel every day. That was one of my jobs. I poured coffee for Luke Fickell,” Fleck said during Big Ten Media Day in 2017. “I had to do what I was asked to do and that was OK. Even though you might be at the bottom, how are you leading people around you?”
Tressel recalled Fleck’s chicken runs, but disputed the frequency of those trips.
“I don’t know if I had Raising Cane’s every day, now c’mon,” Tressel laughed. “He’s probably embellishing that a little bit. We had a Raising Cane’s about two blocks away. We worked long hours and hard, so when we wanted to get a bite to eat, it had to be quick.”
Between Cane’s and coffee runs, Fleck learned the nuances of every offensive position. He sat in meetings, helped with the scout team and asked questions. Fleck spent time with former Buckeyes’ wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell and soaked up all of the information he could.
“[Fleck] had tremendous energy. He was always willing to do and wanted to do extra to improve as a coach. As a young guy that was coming up in the profession, he had that drive,” Darrell Hazell said. “We sat down many times and had discussions about many things in the receiver world and he was always willing to learn. He was a sponge and continued to improve.”
During his time with the Buckeyes, Fleck frequently had discussions with Jim Tressel about his goals in the profession. The national champion head coach clearly remembered an office visit where he and Fleck discussed his future in the industry. P.J. told Tressel he had the goal of becoming a high-profile college football coach by the time he was 35 years old.
“I remember talking to him [and telling him], what’s important is today. Focus on this moment. We need to have those goals in our sight, but what’s important is today. Not that I ever had to worry about him being focused on anything because he was full speed. I could just see him lock in to winning every day,” Tressel said. “It was fun to watch a young person seek advice, seek knowledge, seek experiences and then apply them. He would go out on the field and he’d be running around as fast as the players.”
Tressel said Fleck’s study habits and work ethic were apparent during his time at Ohio State. The young graduate assistant was always looking to improve. Tressel explained it’s not easy to land a high-profile job in college football, but Fleck’s effort helped him move ahead in the coaching industry.
“You could just see he was not going to be denied,” Tressel said. “He had his goal of being a high-profile coach by age 35. That was what he was going to do. He was going to do whatever it took to get there. However much work it took, however much study it took and effort…I knew one thing — he was going to do everything humanly possible to get where he wanted to go and he was going to do it the right way. I had the utmost confidence.”
During the 2006 season, Ohio State finished 12-0 and qualified for the National Championship. Fleck watched Jim Tressel prepare for a showdown against Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators. With 3:41 remaining in the second quarter of the BCS Championship, Ohio State trailed 24-14. The offense faced a fourth-and-1 situation on its own 30-yard-line. Before the snap, Fleck remembered Tressel expressing the play’s magnitude.
“[Tressel told us], ‘Boys, if we don’t get this fourth down, it’s over,’” Fleck said last year.
Florida defensive end Ray McDonald slipped through the backside gap and running back Chris Wells was stuffed short of the sticks. Ohio State lost 41-14 to No. 2 Florida in the National Championship. Fleck said the result of that game was the second-most humbling moment of his coaching career.
“I found out, that anybody can get beat at any point. Whether you’re looked at as a terrific coach, whether you’re looked at as a bad coach, or whether you’re looked at anywhere in between,” Fleck said last October. “If we had won that National Championship Game, I don’t know how that would have affected me as I continued to go through my coaching career, but I got to see the greatest parts of [Tressel] and that he’s human and that he’s like every other coach.”
Read my full feature with former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel by following this link. There are some really cool stories in here:
https://www.skornorth.com/gophers-2/2019/11/an-unexpected-call-jumpstarted-gophers-head-coach-p-j-flecks-career/
When former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel answered his phone in 2002, he didn’t think the conversation would help shape another person’s life.
Northern Illinois assistant Mike Sabock was a former teammate of Tressel’s at Baldwin-Wallace College in the 1970s. Sabock was calling to mention a Northern Illinois wide receiver he should keep on his radar for a graduate assistant position. P.J. Fleck, a 5-foot-10 junior from Sugar Grove, Illinois, was just a little bit different than everyone else.
“I remember [Sabock] getting a hold of me when P.J. was a junior and saying, ‘Hey, this kid is going to be a great coach some day. You’ve gotta keep an eye on him for a graduate assistant,’” Jim Tressel said.
Sabock was persistent and called Tressel again the next year. He didn’t want Ohio State’s head coach to forget about the energetic wide receiver. Following his final season at Northern Illinois, Fleck signed with the San Francisco 49ers and played two seasons in the NFL. After his professional football career ended in 2005, the stars aligned for Fleck to work with Jim Tressel at Ohio State.
“We recalled that Mike Sabock had been persistent about him. [Sabock] said, ‘Don’t forget about P.J., he’s going to be an extraordinary coach.’ So the timing hit right,” Tressel said. “I remember when he arrived here. He hit the ground running. He was non-stop and connected immediately with the players. He did whatever the coaches needed done. He was constantly asking questions and searching for answers.”
Fleck spent seven months working as a graduate assistant for the Buckeyes. He helped with a variety of tasks and was in charge of making sure each coach had what they needed to be successful. Whether it was assisting a coach on the field, or bringing Tressel and the staff fast-food chicken, Fleck was ready to provide a helping hand.
“I picked up Raising Cane’s for Jim Tressel every day. That was one of my jobs. I poured coffee for Luke Fickell,” Fleck said during Big Ten Media Day in 2017. “I had to do what I was asked to do and that was OK. Even though you might be at the bottom, how are you leading people around you?”
Tressel recalled Fleck’s chicken runs, but disputed the frequency of those trips.
“I don’t know if I had Raising Cane’s every day, now c’mon,” Tressel laughed. “He’s probably embellishing that a little bit. We had a Raising Cane’s about two blocks away. We worked long hours and hard, so when we wanted to get a bite to eat, it had to be quick.”
Between Cane’s and coffee runs, Fleck learned the nuances of every offensive position. He sat in meetings, helped with the scout team and asked questions. Fleck spent time with former Buckeyes’ wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell and soaked up all of the information he could.
“[Fleck] had tremendous energy. He was always willing to do and wanted to do extra to improve as a coach. As a young guy that was coming up in the profession, he had that drive,” Darrell Hazell said. “We sat down many times and had discussions about many things in the receiver world and he was always willing to learn. He was a sponge and continued to improve.”
During his time with the Buckeyes, Fleck frequently had discussions with Jim Tressel about his goals in the profession. The national champion head coach clearly remembered an office visit where he and Fleck discussed his future in the industry. P.J. told Tressel he had the goal of becoming a high-profile college football coach by the time he was 35 years old.
“I remember talking to him [and telling him], what’s important is today. Focus on this moment. We need to have those goals in our sight, but what’s important is today. Not that I ever had to worry about him being focused on anything because he was full speed. I could just see him lock in to winning every day,” Tressel said. “It was fun to watch a young person seek advice, seek knowledge, seek experiences and then apply them. He would go out on the field and he’d be running around as fast as the players.”
Tressel said Fleck’s study habits and work ethic were apparent during his time at Ohio State. The young graduate assistant was always looking to improve. Tressel explained it’s not easy to land a high-profile job in college football, but Fleck’s effort helped him move ahead in the coaching industry.
“You could just see he was not going to be denied,” Tressel said. “He had his goal of being a high-profile coach by age 35. That was what he was going to do. He was going to do whatever it took to get there. However much work it took, however much study it took and effort…I knew one thing — he was going to do everything humanly possible to get where he wanted to go and he was going to do it the right way. I had the utmost confidence.”
During the 2006 season, Ohio State finished 12-0 and qualified for the National Championship. Fleck watched Jim Tressel prepare for a showdown against Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators. With 3:41 remaining in the second quarter of the BCS Championship, Ohio State trailed 24-14. The offense faced a fourth-and-1 situation on its own 30-yard-line. Before the snap, Fleck remembered Tressel expressing the play’s magnitude.
“[Tressel told us], ‘Boys, if we don’t get this fourth down, it’s over,’” Fleck said last year.
Florida defensive end Ray McDonald slipped through the backside gap and running back Chris Wells was stuffed short of the sticks. Ohio State lost 41-14 to No. 2 Florida in the National Championship. Fleck said the result of that game was the second-most humbling moment of his coaching career.
“I found out, that anybody can get beat at any point. Whether you’re looked at as a terrific coach, whether you’re looked at as a bad coach, or whether you’re looked at anywhere in between,” Fleck said last October. “If we had won that National Championship Game, I don’t know how that would have affected me as I continued to go through my coaching career, but I got to see the greatest parts of [Tressel] and that he’s human and that he’s like every other coach.”
Read my full feature with former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel by following this link. There are some really cool stories in here:
https://www.skornorth.com/gophers-2/2019/11/an-unexpected-call-jumpstarted-gophers-head-coach-p-j-flecks-career/
