MAC-tion is about to get a youthful injection as reports have Western Michigan naming Buccaneers assistant and former Northern Illinois wide receiver P.J. Fleck as their head coach. Are you ready to feel either really old or really unaccomplished in your life? If not then look away, avert your eyes, because Fleck is the first head coach in FBS history to be born in the 1980's.
Yep, a child of the 80's is now a head coach in college football's top division. Fleck is 32 years old and his ties to the MAC are quite deep. He was a wide receiver at Northern Illinois and ended his career with a 1,000 yard receiving season in 2003, earning all-conference honors that year. He returned to coach that position in from 2007-2009 and then moved on to Rutgers under Greg Schiano.
Fleck will be taking over a program that hasn't won a division championship since 2000 and a MAC title since 1988. The Broncos finished 4-8 this past season, the 8th and final under Bill Cubit. Additionally the Broncos will be graduating their two best players in quarterback Alex Carder and offensive lineman Dann O'Neill.
No doubt about it, Fleck's energy and knowledge of what it takes to make it work in the MAC helped him to get that job. Western Michigan hasn't officially announced the hiring but are expected to do so shortly.
