2019 Team Dealers Summer Show Book

general session and keynote speaker

GENERAL SESSION Important updates + keynote speaker 500 Ballroom - 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKER P.J. FLECK P.J. Fleck is entering his third year as the head football coach at the University of Minnesota. At 38 he is the youngest head football coach in the Big 10. In 2018, Fleck led Minnesota to a 7-6 record and regular-season wins against Wisconsin, Purdue, In- diana, Fresno State, Miami (Ohio) and New Mexico State. The Gophers beat Georgia Tech 34-10 in the Quick Lane Bowl, and the 24-point margin of victory was the largest bowl win in school history. Under Fleck, a young Minnesota team beat rival Wisconsin for the first time since 2003 and for the first time on the road since 1994 to reclaim Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The Gophers also downed Purdue’s potent offense, holding the Boilermakers to a season low in points (10) and yards (233). In 2018, 58 of the Gophers’ players were fresh- men, most in the nation. The Gophers had 78 total underclassmen, which ranked tenth in college foot- ball. In his first year at Minnesota in 2017, Fleck led a young Gopher squad to a 5-7 record and posted three 30-point wins, beating Oregon State by 34, Ne- braska by 33, and Middle Tennessee by 31. Fleck’s first Minnesota team was built around 49 freshmen or redshirt freshmen and 76 underclassmen. Off the field, Fleck and his team can often be found volunteering at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Last year they gave back to theMinneapolis community by hosting a dia- per drive, canned food drive, and turkey drive. In the classroom, Minnesota posted program record GPAs. Fleck came to Minnesota after four years as the head coach at WesternMichigan, where hewas 30-22 overall and 21-11 in the Mid-American Conference. While leading the Broncos, Fleck authored one of the mostmemorable turnarounds in college football his- tory. The Broncos were 1-11 in his first year in 2013, but ended the 2016 season with a No. 12 ranking, a 13-1 record, a conference championship, and a berth in the Cotton Bowl. Fleck was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016, and in 2016 he led the Broncos to their first MAC Championship since 1988. Fleck earned FBS Region 3 Coach of the Year honors in 2016 from the American Football Coaches Association. He was also a finalist for the Eddie Rob-

inson Award and the George Munger Award. (cont. on reverse) Fleck’s final two Western Michigan teams pro- duced five NFL draft picks, including first round pick Corey Davis (fifth overall to the Tennessee Titans). Davis, who was the first Consensus All-American in Western Michigan history, ended his career as the Football Bowl Subdivision all-time career receiving record holder. Davis joined Randy Moss as the only Mid-American Conference receivers to be drafted in the first round. Off the field, Western Michigan had a pro- gram-record seven student-athletes named to the 2016 MAC Distinguished Scholar Athlete team and the Bronco team posted a 3.14 program GPA in Fleck’s last semester at the school. Prior to his time at Western Michigan, Fleck served as thewide receivers coach for the NFL’s Tam- pa Bay Buccaneers in 2012 and coached the receiv- ers at Rutgers from 2010-11. He coached receivers and was the recruiting coordinator at Northern Illi- nois in 2009 and tutored the receivers for the Huskies from 2007-08. Fleck’s coaching career began at Ohio State as a graduate assistant in 2006. Fleck played receiver at Northern Illinois from 1999-2003 and helped lead the Huskies to a No. 10 ranking, a 10-2 record and wins against Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State in his final season. He ranks in the top five in Northern Illinois history in career re- ceptions and receiving yards. He earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors in 2003. He graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in ele- mentary education. Fleck played the 2004 and 2005 seasons with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. He signed with the 49ers as a free agent in 2004 and spent most of his time on the practice squad before seeing action late in the season. He spent the 2005 season on the in- jured reserve roster, and in 2006 he stopped playing professionally and started his coaching career. Fleck andMichigan’s JimHarbaugh are the only Power Five conference coaches who both played and coached in the NFL. Fleck, Harbaugh and East Carolina’s Scottie Montgomery are the only coaches in the FBS who have played and coached in the NFL. Fleck and his wife, Heather, have 4 children.

3