Canzano: Week 12 picks, opinions, and a full-circle PJ Fleck moment
PJ Fleck's dream job was Oregon?
It was late November of 2016, and Oregon State had just finished a Civil War pile-driving of Oregon. Just 72 hours after the loss, Ducks’ football coach Mark Helfrich would meet with athletic director Rob Mullens and get fired.
I was sitting in the press box that day, writing that Civil War game column, when PJ Fleck’s agent called me. Fleck was “rowing the boat” as the coach at Western Michigan at the time. His agent told me that Oregon was Fleck’s dream job.
The Ducks would soon come up with a short list of candidates. It included South Florida’s Willie Taggart and Chip Kelly, who was still with the 49ers. There was also Florida’s Jim McElwain, TCU’s Gary Patterson, and Boise State’s Bryan Harsin. Greg Schiano flew to Dallas to meet Mullens, who was on the College Football Playoff selection committee, for an interview, too.
Oregon hired Taggart.
Fleck never got an interview.
“Too much sizzle,” a prominent UO donor told me at the time, “and not enough steak.”
Fleck was hired instead by Minnesota. He’s gone 64-42 there and has taken the Golden Gophers to six bowl games. It’s worked out well enough for all sides. But Friday’s Minnesota-Oregon game is a full-circle moment. Fleck will finally achieve his dream of coaching a game at Autzen Stadium.
Onto my Week 12 picks…