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5 Reasons P.J. Fleck Should be the Next Notre Dame Head Coach

By Zach Bigalke

Nov 27, 2015; Toledo, OH, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach P.J. Fleck talks to players during the fourth quarter against the Toledo Rockets at Glass Bowl. Broncos win 35-30. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 27, 2015; Toledo, OH, USA; Western Michigan Broncos head coach P.J. Fleck talks to players during the fourth quarter against the Toledo Rockets at Glass Bowl. Broncos win 35-30. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer speak on the field prior to the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer speak on the field prior to the 2015 Sugar Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /

The MAC Pipeline

Historically the Midwest, and specifically the MAC, have produced some of the preeminent coaches in college football. Just look at the men who lead the two teams currently ranked at the top of the AP Top 25. Both Nick Saban and Urban Meyer got their start in the mid-major conference, Saban spending a year at Toledo before landing the Michigan State job and Meyer spending two years at Bowling Green before moving on to Utah.

Ara Parseghian was another coach who got his start at a MAC school as part of a group of Hall of Famers who took their first coaching jobs at Miami of Ohio. And in more recent years guys like Butch Jones and Dave Doeren have made the leap to build rising programs at Tennessee and NC State respectively.

There is no guarantee that P.J. Fleck is going to vault up to the highest echelons of the coaching ranks. But the MAC has provided a petri dish for many coaches to take the plunge into the leadership role, and its track record as a forge of coaching talent is well known by now. He is already showing the ability to mold a program into a winner at Western Michigan, a skill that has vaulted many a national champion coach on his rise to the top.

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