Is P.J. Fleck the most disrespected coach in America?
By Austin Lloyd
Where would I rank P.J. Fleck on these lists?
So, with all the pats on the back out of the way, the question must be asked: Where would I rank Fleck? Well, before I answer that, we need to see the coaches ranked instead of/ahead of him that I feel do not deserve to be.
While the two lists I referenced had their differences, they were bound to be similar in regard to at least some of the names present on them. Up top, they had guys like Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Jim Harbaugh, Lincoln Riley, and so on. Obviously, P.J. Fleck does not deserve to be in any of their conversations. Rather, it’s mostly some of the lower/middle-ranked names that caught my attention.
Noteworthy selections that fell under those categories on both rankings were Lance Leipold, Mike Gundy, Chip Kelly, Jimbo Fisher, and Luke Fickell (he was actually a top-10 coach on the lists). Along with all of them, PFF had thrown in Matt Rhule while CBS Sports included Bret Bielema.
Especially when talking about their displays from last season and/or how they look heading into this upcoming one, none of those guys should be ahead of Fleck, and there’s a variety of reasons as to why.