P.J. Fleck scrambles to salvage first recruiting class at Minnesota

Few head coaches in the country faced more challenges in putting together their 2017 recruiting class than P.J. Fleck.

Minnesota hired Fleck on Jan. 6, just 26 days before national signing day. He inherited a football program in turmoil from a sex scandal that led to mass suspensions and a brief, player-led boycott of the Holiday Bowl. Several players voiced their anger at the administration when Tracy Claeys was fired after a 9-4 season, and committed recruits were defecting in waves.

It was a situation that most coaches would have found daunting. But Fleck, using the same endless energy and optimism that helped him lead Western Michigan to a New Year's Six bowl, embraced the obstacles. He…