Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck watches during last year’s Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.
AP
The Kaneland helmet sits proudly on a shelf in the office of Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck.
It serves as a reminder of where he came from and what is possible.
“It just brings back so many great memories,” Fleck said. “Kaneland is well-represented at the University of Minnesota.”
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IHSA football playoffs, the Daily Herald is looking back at some of the most memorable teams from our coverage area.
This chapter takes us to Kaneland High School in Maple Park, where the Knights won back-to-back Class 3A titles in 1997 and 1998 with a combined 28-0 record.
They succeeded with a large core of two-way stalwarts including Fleck at receiver and defensive back and Kyle Schrader at running back and linebacker. Knights head coach Joe Thorgesen, now retired, had a group that proved unstoppable on offense and immovable on defense.
This chapter also takes us to the Twin Cities, where Fleck has led the Golden Gophers’ program since 2017. He began his head coaching career at Western Michigan between 2013 and 2016.
It’s been a long journey for Fleck, who climbed the coaching ladder as an assistant at Ohio State, Northern Illinois, Rutgers and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That came after a college career at NIU, the only Division I school to offer him a scholarship, and a stint with the San Francisco 49ers.
Not bad for a 5-foot-9, 155-pound kid from a Class 3A high school few outside of Illinois even know about.
“Everyone who’s influenced my life, I’ll talk about forever,” Fleck said. “That’s what we all strive to do. How will you be remembered?”
Fleck, even as a teenager, knew he was part of something special at Kaneland. Something that’d stay with him no matter what heights he’d reach.
In 1997 and 1998, Kaneland was overwhelming at the 3A level. When Fleck graduated, he was second in IHSA history for receiving yardage with 3,121. More than 25 years later, he’s still in the top 15.
A few seniors from the 1998 title team, like Fleck, were brought up to varsity as freshmen and became starters as sophomores. The Knights went 17-5 those two years, building to their junior season and the program’s first state title.
In addition to Fleck’s 1,548 receiving yards his senior season, quarterback Eric Delaney threw for 2,607 yards and 35 touchdowns. Schrader rushed for 1,712 yards and led the defense with 126 tackles.
“When I look back on those teams, we were so mentally tough,” Fleck said. “We had players who could play really fast and guys who could outwork you, outplay you and out-effort you.”
Except for one game that season, no one came within two touchdowns of the Knights. But that one game, a 20-19 Week 5 win at Ridgewood, remains a painful memory.
Earlier that week a beloved Kaneland classmate, senior Jenni Kirwan, died in an automobile accident. While the community and the school of about 700 students mourned, the football team played on.
“We didn’t know how we were going to get through that,” Fleck said. “We were kids.”
With “JK” patches on their uniforms, the Knights scored in the final seconds and rallied to victory. The closest outcome after that was a 41-28 second-round win over Mahomet-Seymour.
To this day, the loss of Kirwan stings. Fleck said he’s stayed in contact with the family, even inviting Jenni’s sister, Lindsay, as a front-row guest at this season’s Minnesota game at Michigan.
“Somehow we ended up coming back and winning that Ridgewood game,” Fleck said. “Those things don’t happen unless people are really coming together and you’re playing for something bigger than yourselves.”
Fleck said despite the obstacles during his career, he wouldn’t be where he is today without them.
Not only does he credit pro and college coaching mentors such as Mike Nolan and Jim Tressel — like them, Fleck wears a tie during games — and Joe Novak, he’s just as quick to mention Kaneland’s coaching staff.
“When I look back on my career, the closest people in my life are my former coaches,” he said.
Kaneland honored Fleck with a 2014 Hall of Fame induction and gifted him the helmet now sitting in his office. It’s a stirring reminder of his hometown.
And sometimes, hometown visits him.
When Minnesota backup long snapper Ryan Algrim — a redshirt freshman and Kaneland graduate who’s the son of former Knights assistant coach Greg Algrim — visited the campus on a recruiting trip, Algrim’s mom gave Fleck a quizzical look and asked, “Do you remember me?”
Fleck knew the face but couldn’t place it. Not until Jo Algrim said she was an athletic trainer at Kaneland during Fleck’s time there.
“I hadn’t seen her since high school,” Fleck said. “And then it all comes flowing back to you.”
It’s a small world, especially at Kaneland.
