Video: PJ Fleck is at it again with a surprise #ScholarshipAlert
It may be time we formally recognize PJ Fleck as the King of the surprise scholarship video.
Dating back to his time at Kalamazoo, where he turned around the Western Michigan program, the guy has been on another level when it comes to the creativity involved in awarding deserving walk-ons with a scholarship.
He's used everything from onside kicks, to Easter Eggs, to celebrity appearances from Sylvester Stallone to award scholarships.
So when he starts a recent team meeting by having kids come up and look at the back of an oar and explain what the word means to them, it seems like a pretty normal meeting by Minnesota standards.
A handful of players go up and follow the directions given to them by Fleck, and then it is standout walk-on Derik LeCaptain's turn. The linebacker had been a scout team player of the year for the program back in 2019, had been named the MVP of their spring game, been a game day captain a number of times, and has been everything that Fleck looks for in his culture.
So when he looked on the other side of that oar, he didn't see a word like most of his teammates did, and he fully expected to see. He instead saw the news that he was being put on full scholarship.
The video is bookended by the moment Derik calls home to let his family know of the good news.
This is great stuff.
