4 days ago
2
Jan. 8—MINNEAPOLIS — Leaving a place of employment is never an easy thing for college football coach Isaac Fruechte.
It's emotional.
The Caledonia native and 34-year-old has had plenty of practice at it, having had stops at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Northern Iowa, Northern State, Winona State, and, most recently, the University of North Dakota, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the fast-rising Division I program.
Advertisement
Last week, Fruechte was hired by his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, where he was once a standout receiver. Gophers coach P.J. Fleck is plugging him in as the team's new receivers coach, replacing longtime Gophers receivers coach Matt Simon.
" Leaving UND was hard," Fruechte said. "It always is when you leave a place. I told our players that you don't see yourself leaving a place until you leave. And it sucks. You don't want to leave those coaches and that community."
But in having this opportunity to come back and coach at the place he once played, and in the vaunted Big Ten Conference, and for a head coach he holds in high regard, Fleck, there was no way that Fruechte was going to be able to say no to all that.
"When the opportunity came to coach at my alma mater, at a position that I once played, it was too good," Fruechte said. "I want to find out what I can do in the Big Ten and as a receivers coach. I'm going to try to learn as much as I can from coach Fleck and try to be the best version of myself. That is what I am here to do.
Advertisement
"But it is always hard to be 100% invested in a place and then up and leave."
The feelings that Fruechte conjured up upon coming back to the University of Minnesota for the job interview were familiar ones. That's because so much about this place, where he was a player from 2012 until 2014, was the same.
Fleck wasn't the coach then, but some of the football support staff is still in place from those days, people that Fruechte had gotten to know well.
He says it is interesting to be back there now, as a 34-year-old as opposed to a not-so-wise 20-year-old.
"The last time I was there I was a 20-(something)-year old," Fruechte said. "Those people who worked there then probably thought I was a knucklehead. But there are a lot of great people there now and a lot of great new things. The vision, the plan, the facilities, I think there is great alignment there in coach Fleck's staff and organization. And coach Fleck is awesome. He's been great to me. He knew my wife's name and my three kids' names. Things like that are just special. I just think it is a really exciting time right now to be at Minnesota."
Advertisement
Fruechte, the son of Caledonia High School Hall of Fame football coach Carl Fruechte, has shown up at Minnesota with vast experience, despite being just 34 years old. He said he has taken nuggets from each of his football stops and used them to grow as a coach. Included in that growth is staying away from ideas he never thought worked. Fruechte is a discerning coach, always ready to keep adding to his bank of knowledge, keeping the good, throwing out the bad.
Fruechte likes where the Minnesota program is at, seeing plenty of room for optimism. The Gophers are coming off an 8-5 season, which concluded with them winning their bowl game for the seventh straight season under Fleck. Minnesota returns second-year quarterback Drake Lindsey as a starter following a promising freshman season.
The Gophers, with the help of Fruechte, have reached into the NCAA transfer portal to bolster their roster. Included in that has been the plucking of Auburn receiver Perry Thompson, a second-year player who was a high four-star recruit out of high school. Fruechte and the Gophers figure to add at least one more receiver from the portal before they are done.
As Fruechte indoctrinates himself to his new position at Minnesota, he says he has been showing up early for work, learning the terminology of the offense.
Advertisement
"It is a challenge," Fruechte said. "There are a lot of different things to learn from the football aspect."
Fruechte is doing it all with a smile. In coming back to Minnesota, he's living out a long-held dream.
"This is a special place," he said.
English (US) ·