DeKALB | Walking into Grandma’s house, you’ll find a pillow with the slogan, “There’s nothing like home, sweet home.”

Despite the cliche, nothing else fits better when talking about the return of former Huskie wide receiver P.J. Fleck to NIU.

Fleck, a Huskie from 1999 to 2003, will return for the 2007 football season as NIU’s new wide receiver coach.

“Once the [2006] season ended, Novak called and told me he had an opening,” Fleck said. “I had some other offers to think about first.”

Luckily for NIU, Fleck decided to return back to his alma mater based on multiple factors, one of which was his school pride.

“It was a big factor, being a Huskie for life,” Fleck said. As a Huskie, the wide receiver tallied 2,162 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

Fleck’s road back to NIU was an interesting path.

After the 2003 season, Fleck signed with the 49ers after the NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent. The Sugar Grove native spent the majority of his first season on the team’s practice squad.

After seeing some playing time in 2004, Fleck was placed on injured reserve for the 2005 season and was eventually released June 2006.

As NIU students came to school for the fall 2006 semester, Fleck was trying out for a spot with the Bears. Things didn’t work out, though and he put an end to his NFL career.

During the 2006 season, Fleck served as the graduate assistant coach for the Ohio State football team. As an assistant, Fleck worked with the tight ends and special teams.

“It was a great experience,” Fleck said. “Coach [Jim] Tressel is a great person to learn from and to transfer that to the Huskies.”

His experience with Ohio State was capped off in the BSC National Championship game against Florida. While at the game, the assistant took in as much as he could of the unique opportunity.

“I like to take it in and soak it all in,” Fleck said. “I was just looking at all those flashes of the cameras on the opening kick-off as we took one to the house. I almost missed it.”

But a chance to come back and be a coach for NIU is something Fleck wouldn’t miss. While the NIU assistant coach hasn’t met with his new players yet, he looks forward to winter workouts in a few weeks.

Fleck is also excited about the chance to work with his mentor, NIU coach Joe Novak, from a new perspective.

“I get a chance to repay Coach Novak,” Fleck said. “I always knew he was great, now I get to find out why he’s great.”