Josh Fleeks paused to add up the final numbers. They sounded bigger when he said them out loud.
In five years at Baylor, the receiver/running back played under four receivers coaches and three offensive coordinators. Schemes changed. His role fluctuated. Injuries sidelined him.
In that context, the Nebraska transfer figures his career totals in Waco — 795 yards from scrimmage with five touchdowns in 43 games (one start) — were pretty good. But by early October, he entered the portal ready for one more reset somewhere else.
Fleeks never expected his college experience would come full circle like this.
Now he’s joining the program that nearly flipped him in high school while reuniting with the coach who ultimately won him over as a four-star prospect in the 2018 class.
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Fleeks’ sixth and final season will be less restart and more return to a culture he thrived in under Matt Rhule and staff. It was there he learned how to eat correctly, study correctly, interact with others correctly. No hats, no jewelry and no falling asleep. His eyes were opened to the value of hard work with football, yes, but how much everything else mattered, too.
Much like former NU defensive back Tre Neal when he followed Scott Frost from UCF to Lincoln in 2018, Fleeks is embracing the chance to make a difference behind the scenes as much as on the field.
“I’ve got to be that guy at Nebraska to let them know that I know what coach Rhule wants — and it works,” Fleeks said. “I think I’m going to have to come in and be a leader of sorts to let everyone know what he wants works. He might do it in a different way but it works.”
Fleeks was set to transfer to Texas Tech — under coach Joey McGuire, who was Fleeks’ coach at Cedar Hill (Texas) High — until Rhule resurfaced at Nebraska. He committed in mid-December with the news going public during Nebraska’s in-house signing day show Dec. 21.
The 5-foot-11, 192-pounder has since learned he will have an additional layer of familiarity at Nebraska that he “had an idea” could happen when he committed but didn’t know until this week.
His new position coach at receiver, 23-year-old Garret McGuire — Joey’s son — was the longtime backup quarterback at Cedar Hill and Baylor, and a year ahead of him in school at both. The two have connected on countless passes in practice and a few in games.
Oh, and they’ve been close friends since they were high schoolers without driver’s licenses.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Fleeks said. “I know he’s a great coach and I know he knows how to help me be a better player. We’ll get right to it — it’s coming.”
The Fleeks and McGuire families have been close going back more than a decade, when Joey McGuire had Cedar Hill rolling as a Dallas-area powerhouse and Josh’s father, Carlos, was coaching running backs at Rider, a high school nestled in the northern part of the state in Wichita Falls. When the elder Fleeks stopped coaching, he sent his son to play for McGuire.
Carlos Fleeks remembered being shocked when McGuire left to be the tight ends coach at Baylor under Rhule before the 2017 season, despite fielding interest from more high-profile programs. That all changed when Rhule began recruiting Josh Fleeks to join him in Waco.
“I’m telling you right now, you guys better watch out because Matt Rhule is coming on campus and is going to change a lot of things going on at Nebraska,” Carlos Fleeks said. “This is my thing from being a former coach: When players believe and have confidence in what’s going on, they’ll run through a wall for you. And that’s Matt Rhule.
“He brings that extra mental aspect that a lot of kids need and don’t know they need. Him coming on Nebraska’s turf, he’s going to bring a different attitude. A winning attitude.”
The younger Fleeks almost became a Husker sooner.
His recruiting stock spiked as a junior in high school, when an injury to a teammate gave the lifelong running back a chance to play receiver. That turned into 53 catches, 663 yards and eight touchdowns. Frost pursued Fleeks while at UCF and got him to visit Lincoln as a Baylor commit before signing day in January 2018.
The Fleeks family went home that weekend with “question marks in our heads,” Carlos said. They had seen the biggest names like Alabama and Georgia but education didn’t come up much on those tours. Academic support was especially important because Josh has dyslexia — a learning condition affecting the ability to read, write and spell.
Fleeks put in the effort at Baylor, working with a tutor and locking in while dealing with feelings of embarrassment and shame. Meanwhile, coaching staff turnover — bringing new signals and terminology — added to his study demands.
Fleeks earned his degree in kinesiology last month, accepting his diploma Dec. 17. He’s swapping self-consciousness for smiles these days and will pursue his master’s in Lincoln.
“Watching him walk across the stage was the biggest gift of my life — it brought tears to my eyes,” Carlos Fleeks said. “You’re talking about a kid that did not want to go to school, a kid that did not want to pick up a pen. He did not want to read. It was so much for him to overcome. Nobody but God covered him through that process.”
Said Josh Fleeks: “It’s hard for me to actually learn and focus. But it’s nothing I can’t accomplish.”
Now it’s back to the familiar and a staff that brought out the best in Fleeks over two years and 24 games that produced 39 catches, four touchdowns and 421 yards from scrimmage. For the first time since high school, Fleeks will look to run track in the offseason.
Nebraska will welcome the help at receiver for a position group losing most of its production from last season beyond Marcus Washington and Alante Brown. Fleeks — who said his goal is 1,000 yards and helping Rhule instill a new culture — plans to get the ball in space through handoffs or passes, then use his speed and shiftiness to make plays.
The hardest part is over, the younger Fleeks figures. Reunited with old friends for one more season of football? What a reward.
“Matt Rhule and everyone showed him what needed to be done at Baylor,” Carlos Fleeks said. “Now that it all goes back to Josh coming to Nebraska for his final year, man, that’s a wonderful, wonderful opportunity.”
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