The college football season is only a month old and the coaching carousel has already started spinning \u2014 with UCLA, Virginia Tech and now Oklahoma State looking for new leaders.<\/p>\n
Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck was a top candidate for the UCLA opening in February 2024, with a significant offer from the Bruins. But Fleck turned it down, and the Bruins went on to hire Deshaun Foster, who went 5-7 in his first year and was fired Sept. 14 after an 0-3 start.<\/p>\n
The Pioneer Press understands there is nothing brewing between UCLA and Fleck this time around, but the fellow Big Ten program might not have the only nationwide opening during this cycle that could involve Fleck.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis name\u2019s going to come up at every job,\u201d Gophers athletics director Mark Coyle told the Pioneer Press two days after the UCLA and Virginia Tech jobs opened. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing for Minnesota, because we have somebody that people want and people recognize what he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was little turnover among head coaches at the Power Four conference level a year ago, which has national reporters projecting this year to be much busier. Three schools already have a head start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want him to stay here as long as he wants to be here because, again, (of) what he\u2019s done with our program, on and off the field,\u201d Coyle continued. \u201cWhen I talk about P.J., I talk about (wife) Heather, too. She\u2019s a big part of everything going on here, (for) which I\u2019m grateful for both of them. They\u2019ve been the ultimate change agent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coyle has said similar things about Fleck over the years, and the AD has been trying to back it up in writing.<\/p>\n
In July, Fleck received a one-year contract extension, which included increased retention bonuses but smaller buyout totals. He is set to make $6 million annually in a deal that runs through Dec. 31, 2030.<\/p>\n
While Fleck has netted contract extensions on a nearly annual basis, one industry source told the Pioneer Press this latest one was a smart move from Coyle to try to stay a step ahead of the market.<\/p>\n
The retention bonuses begin at $1 million this year and increase to $1.2 million in 2026. From there, the bonuses go up $100,000 each year to $1.6 million in 2030. Those annual sums are split evenly and paid on Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 each year.<\/p>\n
Fleck\u2019s salary, including retention bonuses, is now tied for 11th in the 18-team Big Ten, per documents the Gophers athletics department presented to the Board of Regents at its July meeting.<\/p>\n
The retention bonuses are considered hooks to help keep Fleck in Minnesota, but Fleck\u2019s buyout structure \u2014 the real teeth in keeping Fleck at the U \u2014 went down from his last deal. Combined, it\u2019s in the same ballpark.<\/p>\n
In the new terms, if Fleck leaves his contract, his buyout structure went down from $7 million to $5.5 million in Year 1; $5 million to $4.5 million in Year 2, $4 million to $3 million in Year 3 and incrementally downward from there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis buyout was just working with him, having conversations with him and his agent,\u201d Coyle said. \u201cHe\u2019s been here nine years. He\u2019s been very loyal to us. We appreciate him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fleck is 60-40 overall at Minnesota, with a 34-36 record in the Big Ten. After two tough, initial years in 2017-18, Fleck is 29-23 in conference play. He has produced winning seasons in three of the last four full seasons, while the Gophers\u2019 NIL (name, image and likeness) budget pales in comparison to top teams in the conference and country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI fit at Minnesota,\u201d Fleck said at Big Ten media days in July. \u201cYou know why I fit in Minnesota? Because I\u2019ve always been able to do a little more with a little less. That\u2019s my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not the highest paid roster in the Big Ten; I think all of you (reporters) know that; that is not a secret,\u201d Fleck added. \u201cBut my job is to do more with less. That is my job, and I can find a way to do that with the right fit. I\u2019m the right fit for Minnesota. I don\u2019t give myself a new contract.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The college football season is only a month old and the coaching carousel has already started spinning \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":251485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1369,1318,62804,1317,1315,1316,114582,62,9656,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-251484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-gophers-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-ncaafootball","14":"tag-p-j-fleck","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uncategorized","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115260225170172898","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}