Rival Schools Coming for PJ Fleck and Gophers AD Knows It

Our long and dreary national nightmare is over. Thursday night, P.J. Fleck and the Minnesota Gophers will kick-off the Drake Lindsey Era at Huntington Bank Stadium, against the Buffalo Bulls

Last season, Minnesota finished with an 8-5 record, after beating Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. This season, the head coach is trying to raise the bar again. 2024 QB Max Brosmer is now with the Minnesota Vikings, but the presence of Lindsey, a redshirt freshman, has Fleck incredibly bullish over the upcoming season.

“What is the next right step? That’s going to be subjective to a lot of different people. As a head football coach, my job is to get the most out of my football team every single year, academically, athletically, socially and spiritually in this life program. … If you get the most out of your players, you’re going to have a chance to be really successful on the football field.

With the College Football Playoff where it is, as Indiana showed last year, anybody can get there. If we’re delusional enough to know we can do that, we can get there. … You’ve got to continue to raise the expectations.”

P.J. Fleck – Star Tribune

Fleck remains locked in at Minnesota, where he just signed a contract extension through 2030, over the offseason. Still, that doesn’t mean the Gophers are safe from outside vultures, who may try to pry the 9th year Golden Gopher head coach out of Dinkytown, especially if his squad starts the season out hot.

P.J. Fleck in danger of getting poached from Minnesota Gophers

University of Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle recently spoke with Randy Johnson (Star Tribune), and he was honest about other schools targeting his head football coach early and often this season, given what he continues to move with the Gophers.

“If you go back to P.J.’s very first press conference, he talked about sustainability. How can he be here long-term? It’s amazing how many fans come up to me and say, ‘Does he have the Notre Dame clause in his contract?’ He’s starting year nine here. He and Heather love it here. I promise you in a few weeks as we get into the college football season, his name is gonna pop up at other destinations. The reason why is he does it the right way.”

Mark Coyle – Star Tribune

Coyle sharing that with the Star Tribune does not come out of fear. He doesn’t necessarily seem concerned over which school could come gunning for Fleck. Instead, he seems confident, not just in PJ’s abilities as a football coach, but in his desire to remain in Minnesota.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Fleck — as recently as last offseason — nearly left for the UCLA job, before ultimately deciding to stay. But given how long PJ has stuck around, it’s clear that there are only a select few jobs that would pique his interest, at this point, especially given what he’s built at the U of M.

Where have Gophers been under Fleck and what’s next…

PJ Fleck won just five games during his first season as Minnesota Gophers head coach, back in 2017. Since, he’s won six-straight bowl games and pushed the Minnesota as high as seventh in the AP Poll, back in 2019. Overall, the 44-year-old head coach holds an 58-39 record as Golden Gophers head coach, 33-36 in the Big Ten.

Related: What to Expect From Gophers’ Extremely Talented Freshman QB in Debut Start

This season is an opportunity to be something the Minnesota Gophers haven’t since 2019. If Lindsey winds up being the talent that Brosmer was or better, PJ Fleck’s 2025 squad should be a force to be reckoned with.

As long as Fleck is coaching the Gophers and having success, there will be a wide-level of concern that he could up and leave. If he has success this season, PJ will need to decide, yet again, how much he likes coaching at the University of Minnesota.

For now though, both he and Coyle appear content with where things stand with his head football coach.