Who Lit the Match of Panic?

This time, however, our panic has been set off from the outside. The flame was lit by The Athletic on Monday morning. If the Gophers have a successful season, according to CFB insiders Bruce Feldman and Matt Fortuna, Fleck is one of four Big Ten coaches expected to enter the head coaching carousel next offseason.

P.J. Fleck’s squad went 9-4 last season and beat Wisconsin for the second time in four years, a strong campaign that left a feeling of unfinished business after the Golden Gophers inexplicably dropped home contests to Bowling Green and Illinois. Ace OC Kirk Ciarrocca is back after leaving in 2019, and so is QB Tanner Morgan, who already has 39 career starts under his belt. Fleck is just 41, and he signed another extension last season through 2028.

He likes it in the Twin Cities, and he has a $10 million buyout if he were to leave before Dec. 31. While his public persona isn’t necessarily for everyone, his work in revitalizing programs at multiple levels (he took Western Michigan to the Cotton Bowl) is attractive to ADs. And if the 2022 carousel is anything like the 2021 circus, Fleck’s phone will likely be ringing a lot should the Gophers post another strong season.

Bruce Feldman and Matt Fortuna (The Athletic)

How Concerned Should We Be?

If you thought we were safe from the college football head coaching carousel for awhile because of the extension PJ Fleck signed just six months ago then the joke is on you, I guess. The key to head coaching contracts in the NCAA is always the buyout clause.

How much will it cost for School “X” to fire their head coach? How much does it cost for Coach “Y” to break contract and leave for another destination? Unlike in the previous iteration of his deal, Fleck’s new buyout price gradually falls over his first few seasons. On January 1, 2023, it will no longer cost $10 million for PJ to leave Dinkytown. But it will still cost $7 million. If he’s on the same contract come January 1, 2024, the buyout will fall to $5 million.

But let’s be real. If Minnesota has a good enough season, $7M isn’t going to stop interested schools from trying to hire PJ Fleck. And that’s why he’s on The Athletic’s list.

NIL Adds Uncertainty

As mentioned in the article, PJ Fleck likes it in here. He has small kids who don’t know a life outside of Dinkytown. So it will have to be the right school and the right offer to lure him away. PJ has a very strong relationship with Mark Coyle, as well. As long as Coyle is the Gophers AD, Fleck will be open to staying.

But there is one new variable that could factor heavily into Fleck’s eventual decision to go elsewhere. NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) has made it much more difficult for schools like the University of Minnesota to compete in recruiting top high school and transfer portal targets.

The Gopher football program doesn’t have near the financial support from boosters, that other schools do. And 22 years after a bullshit cheating scandal rocked the men’s basketball team, the University is still afraid of angering the NCAA gods by promoting an NIL-friendly environment for boosters to take advantage of.

If Fleck sees the NIL age as a threat on his ability to win consistently at Minnesota, he could be motivated to Row The Boat elsewhere like never before.

Jerry Kill Best Behavior?

Remember, the Minnesota Gophers’ 2022 opener on September 1 is against New Mexico State. The Aggies now employ Fleck’s predecessor at the U of M, Jerry Kill. Previously, Kill has been very vocal in his dismay for PJ Fleck and Mark Coyle.

But Jerry may want to enter Huntington Bank Stadium on his best behavior this fall. Who knows, he may be handing in an application for U of M employment pretty soon…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Soon after the internet became bored with articles and blogs about top candidates, sportsbooks answered the call with odds to attach to each of them. Gopher fans breathed a sigh of relief when they saw PJ Fleck in the middle of most betting boards at around +1000, usually landing him somewhere between 4-6 best odds by most outlets.

But now, the situation has had a couple days to settle down. And unfortunately, PJ Fleck has been working his way up the oddsmaker ladders. BetOnline is a top-3 sportsbook worldwide. They currently have PJ at +650 to land the USC job, behind only Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy (+600).

Latest odds @betonline_ag for next USC head coach… pic.twitter.com/93h387B6MG

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 15, 2021

Concern?

There’s a lot of time left in the USC head coaching search. Alarms aren’t ringing yet but you have to wonder why these numbers have moved the way they have. Does Vegas know something we don’t? Have some of these coaching candidates already displayed a certain amount of interest (or disinterest) behind the scenes?

These are some red flags that are worth keeping in the back of your mind. Fleck gave his weekly press conference on Monday morning, before Clay Helton was fired, and hasn’t had to face questions yet publicly. That’ll change next week because I’ll ask if someone doesn’t beat me to it.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers officially fired their head coach Richard Pitino less than one week ago but the search for his replacement is already well underway. In fact, we APPEAR to be closer to the end of this hiring process than we are the beginning. With other jobs around the country opening and closing by the day, time doesn’t seem like something athletic director Mark Coyle has at his disposal.

The betting money currently sits on a new head coach being named sometime this week but even assuming that could make you look foolish. Coyle told us he would be casting a wide net during this hiring process and, by all accounts, that’s exactly what he’s done. If you’re a D1 basketball coach or if your name is printed on the internet anywhere under a ‘Gopher Head Coach Watch List’ then you or your people have spoken with Coyle and/or his people.

We have a lot to discuss but let’s start with the latest, which came from KSTP (Ch. 5) Sports early this morning. The fact is, we know very little about what Mark Coyle is thinking (continue reading) but it’s clear that the process is getting into the more serious stages today.

No. Iowa hoops coach Ben Jacobson interviewed for the #Gophers job over the weekend, sources tell KSTP Sports. We hear at least 1 other in-person interview has already occurred, w/ at least 1 more on the horizon today. Utah St coach Craig Smith is expected to interview in-person.

— KSTPSports (@KSTPSports) March 22, 2021

More than three people we've been in contact with in the last 24 hours do. I said as such on TV last night. But then again, negotiations on $$ can always get goofy. But know this: this process is ramping up big-time today, and did over the weekend.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) March 22, 2021

The Leaders in the Clubhouse

I haven’t seen Ben Jacobson’s (UNI) name much, until KSTP tweeted out his interview this morning. Three names have has sat at the top of the rumor mill for most of this search but one has reportedly just fallen off the list. They were Dennis Gates (Cleveland State), Craig Smith (Utah State) and Niko Medved (Colorado State).

Just in this morning, Ryan James (GopherIllustrated.com) believes Gates has pulled his name from contention. As said above, it’s going to be a wild day. There’s also one wild card who has shot like a rocket into the lead conversation over the last few days.

In thinking about Ben Johnson: basically any coach that got the job would want to bring him along with his recruiting and roots here. Well-thought of locally and in the business. Can bring in experience like Whalen and Juwan Howard did on the bench. Why not just hire him?

— Justin Gaard (@jgkfan) March 21, 2021

Many days into MN search, it’s evident that Ben has a lot of support. He’d energize many alums, would recruit his behind off. Talent trumps all & he’d get talent here. Checks many of Coyle’s boxes. I keep circling back to this Reusse tweet Feb. 25. Will be interesting. #Gophers https://t.co/LyIjg4ztaH

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) March 21, 2021

Ben Johnson is an assistant coach at Xavier. Ben is 39-years-old and from Minneapolis. He captained the Gophers basketball team for his Junior and Senior seasons before graduating in 2005. He’s probably the most well-connected assistant in the country when it comes to the Minnesota AAU circuit.

Tyus Jones (yes that Tyus Jones) would disagree, however. If he were making this hire, Colorado State head coach Niko Medved and assistant Dave Thorson (who was the head coach at DeLaSalle for NINE years) would be the choice. I wonder if Mark Coyle called Tyus up after this tweet… (remember the wide net)

Gophers should hire Niko Medved and Dave Thorson ASAP

— Tyus Jones (@1Tyus) March 21, 2021

Why don’t we know more?

Insiders across town, and throughout the nation, are having issues finding people Mark hasn’t talked to about the Minnesota head coaching job. Anyone with basketball connections in the state, it seems, has talked to the Gopher AD or knows someone who has. Even if he isn’t calling to gauge interest in the job itself, he’s calling to see what insight or thoughts you might have on who should get a look. Again, Coyle said he would cast a WIDE net and take in a HIGH volume of opinions and insight on what this program needs and he’s been a man of his word.

But that’s part of the problem. Coyle and his committee are taking in all the information they can absorb but they aren’t sharing their thoughts with anyone on the outside.

This isn’t a shocker to those who follow the University of Minnesota athletic department. Coyle keeps his department buttoned up and opinions in-house. When you’re following a ninja AD like Mark Coyle, only one thing is for certain. You won’t know anything until he wants you to know something.

What is Coyle looking for?

I can cry about the Minnesota MBB coaching budget (or lack thereof) all I want. But one thing has become clear during this process: cost is a major factor. If power-5 coaches like Eric Musselman (Arkansas) and Mike Boynton (OK State) can be had by the Gophers, you wouldn’t know it by following this search. From everything I can gather throughout the world wide web, neither guy has been a real player in this hiring process.

As you may have noticed above, all of the rumored front runners are from mid-major conferences, which means all of them can be had for cheap. That doesn’t mean they won’t be successful. It’s just a fact.

Recruiting. That’s the supposed focus for Coyle. He wants someone who can build a border wall around the state of Minnesota. Of course, the coaching part matters too but the Gophers seem to be prioritizing recruiting effort and recruiting ability, more than coaching acumen or experience. That opens up the field to younger, less experienced coaches who are more relatable, have the energy to recruit nonstop and can BE HAD FOR CHEAP.

If Coyle wants to close the border…

If Coyle’s main focuses are to close the Minnesota recruiting borders and save cash, either Johnson or Medved would be his best options. Could getting all three (Medved as HC and Thorson + Johnson as AC’s) on the same staff be the ultimate goal? Only time will tell.

Minnesota will continue to conduct interviews Monday as this thing catches fire. But, that doesn’t mean we have any idea where the dust settles when it’s over. Mark Coyle moves like a ninja.

If you want to pay closer attention to this coaching search, set your notifications on Twitter for Darren Wolfson of KSTP/SKOR North (@DWolfsonKSTP). If you want to go a bit deeper, subscribe to GopherIllustrated.com ($$$). Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN on Twitter) is their basketball insider and he puts out more insider info on their ‘Gopher Report’ message boards than you will find anywhere in a public forum. Ryan Burns does a great job for them on the football side too.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

It’s March Madness and the Minnesota Gophers are done for the season. That sucks for a lot of reasons but it doesn’t mean we need to sulk in our maroon and gold depression while everyone else enjoys the dance. Beyond your office bracket pools and the millions of dollars being wagered this weekend, Gopher basketball fans are on the watch for their next men’s head basketball coach.

Lucky for us, most of the rumored candidates are coaching their current team in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. It’s a perfect time for Gopher fans to scout out their favorite possible replacement, as the competition heats up. There has been Minnesota steam behind all of these candidates. We’ll start with the best-seeded teams and move down.

Eric Musselman | Arkansas: 3-seed | vs Colgate (14) – 11:45 AM Friday

If I could have my pick of any rumored to be available head coach in the country, it would be Eric Musselman. This is a guy who wins everywhere he goes and his tenure at Arkansas has been no different. But this matchup vs Colgate, which is the second game of the day today, might be my favorite of the entire first round. The Colgate Raiders have only played 15 games this season and they have won all but one of them.

TeamRankings.com only has Arkansas winning 51% of the time when they run simulations and Colgate is actually my Cinderella team of the tournament. Read more on Musselman HERE.

Can’t wait for the Arkansas vs Colgate game at 11:45. Toothpaste U is my 2021 Cinderella but they have to get past Muss first…

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) March 19, 2021

Mike Boynton | Oklahoma State: 4-seed | vs Liberty (13) – 5:25 PM Friday

Mike Boynton’s name came out of nowhere to enter the Minnesota head coach candidate rumors. We’re talking about the dude who landed Cade Cunningham, who will be the 1st pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. I first saw Boynton mentioned as a possibility for Minnesota in an article out of The Athletic last week. And the deeper you look into Mike and his current situation, the more sense a move makes.

Oklahoma State is lucky to be competing in this tournament. They’ve been waiting all season long for discipline to be handed down by the NCAA for past recruiting violations. The process is sitting in appeals right now and that’s why OSU can compete in 2021. But 2022 will be a different story. And that’s why most expect Boynton to bounce after this season, along with Cade Cunningham.

Brian Dutcher | San Diego State: 6-seed | vs Syracuse (11) – 8:40 PM Friday

Everyone knows the story on Dutcher. If you want more, read HERE. Brian Dutcher is one of many Mountain West candidates whose name has floated around the Minnesota job. His dad, Jim Dutcher, had a decade-long stretch of success as Gopher head coach back in the 70’s and 80’s. Brian’s special Minnesota buyout of $1 million specifically written into his SDSU contract, compared to the $6+ million any other school would have to pay, shows his interest. The Gophers have always been Dutcher’s dream job and a lot of his family, including his aging father, are still in the Twin Cities.

But first, Dutcher is concerned with beating Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orangemen. San Diego is the higher seed in this game but they are only favored by three points.

Porter Moser | Loyola Chicago – 8-seed | vs Georgia Tech – 3:00 PM Friday

Porter Moser isn’t someone I have looked that deeply into but he is the favorite for others. Not only is he gettable, coaching at a mid-major school like Loyola Chicago, but he took that mid-major school to a Final Fucking Four in 2018. Think about that.

Moser’s squad in Chicago is 97-35 in their last four seasons and he will have his choice in a lot of Power-5 jobs should he want one. Georgia Tech came out of nowhere and won the ACC Tournament (after Duke dropped out). They’re hot but one of the most susceptible 9-seeds in the tournament.

Craig Smith | Utah State: 11-seed | vs Texas Tech (6) – 12:45 PM Friday

Another Mountain West coach with Minnesota ties, Craig Smith is a likeable and energetic guy that Minnesota fans would completely fall in love with. Read more on him HERE. Many have Smith as the favorite to land Pitino’s old job and if Coyle is looking for a dynamite hire at a bargain bin cost, Craig could very-well be the next head coach at the University of Minnesota. That would make for a lot of bald heads at the University of Minnesota Athletic Department.

Minnesota born Craig Smith, the Head Coach of Utah State, has his team dancing once again, this time as an 11 seed. The Aggies will face 6 seed Texas Tech. pic.twitter.com/A0Hb098mhz

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) March 14, 2021

Because they won the Mountain West Tournament in 2020 before everything was canceled by COVID-19, Smith has now qualified Utah State for the NCAA Tournament three times in three years. His record during that tenure is 74-23. Craig and his Aggies will have their hands full with Texas Tech today, however. Utah State is a 4-point underdog.

Dennis Gates | Cleveland State – 15-seed | vs Houston (2) – 6:15 PM Friday

Enjoy Dennis Gates while you can today. This game isn’t expected to be close. Houston is favored over Gates’ Cleveland State squad, by 20+ points. If the Vikings were to pull of an upset of this caliber, Dennis Gates’ stock would immediately skyrocket.

Gates, however, is only in his second year as a college head coach and that’s probably not the route Coyle wants to go (again) with this hire. But, after only winning 11 games all of last season, he turned the Cleveland State program around, went 19-7 in 2021 during a pandemic, and made the NCAA Tournament. That’s certainly worth something.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Richard Pitino was fired over the weekend. Mark Coyle and the University of Minnesota can use whatever synonym makes their conscience and/or pocketbooks feel lighter, but they fooled no one. Certainly not Richard himself, who admitted to being a fired head basketball coach yesterday, in an interview with Dan Barreiro on KFAN radio.

I’m not mad at Coyle for what he had to do. Two months ago, the Gophers were coming off of EIGHT straight games vs top-25 teams, beating TWO in the top-10. They went 4-4 in what was the most difficult start to a conference schedule, nationwide. I wrote a blog after their last big win of the season vs (7) Michigan, an 18-point stomping at The Barn, on just how bright the outlook was coming out of that stretch.

Pitino’s squad had fought their way to the top of the scheduling hill and they were now looking down on a much easier path to a top seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Then, injuries and reality hit like a mack truck. The Gophers went 2-10 to finish the regular season, after that victory over the Wolverines. Just two of those twelve opponents were ranked in the top-25.

The final record? 14-15 after one Big Ten Tournament win over Northwestern and a loss vs (6) Ohio State, that ended the season. Yes, the 2020-21 Minnesota Gophers battled a lot of key injuries. But, that’s been a problem for Richard late in seasons for his entire tenure. At what point do you turn the finger on yourself and stop blaming the basketball gods?

Mark Coyle Presser

After Richard Pitino’s firing was finally made official on Tuesday, Mark Coyle met with media over Zoom. With Mark, you normally get more ‘buttoned up’ than you do ‘eye opening’. This time, some of his words were careful and buttoned up. Others, however, were quite eye opening.

But there was one exchange that grabbed my attention above all others. Chip Scoggins (Star Tribune) asked Coyle how the pandemic and the University’s financial squeeze will affect the search for the next men’s head basketball coach. At that point, the Minnesota Athletic Director went on the campaign trail and he didn’t sound like someone unwilling to spend money.

Mark Coyle doesn't sound like a dude who hires head coaches because they're cheaper than other options. #Gophers pic.twitter.com/KtyqsXubIJ

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) March 17, 2021

“We feel that we have a great opportunity here at the University of Minnesota. Chip, you see it personally at Athlete’s Village and what this facility has turned out to be. It’s given us a huge, huge boost for our department. In terms of who we go out and hire, we want to be very competitive in our market. As I said earlier, we feel like we can compete in the best conference in America, the Big Ten conference. So again, we’ll be very competitive with our salary to find the next best right fit for our program.”

Mark Coyle

What’s it going to take?

Legendary Minnesota sportscaster, Joe Schmit (KSTP, CH. 5), had the next question. He asked Mark Coyle what it’s going to take for the Gophers to get back to winning Big Ten championships, which they haven’t done since 1982. At that point, Coyle doubled down on his expectations for the men’s basketball program and whoever he hires as the next head coach.

“I did not come to Minnesota to be .500. I am very aware that it’s been since 1982 and there is no reason why we can’t compete at a high level. I’ve been very blessed. I had a chance to be at the University of Kentucky for 7 years, be around that basketball program. I had a chance to be around Syracuse and Coach Beheim and that program for the one year I was at Syracuse. Again, I’ve been very fortunate to see it at a high, high level. And we have the pieces in place here at Minnesota. We’ve got great facilities. We’ve got Williams Arena, a historic facility.

And based on the calls that I started to receive last night, as I was watching our Men’s hockey team beat Michigan in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the calls that I received this morning. There’s great interest in this opportunity because everything is in place. We have a great academic institution. Again, we feel very optimistic about the opportunities we have in front of us and we feel like we’ll get a great coach for this program.”

Mark Coyle

Put The U’s money where your mouth is, Mark.

Those are some pretty big-dollar words for an AD who couldn’t announce the firing of Pitino until he found another school to take Richard as a head coach and pay his minimal $1.75 million buyout. Now, the word around town is that Minnesota won’t go deep sea fishing for a power-5 coach who might be interested. Guys like Eric Musselman (Arkansas) or Mike Boynton (OK State) would cost $3 million or more per year to reel in. That’s rumored to be too steep of a price tag for what the U of M wants to spend. Musselman and Boynton currently make $2.5 million and $1.85 million respectively. Both will need significant raises to part with their current situation.

Pitino was making $2.4 million and most believe Minnesota is looking to save money, rather than spend more, with this next hire. They could easily do that by hiring one of many Mountain West candidates looking to move up in rank, most of which have heavy Minnesota ties and would be half the cost of the power-5 candidates listed above.

But, IF MARK COYLE WANTS TO MAKE A HIRE FOCUSED ON WINNING, he will hire (and pay) one of the two power-5 guys listed above. Musselman wins everywhere he goes, even Arkansas, and Mike Boynton landed Cade Cunningham at Oklahoma State. Obviously, both Muss and Boynton have higher qualifications than what I can write in a couple of sentences but just this paragraph alone makes either one a more qualified head coaching candidate than anyone winning games in the Mountain West.

Put up or shut up, Mark.

I love what Coyle had to say yesterday. But now it’s time to put up (the cash) or shut up. If you want to win basketball games in the best conference in the country, then you need to hire a coach who you know is ready for the bright lights of the Big Ten. No more fucking around. No more excuses. Open your wallet, flip middle fingers to the woke STrib reporters and U of M gymnasts nobody cares about and go pay for the men’s head basketball coach that this great Minnesota basketball fan base deserves.

We’re not talking $10 or even $5 million dollars extra per season. A couple million bucks means absolutely nothing to this department in the long run. Not when we’re talking about their second-biggest revenue generating sport.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

On Saturday night, Football Scoop reported that the University of Tennessee has honed in on and are “vetting” three candidates for their vacant head coaching job. PJ Fleck was named as one of those candidates and took most of the space in the “breaking news” piece done by Football Scoop.

The report has been confirmed over on GopherIllustrated.com (247Sports) by more than one person with sources from the Tennessee side of dealings, including Ryan Burns. Unsurprisingly, GI is also reporting that PJ Fleck picked up the phone when the University of Tennessee called him, too.

^{“Multiple college football sources confirmed to FootballScoop Saturday that Fleck, Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and SMU head coach Sonny Dykes are among those coaches being vetted for the Tennessee job. At least one of those coaches and his agent have reached out to gauge interest of assistant coaches around the country in a potential opportunity to join a staff on Rocky Top.” – FootballScoop.com}

It’s not surprising that the University of Tennessee is eyeballing PJ Fleck, and quite honestly, the job hire would make sense in a lot of ways. The Vols are facing recruiting sanctions, which PJ could use as a buffer to grow his program without being thrown out of his own boat too soon by SEC media and Tennessee fans/boosters.

The immediate effect he’d have on recruiting in SEC country would be felt like a wheelbarrow of bricks hitting them in the face. And Fleck motivates like no coach I’ve seen, all while running one of the tightest ships in the country.

If recruits came (they would), I have no doubt that success at Tennessee would soon follow.

But Fleck isn’t leaving.

Still, I’m convinced PJ Fleck will be coaching on the sidelines at the University of Minnesota this fall for a few reasons. The biggest one, being dollar dollar bills, ya’ll.

If I were a betting man, which I am, I’d say PJ and his Minnesota Gopher coaching staff are about to pad their bank accounts, possibly as soon as today or Monday, since Tennessee wants to make their hire in the next couple of days.

This shouldn’t upset any football fans in Minnesota. The raise is overdue, especially for his assistant staff.

Fleck’s Staff vs Rest of Big Ten

At $4.6 million per year, PJ Fleck currently sits as the 7th-highest paid head coach in the Big Ten conference and 24th most handsomely-paid in the country, according to USA Today. Meanwhile, the Gopher assistant pay pool sits pretty much tied for last place in the Big Ten at $3.6M.

Neither Penn State or Northwestern report their assistant pay pool (private schools) but, given that both are paying their head coaches more than what Fleck gets, I’m going to assume the same can be said for their assistants.

Salaries are decided by the free market

You might not believe PJ Fleck is worth a certain dollar figure every season and you might think that college football coaches are vastly overpaid. But your opinion doesn’t matter and neither should Patrick Reusse’s. What does matter, just like most jobs in this great country, is what a coach can get paid on the free market.

In 2020, Tennessee paid HC Jeremy Pruitt $3.8M, which was good for 30th in the nation and less than what Fleck made here. The assistant pay pool, however, ranked in the national top-10 at $6.3M.

PJ Fleck’s buyout, should he decide to leave Minnesota, dropped from $10 million to $5 million when the calendar turned to 2021, make it easier for Tennessee to pry him away.

Still, the University of Tennessee has never paid a head coach obscene amounts of money. Lane Kiffin made $2 million in his one season (2009). Butch Jones made $3.6 million when he started and eventually worked that over $4.0 million.

Obviously, the low-tiered SEC head coaching salaries will have to change with this next hire, if the Vols are serious about contending in the SEC. But I don’t expect their offer to Fleck was anything crazy (maybe a dash over $5M/yr).

Just a small bump for Fleck should do the trick

He’s already making $4.6M/yr at Minnesota so a small bump in pay for PJ and a bigger one for his underpaid assistants should easily squash this Tennessee grab and go attempt.

If President Joan Gable and AD Mark Coyle can’t get an additional $500K for PJ ($5.1M total) and a $1M increase for his assistant pay pool ($4.6M total), I’d be very disappointed.

Those raises would put Fleck in swinging range of any Big Ten coach not standing on a Michigan or Ohio State sideline, and it would bump his assistant pay pool to a competitive number within Big Ten West contenders.

The Minnesota Gopher football program brings in over $100 million in revenue every (non-pandemic) year. Think about how much that number has gone up since PJ Fleck dropped into Minneapolis. Think about how much it’d drop without him. That’s the opposite of what the school needs as they look to recoup 2020-21 losses.

Some sports just matter more. Get over it.

I don’t care about the sports that were cut earlier this year and nobody really does. The outcries are all fake. If smaller university sports cared about staying on campus, they would give PJ Fleck as much money as he wants.

The better the football program, the more money made by the athletic department. If more money is made by the athletic department, it’s less likely other sports get cut AND Title IX dictates that every sport gets a bigger chunk of that additional cash.

We all know that these smaller sports aren’t going to make any money for themselves…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan