Minnesota, coach P.J. Fleck agree to new 7-year, $42 million deal: Sources

Minnesota and football coach P.J. Fleck have agreed to a new contract valued at $42 million over seven years, according to multiple sources involved in the negotiations. Here’s what you need to know:

Fleck has a 43-27 record with three bowl game appearances across six seasons with Minnesota.
He holds the most wins by a Golden Gophers coach through six seasons since 1905.
Fleck won the 2019 Big Ten Coach of the Year award after the Gophers went 11-2.
The new contract gives Fleck an increase of $1 million per year over his previous deal.

Sources: Minnesota and head coach P.J. Fleck have agreed to a new seven-year, $42 million deal, an increase of $1 million per year over his previous deal.
Fleck has the most wins by a Gophers coach through six seasons since 1905.
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 7, 2022

Backstory

Minnesota hired Fleck in January 2017 after he spent four seasons coaching Western Michigan, where he was 30-22 overall and 21-11 in the Mid-American Conference. In 2016, he led the Broncos to their first MAC Championship since 1988.

In Fleck’s second season at Minnesota, the Gophers beat rival Wisconsin for the first time since 2003 and for the first time on the road since 1994 to claim Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The team went on to beat Georgia Tech in the Quick Lane Bowl, Minnesota’s first bowl appearance under Fleck.

The program ascended to new heights in 2019 by winning 11 games, including seven conference games. The Gophers finished the year by beating Auburn in the Outback Bowl and ranking No. 10 in the final AP poll of the season. Fleck was a finalist for multiple national coaching awards that year.

After going 3-4 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Minnesota has finished at 9-4 (2021) and 8-4 (2022) in the past two seasons. The Gophers will play Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium later this month.

Why give Fleck another raise?

It’s Fleck’s fourth extension and raise in six years since taking over the Gophers. His name has been thrown around for other jobs in the past, giving him some additional leverage to go along with his success on the field.

And with the Big Ten’s new TV dealing coming into place next year, the resources in the conference continue to increase, which means coaching pay also continues to rise. Mel Tucker’s 10-year, $95 million guaranteed contract at Michigan State reset the coaching market last year, and more Big Ten schools have begun to give out big contracts or big raises. – Vannini