According to reports, P.J. Fleck is Minnesota’s No. 1 option to replace Tracy Claeys as the program’s head football coach.
Row the boat. While P.J. Fleck may have to leave that motto behind at Western Michigan, the Broncos’ head coach could be taking the Minnesota Golden Gophers’ job soon enough.
According to a report from Joe Schmit of KSTP.com, the Gophers could be close to landing their next guy. Just days after letting Tracy Claeys go and looking like a program in shambles, Minnesota could land one of the hottest head coaching commodities in the country.
If you aren’t familiar with Fleck, you may not have paid close enough attention to college football this season. He led Western Michigan to a 13-0 record with a MAC title before getting an invite to the Cotton Bowl. His Broncos fell just short against Wisconsin, finishing 13-1.
The word on the street before this was that Fleck and Western were talking extension which would keep him in Kalamazoo, Mich., for the next few years, at least. However, after Minnesota fired Claeys, it seemed like an intriguing opportunity for the young head coach.
Minnesota could send shock waves across the Big Ten landscape if it could land the head coach who, at age 36, is one of the youngest and brightest minds the game has to offer.
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Earlier on Thursday, it was rumored that former LSU head coach Les Miles was meeting with Minnesota to talk about the vacant position, but it seems like Fleck was higher up on the Golden Gophers’ board.
Fleck took Western Michigan from a 1-11 team in 2013 to two straight 8-5 campaigns in 2014-15 and then a 13-1 season in 2016. He has been on the rise for the past few years and Power Five programs seem to like his fiery attitude.
Imagine a Big Ten loaded with coaches like Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Mark Dantonio, James Franklin, Paul Chryst, Kirk Ferentz and potentially Fleck. Scary.