5 candidates to replace Kevin Sumlin at Arizona

4. P.J. Fleck, Minnesota Head Coach

Put this one in the category of “possible, but not necessarily likely.” Fleck has the Golden Gophers at 8-0 and ranked 13th in the country, ahead of a big home date against Penn State on Nov. 9. So he’ll be a hot commodity for bigger jobs, just as he was after a 13-1 2016 season at Western Michigan that landed him at Minnesota fairly late in the typical coaching carousel.

Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle has confirmed he’s discussing a new contract with Fleck, which would surely make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the Big Ten. In a radio interview this past week (h/t to Football Scoop), Fleck spoke about his future.

"My future at Minnesota is to make sure Minnesota is getting the attention that it deserves getting on a national level for our team, for our coaches, for our state, for our Twin Cities area,” Fleck told WCCO. “That’s my responsibility. And I know Heather [Fleck, his wife] and I absolutely love it here, and we’re very grateful to our fans and very grateful to our administration and very grateful to our community that have accepted us with open arms. “And we’ve got a lot of things to finish here this year."

This year. That seems to suggest Fleck is open to “rowing the boat” out of the Twin Cities after the season, assuming there are better options out there. Arizona is not really a better option than Minnesota right now, weather aside, but Fleck could be on the radar in Tucson if Sumlin is fired.