Minnesota football: PJ Fleck could find himself on hot seat amid allegations

Not many coaches have been program builders the way PJ Fleck has at both Western Michigan and with Minnesota football.

In his first year with Western, he went 1-11 and by year four, the Broncos were 13-1 with a Cotton Bowl appearance. They didn’t win fewer than eight games in any of his final three seasons with the program before leaving for Minnesota.

With the Gophers, he was tasked with turning around a dormant program and it only took him three years to do so. He went 5-7 in year one and then 11-2 in year three.

Since then (not counting the COVID year), he has two 9-4 seasons. He’s a solid 44-27 at Minnesota and 26-26 in Big Ten play. He’s also 4-0 in bowl games.

But now he’s in hot water and could be on the hot seat.

How can a coach with that kind of success at Minnesota possibly be on the hot seat? Well, just like Pat Fitzgerald, allegations have arisen about the poor way he runs his program.

Minnesota football may have a decision to make

According to Front Office Sports who interviewed some former players, Fleck runs a toxic program and they’re alleging that he would use harsh workouts as punishments for players.

Nothing has come out yet about any hazing incidents other than the harsh workouts and a toxic culture, but this could put the Gophers in a tough spot. Do they risk hurting the culture of the football program and steering recruits away or do they do what Northwestern did?

As of right now, this probably isn’t enough to give Fleck the Fitzgerald treatment, but no recruit will want to hear “cult-like atmosphere” when hearing about the program.

I think Fleck survives this, but it’s yet another black eye for a prominent coach.

Big Ten Media Days just got a lot more interesting.