Report: Minnesota, PJ Fleck agree to seven-year, $42 million extension

PJ Fleck will be rowing his boat at Minnesota for years to come.

The charismatic head coach and the Golden Gophers have agreed to a lengthy contract extension, per Matt Fortuna of The Athletic.

“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,” tweeted Fortuna. “Fleck has the most wins by a Gophers coach through six seasons since 1905.”

Over his time with Minnesota, Fleck has turned Minnesota into one of the top programs in the Big Ten West. As many of the teams within their division see big change among their coaching staff — Wisconsin hiring Luke Fickell, Nebraska bringing on Matt Rhule and Purdue losing Jeff Brohm — the Golden Gophers are committing to Fleck and making sure they don’t lose him anytime soon.

Since Fleck took over the program, Minnesota has amassed a record of 73-49, capturing three bowl victories over that time. This past season the Golden Gophers had a record of 8-4, and are currently preparing for a Pinstripe Bowl showdown with the Syracuse Orange.

More on PJ Fleck, Minnesota Golden Gophers

Moreover, PJ Fleck played his college football at Northwestern before becoming an assistant coach, his first opportunity coming at Ohio State as a graduate assistant in 2006.

Afterwards, Fleck was the wide receivers coach at Northern Illinois for three seasons before Greg Schiano brought him onto his staff at Rutgers, where he then followed the Scarlet Knights leader to the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 2013, Fleck was hired to lead the Western Michigan Broncos, which he parlayed into the Minnesota job in 2017 after leading them to the Cotton Bowl.

Since, Fleck has worked out beautifully for the Golden Gophers, and Minnesota will be elated to have him around for years to come.