PJ Fleck explains Fleck Bank, fires back at allegations of physical punishment

In the wake of allegations by former Minnesota players that coach PJ Fleck cultivated a hostile working environment for the team, the Minnesota head coach has struck back, denying the existence of a “Fleck Bank” and more.

Fleck called the allegations baseless on Thursday morning, then expanded on stage in front of a room full of reporters at the Big Ten Media Days.

“These allegations are baseless,” Fleck said. “We have full support of our athletic director Mark Coyle and our university leadership. This is a similar story that gets peddled every single year and the majority of the players have been dismissed or removed from our football team.”

One of the interesting allegations in the piece by Front Office Sports that detailed the alleged offenses was the use of a “Fleck Bank” as a means of storing up goodwill with the team.

Players that stored up enough coins could reportedly get away with positive drug tests and other violations of team rules.

Fleck vehemently denied that there was ever anything tangible of the sort, insisting instead that the “Fleck Bank” was simply an analogy.

“Yeah, first of all the Fleck bank mostly used in 2017 and ’18 was an analogy in a team meeting, talking about the more you invest in the program, the better experience you’re going to get out of it,” Fleck said. “And as a head football coach when you come in and you don’t know anybody, the guys that do really good things are going to have a really good experience. If you’re not doing all the right things you’re probably not going to have a great experience.

“There was no currency every exchanged. There was no coins that ever existed. It was an analogy simply to explain investment for life, a life lesson of investment. Simply that.”

Fleck twice referenced the athletic department taking over disciplinary issues from the football team, though it’s unclear why that might have occurred or precisely when.

The head coach was adamant that there was no corporal punishment in the program.

“No one ever got out of any type of punishment for that, and just so everybody knows, in punishing our football team, that word punishing, in fact our athletic department has taken over our disciplinary type actions,” Fleck said. “We do not use physical activity to discipline our players at the University of Minnesota, and we have never done that.”

Fleck outlined some of the disciplinary measures the program does mete out.

“Our players do things like they wake up early and they clean the weight room,” he said. “And whatever you did, you watch a video on that. If you were late to class, you watch a video on tardiness. You then write your professor a letter. Those are the disciplines we actually have within our program that our athletic department changed their policies and made sure that no physical activity of any sort could be used as punishment based on what we created as a football team.”

The Minnesota head coach also offered further defense of his program, outlining the exact procedures that are available to student-athletes who wish to report something untoward going on in the program.

There are multiple avenues to do so, and Fleck says none have been taken.

“We also have around a half dozen anonymous reporting avenues within our football program that players can go to if they have an issue,” Fleck said. “Protection For All, EOAA office, mental health support, SAC, leadership council and our athletic director Mark Coyle gives his phone number, his cell phone, to every single football player to call them if they have any issue,” Fleck said. “And to this date there have been zero claims on this issue. Zero.

“Our program and culture is proven to work on and off the field and is always done in a first-class manner. We’re one of the most transparent programs in the country. There are tons of testimonials from past, present and even future Gophers to support and prove that. My energy needs to be on the 2023 football team and that only and not the baseless allegations.”

Fleck’s time in front of reporters was relatively contained to his answer about the Fleck Bank, given the length of his answer.

But he assured everyone present it was not as reported in the Front Office Sports piece.

“That’s what the Fleck Bank was, it was strictly an analogy,” Fleck said. “And with all the other things that were reported, we have explanations on that as well.”