PJ Fleck confirms he will remain at Minnesota amid UCLA job speculation

When Chip Kelly decided to leave UCLA in favor of the Ohio State offensive coordinator job, a Big Ten head coaching role became open. A few names have been tied to replacing Kelly and one of those came from within the conference — Minnesota‘s PJ Fleck. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic named Fleck a candidate for the Bruins on Saturday.

A few hours later, Fleck put an end to the speculation by saying he would remain at Minnesota for the 2024 season. He sent the message out while on vacation with his wife during one of college football’s dead periods. But when he gets back to work, it will be with Minnesota, not UCLA.

“Honored to be the Head Football Coach at Minnesota!! Ready for an ELITE 2024 season!! Now, back to our wedding anniversary trip!! #RTB #HYPRR #SkiUMah,” Fleck said.

Fleck just wrapped up his seventh season with Minnesota and will enter his eighth this fall. The Gophers have made bowl games in five of them and largely have been considered a winning program. An 11-2 record back in 2019 was the peak with a Big Ten Championship game appearance.

There are not too many connections to the West Coast on Fleck’s resume. His two seasons in the NFL were spent with the San Francisco 49ers as the wide receiver. As far as his coaching career, mostly everything has been in the Midwest.

Whoever UCLA winds up hiring, Fleck will be on the opposing sideline on Oct. 12 from the Rose Bowl. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1978. Most likely a routine Big Ten matchup could have meant a whole lot more if Fleck did pursue the UCLA job.

UCLA ends Chip Kelly era abruptly with Ohio State OC opening

There was speculation surrounding Kelly’s job status as the 2023 regular season closed, with reports stating UCLA would be moving on. However, they never made it official and Kelly was thought to be staying for 2024.

But Kelly began being linked to NFL offensive coordinator jobs, potentially wanting to get out of college football. Las Vegas, Seattle, and Washington were all reportedly interested in Kelly as a candidate.

Things changed when Bill O’Brien left Ohio State after not too long, accepting the Boston College head coaching job. Kelly decided to move back into the assistant world within the conference and will call the Buckeyes’ offense next season.