Emptying out the University of Minnesota and college football notebook in today’s column.
Does P.J. Fleck soon receive a contract extension? The Minnesota head coach has been rewarded with additional years on his contract every year except the COVID- shortened season of 2020.
Fleck, named head coach at Minnesota in January of 2017, received his most recent extension about a year ago. The deal reportedly not only gives him security through 2028 but raised his compensation to $5 million annually.
Athletic director Mark Coyle, who hired Fleck and initiated the multiple extensions and raises, must make the call about a revised contract. On the one hand, Coyle might view the past season as disappointing because of preseason expectations the Gophers could win their first ever Big Ten West Division title, but they came up short despite a very favorable schedule. Minnesota’s strength of schedule ranked No. 126 out of 131 FBS teams, per NCAA statistics.
On the other hand, the Gophers finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in league play. The winning record in Big Ten games is the third straight for Fleck in a full season (2019, 2021 and 2022). A win in the upcoming bowl game will give Minnesota a nine win year, equaling last year’s record and following the 11-2 mark in 2019.
The Gophers have defeated Wisconsin in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-1994. Last Saturday’s win left Fleck with a 28-10 overall record in the three last full seasons. The last four years his conference record is 21-13, the best such run by a Gopher coach since Murray Warmath in the 1960s.
Contract extensions are frequently made as a gesture of faith in the coach, sending an important message about job security that gets out into the recruiting world. Not giving Fleck an extension now, even if it doesn’t include a raise, will raise eyebrows a bit.
It’s not like the Gophers, as a member of the TV revenue rich Big Ten, don’t have money in the athletic department. While Fleck’s compensation could remain the same next year, raises for at least some assistants will be appropriate.
Deserving contract adjustments are defensive coordinator Joe Rossi and running backs coach Kenni Burns. Word is Rossi almost left Minnesota for Notre Dame last offseason. His defenses consistently rank among the best in the Big Ten and statistically stand out nationally. Burns also excels as a coach and his recruiting would be missed if he were to go elsewhere. If either is offered a head coaching job, they likely would be gone from Fleck’s staff.
With the regular season over, meetings with players are being held to evaluate future plans. Fans think about recruiting high school players and players from the transfer portal but in today’s college football it’s necessary to recruit players on the existing roster.
“You always have to constantly be recruiting your own players in a day and age that tampering is rampant,” GopherIllustrated.com recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners. “The NCAA doesn’t do anything about it (tampering) and so that’s the most important job. P.J. is well aware of that, his staff is well aware of that, but it’s incredibly important in the NIL (and transfer) era where it’s legal to an extent to pay players.”
The transfer portal opens next Monday and don’t think there isn’t backchanneling already from schools and players. “You’re going to see some eye-opening moves in those first 48 hours when the portal opens,” Burns predicted.
The transfer portal, allowing athletes to switch schools and have immediate eligibility, debuted four years ago. The upcoming period is predicted to have more action than ever. The portal period starts December 5 and closes January 18, before opening again for a couple of weeks in May.
“…It will be more wild than it’s ever been, I promise you that,” Fleck said last week. “Not just here, just around the country.”
The Gophers could use talent and experience from the portal at most positions. “We have a general idea of what we want to do and how we want to attack that (the portal),” Fleck said. “We’re still going to be a mixture of high school kids and the portal. ..”
Eventually impacting recruiting in a big way could be Dinkytown Athletes, the new collective that facilitates Name, Image and Likeness opportunities and financial compensation for Gopher athletes including football players. Fans, boosters and businesses can benefit athletes through activities such as endorsements and personal appearances. Gophers’ All-American running back Mo Ibrahim has a NIL deal with Gushers, the fruit-flavored snack from General Mills.
Dinkytown Athletes launched earlier this fall. “They’re off to a good start but if they’re going to sustain (success)…there’s not going to be a big booster that’s going to save them like at Michigan State, like the Rocket Mortgage folks,” Burns said. “It’s got to be the common fan (giving money) that’s got to be able to save them.”
Co-founders of Dinkytown Athletes are Rob Gag and former U offensive lineman Derek Burns. The two are guests on the latest Behind the Game show and talk in-depth about their collective with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. https://youtu.be/jneDiCjYCkY
The Gophers will need to upgrade their talent to be competitive in the near and more distant future. Next season Minnesota will play two of the best teams in the nation, hosting Michigan in Minneapolis and playing Ohio State in Columbus. The Gophers also play ACC power North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
It’s likely next year will be the last for two divisions in the Big Ten. The West has been inferior for years and expectation is that in 2024, with west coast powers USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten, the conference will eliminate divisions and have a 16-team race for the league championship. The Big Ten has the potential to seriously rival the SEC as college football’s best conference.
Right now the best thing the Gophers have going for with personnel is redshirt freshman quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. At the game’s most important position, Kaliakmanis could be the best QB talent at Minnesota since All-American Sandy Stephens played his last game in the 1962 Rose Bowl.
Without Kaliakmanis’ arm, legs and poise last Saturday, the Gophers likely wouldn’t have defeated the Badgers who were superior in line play on offense and defense. Kaliakmanis won the day against Wisconsin junior Graham Mertz, setting career highs in completions (19), attempts (29), yards (319) and touchdowns (2). Kaliakmanis completed nine passes of 15 yards or more and averaged 16.8 yards per completion.
With the college football regular season over for many teams, multiple national stats stand out for Minnesota. Ibrahim is second nationally in average rushing yards per game at 144.9, third in points per game at 10.4 and fourth in total rushing yards with 1,594.
Minnesota is No. 2 in the country in time of possession, with an average of 35.14 minutes per game. The Gophers’ defense is No. 5 in scoring defense, allowing 13.3 points per game. Minnesota is No. 3 in fewest penalties per game, allowing 3.67.
The Gophers averaged 45,019 fans per home game, compared to 46,159 in 2021.
The Vikings, BTW, might want to draft Michigan placekicker Jake Moody to replace Greg Joseph. Moody is second in the country in scoring per game at 10.9, converted 26 of 32 field goals and is a perfect 53 of 53 on extra points.
The Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game will be played December 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Eight players headed for the Gophers’ program have been announced as participants: Ethan Carrier, Detroit Lakes; Alex Elliott, Hutchinson; Greg Johnson, Prior Lake; Garrison Monroe, Shakopee; Martin Owusu, Prior Lake; Max Shikenjanski, Stillwater; Reese Tripp, Kasson-Mantorville; Jerome Williams, Osseo.
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