Souhan: P.J. Fleck's contract extension gives Gophers football program some stability

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BleedGopher

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per Souhan:

Coyle and Fleck got the deal done a handful of days before the biggest game on campus in decades. On Saturday, Fleck’s undefeated, 13th-ranked Gophers will face undefeated, fifth-ranked Penn State at TCF Bank Stadium.

Without the contract announcement, one of this week’s story lines would have been Fleck’s name being circulated in rumors about the Florida State job — and probably every other Power Five conference job that will come open in the next few months.

This contract quashes that talk this week, and for the next year, because it would cost another school $10 million to buy Fleck out of his Minnesota contract during its first year — in 2020. Fleck’s players and bosses can go about their business unworried about the possibility of his leaving.

For a year.

The doubt is in the details.

http://www.startribune.com/p-j-flec...rs-football-program-some-stability/564528702/

Go Gophers!!
 

Well.... for a year.

Still a good move IMO but this is hardly a long term deal in terms of keeping him for sure.

But good for keeping croots, keeping other coaches.
 

Souhan just can't help himself.

And as I said in another thread, listen to Fleck, really listen to what he is saying, what he aspires to be, who he aspires to be like. There are no guarantees with anything in athletics but I truly believe that if the U treats Fleck and his staff fairly they will be here for the long haul.

For the majority of us we will never see this kind of money in our lifetime so to us it is all about the $$$ and how much a school is willing to pay. For someone making that kind of money, they have the luxury of actually taking other factors into account as well.

Minnesota can offer Fleck the things he truly wants. A place that will be patient and give him a chance to build things his way. A place that will buy into his brand and embrace it. A power 5 job in the Big Ten with lots of resources at its disposal. As long as he believes he can win here there is ZERO reason for him to look elsewhere. He can make a crap ton of money, with relatively good job security (in a profession where that is almost non-existant these days), coaching the the conference he grew up following. He can be a legend here, along the lines of a Hayden Fry, Barry Alvarez....that above all else seems to be something he really wants. Very few places offer that opportunity.....Minnesota is one that can.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Souhan just can't help himself.

And as I said in another thread, listen to Fleck, really listen to what he is saying, what he aspires to be, who he aspires to be like. There are no guarantees with anything in athletics but I truly believe that if the U treats Fleck and his staff fairly they will be here for the long haul.

For the majority of us we will never see this kind of money in our lifetime so to us it is all about the $$$ and how much a school is willing to pay. For someone making that kind of money, they have the luxury of actually taking other factors into account as well.

Minnesota can offer Fleck the things he truly wants. A place that will be patient and give him a chance to build things his way. A place that will buy into his brand and embrace it. A power 5 job in the Big Ten with lots of resources at its disposal. As long as he believes he can win here there is ZERO reason for him to look elsewhere. He can make a crap ton of money, with relatively good job security (in a profession where that is almost non-existant these days), coaching the the conference he grew up following. He can be a legend here, along the lines of a Hayden Fry, Barry Alvarez....that above all else seems to be something he really wants. Very few places offer that opportunity.....Minnesota is one that can.
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It also seems like he has a good relationship with Coyle and they are on the same page with what the general plan is for the program. Having that type of buy in and support from the administration makes it a lot harder to jump to an unknown new program, even if it may appear better on paper.

As long as Coyle and Fleck are happy working together I don't expect we will see Fleck leave.
 

BeerFueledFF said:
It also seems like he has a good relationship with Coyle and they are on the same page with what the general plan is for the program. Having that type of buy in and support from the administration makes it a lot harder to jump to an unknown new program, even if it may appear better on paper.

As long as Coyle and Fleck are happy working together I don't expect we will see Fleck leave.
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The Coach/AD relationship is huge and I would agree that Fleck and Coyle seem to be very much on the same page and to get along really well. If a Coach feels like the AD is going to support them it certainly makes them less inclined to go hunting for something else.
 


BeerFueledFF said:
It also seems like he has a good relationship with Coyle and they are on the same page with what the general plan is for the program. Having that type of buy in and support from the administration makes it a lot harder to jump to an unknown new program, even if it may appear better on paper.

As long as Coyle and Fleck are happy working together I don't expect we will see Fleck leave.
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Given it was the collapse of support from the top administration that destroyed the historic legacy of Minnesota football...starting in the late 1960s and persisting into the 1990s...even for the Holtz period...this is a huge piece of everything, including keeping a quality HC.

AD Coyle is starting to really break down my lingering disdain for him. This is probably not a bad thing.
 

Next year you extend Flecks contract another year and the buy out is still $10 million. The media has to bleat about something - Fleck & Coyle have essentially removed 90% of what the media has been bellering about regarding Gopher football for the last 20 years - wins, clean program, contracts. If Fleck was thinking about leaving or really even considering it, he had every option to test the waters at the end of the season by not signing the contract yesterday! He could have waited 4 weeks and likely had several suitors lining up at the door - the fact that he chose not to speaks volumes. This question of his commitment to the UofM is put to bed. Anyone suggesting otherwise is an idiot.
 

watertown 1987 guy n said:
Next year you extend Flecks contract another year and the buy out is still $10 million. The media has to bleat about something - Fleck & Coyle have essentially removed 90% of what the media has been bellering about regarding Gopher football for the last 20 years - wins, clean program, contracts. If Fleck was thinking about leaving or really even considering it, he had every option to test the waters at the end of the season by not signing the contract yesterday! He could have waited 4 weeks and likely had several suitors lining up at the door - the fact that he chose not to speaks volumes. This question of his commitment to the UofM is put to bed. Anyone suggesting otherwise is an idiot.
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PJ doesn't have any of the current teams who are or might be looking on his list of schools he would go to, so signing the contract now makes sense.
A little over a year from now when the buyout drops considerably, a school or team in the NFL, that he does have on his list might open up and he could decide to leave prior to getting contract extension on top of the extension he is getting now.
I don't believe signing him now was a bad move, but to say that because he signed this deal means he's committed to the U of M for a long time isn't a sure thing either.
 

If the buyout is $10M in the first year, what is it right now? :confused:
 



GFBfan said:
PJ doesn't have any of the current teams who are or might be looking on his list of schools he would go to, so signing the contract now makes sense.
A little over a year from now when the buyout drops considerably, a school or team in the NFL, that he does have on his list might open up and he could decide to leave prior to getting contract extension on top of the extension he is getting now.
I don't believe signing him now was a bad move, but to say that because he signed this deal means he's committed to the U of M for a long time isn't a sure thing either.
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There are never guarantees but if you watch how Fleck is handling things and listen to what he is saying he doesn't give off any impression of someone with one foot out the door just waiting on the next big opportunity.

Fanbase needs to stop thinking of us as have nots and start looking at us as a Big Ten school that just dumped a bunch of money into state of the art facilities and has an athletic director that seems to get it and is willing to do what needs to be done in order to have our main programs compete on the National level.

Minnesota is a big time football job, Fleck sees it that way, maybe those in the fanbase that still think he is out the door in the next year or so regardless of what happened yesterday should start listening.
 

MNVCGUY said:
There are never guarantees but if you watch how Fleck is handling things and listen to what he is saying he doesn't give off any impression of someone with one foot out the door just waiting on the next big opportunity.

Fanbase needs to stop thinking of us as have nots and start looking at us as a Big Ten school that just dumped a bunch of money into state of the art facilities and has an athletic director that seems to get it and is willing to do what needs to be done in order to have our main programs compete on the National level.

Minnesota is a big time football job, Fleck sees it that way, maybe those in the fanbase that still think he is out the door in the next year or so regardless of what happened yesterday should start listening.
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I appreciate your diligence (sincerely) in continuing to post this and repeatedly driving the message home. Of course you are right and I agree with everything you say. And yet, many in our own fanbase just won't let themselves believe that he's here for the long haul, so it's not surprising that this garbage keeps coming up on a national scale.
 

dpodoll68 said:
I appreciate your diligence (sincerely) in continuing to post this and repeatedly driving the message home. Of course you are right and I agree with everything you say. And yet, many in our own fanbase just won't let themselves believe that he's here for the long haul, so it's not surprising that this garbage keeps coming up on a national scale.
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Yep the program's lack of sustained relevance since the 60s have killed our National reputation and the fanbase is still so jaded from what Holtz did over 30 years ago that they can't see us as anything other than a stepping stone school. But maybe, just maybe those things are starting to change around here.....

And on a side note, this may be one of the first times the two of us have been on the same page.....kind of scary.... :)
 

MNVCGUY said:
There are never guarantees but if you watch how Fleck is handling things and listen to what he is saying he doesn't give off any impression of someone with one foot out the door just waiting on the next big opportunity.

Fanbase needs to stop thinking of us as have nots and start looking at us as a Big Ten school that just dumped a bunch of money into state of the art facilities and has an athletic director that seems to get it and is willing to do what needs to be done in order to have our main programs compete on the National level.

Minnesota is a big time football job, Fleck sees it that way, maybe those in the fanbase that still think he is out the door in the next year or so regardless of what happened yesterday should start listening.
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I agree with what you say here.
PJ was hired at the absolute best time for the U. We finally had started to commit to being a top flight program with the upgrade in facilities, specifically the athletes village and we have also done so financially with coaches being paid what the going rate is. None of that has happened here for a long time.
 



Otis said:
If the buyout is $10M in the first year, what is it right now? :confused:
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$5M buyout in 2019, $4M in 2020 under the old contract. $1M for each year remaining on the deal, which ran through 2023.

I hate to say this, but Souhan does have a point. These contracts are written very carefully. every word and number is scrutinized.

and the point is valid - 1st year of the new deal, the buyout is $10M. 2nd year $4.5M. 3rd year of deal, buyout down to $3M.

The buyout was structured that way for a reason. don't know if it came from the U, or from Fleck's agent. But there is a reason for the big buyout in year 1 and the big drop in year two. If the buyout is being cited as a reason that other schools won't come after Fleck, that works for the 1st year of the deal. But after that, the buyout is virtually the same as his old contract.

as I've said, this is the price you pay for having a successful young coach. Other schools will show interest. If Helmet School X decides in 2021 that they want Fleck badly enough, a $4.5M buyout will not stop them from making an offer. That does not mean that Fleck will leave or wants to leave. It just means that, after 2020, the buyout is not big enough to stop other teams from showing interest.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
As I've said, this is the price you pay for having a successful young coach. Other schools will show interest. If Helmet School X decides in 2021 that they want Fleck badly enough, a $4.5M buyout will not stop them from making an offer. That does not mean that Fleck will leave or wants to leave. It just means that, after 2020, the buyout is not big enough so he can renegotiate if he wins out this year and has a great next year to be a top 10 paid coach in the country.
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FIFY
 

Interesting because I believe a year ago (perhaps even to the day) Souhan's column headline was something similar to "Gophers are as lost as ever under Fleck"
 

dpodoll68 said:
I appreciate your diligence (sincerely) in continuing to post this and repeatedly driving the message home. Of course you are right and I agree with everything you say. And yet, many in our own fanbase just won't let themselves believe that he's here for the long haul, so it's not surprising that this garbage keeps coming up on a national scale.
Click to expand...

Agree. Literally, in the 137 years of Gopher football one coach out of ~30 head or co-head coaches has been hired away. One. And yet, every time a coach here wins more than 5 games they are going to go elsewhere.

That said, I've said it before, hopefully this will be the last time. There is no contract that "locks-up" P.J. Fleck if he wants to go somewhere else. FSU paid $20 million to fire Willie Taggart. Do you really think if they are convinced RTB is the answer that they will let $4.6 mill a year and a $10 mill buyout stop them?

At some point, you have to pay him "appropriately", and give him the tools he needs to win, and make this job as good as it can be. And trust that he wants to be here. If he doesn't, he will leave, regardless of the contract. There will always be someone else willing and able to pay more, if that's what he wants.

To me, the fact this got done in the season puts the final nail in the coffin to Fleck being willing to leave. Otherwise why not try to get into a bidding war? Why not wait until after the season? There'd be no reason to kick the can down the road for a year when there as many good opportunities as there are this year if that's what Fleck wanted.
 

I can not imagine Fleck as an NFL head coach. I can not even imagine him at an arrogent college power.
 

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