Highlights of P.J. Fleck's new Gophers contract

Fleck's salary, buyout and assistant coaches' salary pool will all change under the terms of his new deal. Here's how.

November 4, 2021 at 12:32AM
Gophers coach P.J. Fleck’s new contract calls for a $10 million buyout if he leaves before the end of 2022 and $7 million if he leaves before the end of 2023. (Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck signed a new seven-year, $35 million contract Monday which will take effect next season and runs through Dec. 31, 2028. A look at the key points:

Salary

Fleck will make $4.65 million in salary this season under the terms of his previous contract. That deal called for a $50,000 annual raise, so he was slated to make $4.9 million in the final year, 2026.

The new deal will pay Fleck an even $5 million each year between 2022 and 2028, with no built-in raises.

Buyout

Fleck's previous contract called for a $10 million buyout if he left during the first year (2020) and the buyout dropped to $4.5 million in Year 2 and $3 million in Year 3 and 4. Now, the price would be steeper to leave. Here are the buyout numbers:

2022 — $10 million

2023 — $7 million

2024 — $5 million

2025 — $4 million

2026 — $3 million

2027 — $2 million

2028 — $0

Coaches/staff

Fleck's new contract stipulates that he'll have $350,000 to add to his assistant coaches' and other staff salaries for next season. The deal he signed in 2019 was even more bountiful for his assistants, as he had $1.05 million to add to their salaries in 2020 and an additional $200,000 this year.

Incentives

From Fleck's previous contract

Big Ten title: $150,000

Win or tie for division title: $100,000

National Coach of the Year award (from list agreed upon by Fleck and the athletic director): $100,000

Big 10 Coach of the Year award from Big Ten coaches or media: $50,000

New incentives:

Eight regular-season wins: $100,000

Nine regular-season wins: $100,000

(Regular-season wins do not include Big Ten title or bowl games.)

about the writer

about the writer

Joe Christensen

Sports team leader

Joe Christensen, a Minnesota Star Tribune sports team leader, graduated from the University of Minnesota and spent 15 years covering Major League Baseball, including stops at the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Baltimore Sun. He joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2005 and spent four years covering Gophers football.

See More

More from Gophers

card image

Amisha Ramlall burst on to the recruiting scene last season as a freshman and colleges, including the Gophers, quickly took notice.

card image