INDIANAPOLIS — Gophers coach P.J. Fleck pushed back on a report of player mistreatment in his program, saying his program does not use physical activity to discipline players.
“These allegations are baseless,” Fleck said during his news conference on Thursday morning at Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The media outlet Front Office Sports published a report Wednesday critical of Fleck’s program. Unnamed former players spoke of Fleck creating a “cult”-like culture with non-compliers subjected to punishable workouts and inequitable drug testing procedures. The report described “an environment fraught with intimidation and toxicity.”
“Our program has been proven to work, both on and off the field,” Fleck said.
In a statement Wednesday, Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle praised Fleck’s program, saying in part, “I always encourage all of our student-athletes, including every member of our football team, to reach out to me directly if they encounter any issues. To date, I have not heard from a single football student-athlete about the allegations raised in the reporter’s email.”
The report mentioned the “Fleck Bank” — in which players could earn “coins” to offset positive drug tests and other violations of team rules. Fleck denied that allegation, saying no one ever got out of type of punishment.
“First of all, the Fleck Bank, mostly used in 2017 and ’18, was an analogy in a team meeting, talking about more you invest in a program, the better experience you’re going to get out of it,” Fleck said. “As a head football coach when you come in and you don’t know anybody, the guys who 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 ever exchanged, and there were no coins ever existed.”
Fleck reiterated that the athletic department has taken over the disciplinary actions for all sports. “We do not use physical activity to discipline our players at the University of Minnesota, and we have never done that,” Fleck said. “Our players do things like they wake up early and clean the weight room. 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.”
Fleck added that allegations like the ones reported by Front Office Sports aren’t uncommon.
“This is a similar story that gets peddled every single year, and the majority of the players had been dismissed or removed from our football team,” he said.
Gophers players, past and present, came to Fleck’s defense on Twitter.
“This has to be satire,” former Gophers offensive lineman Axel Ruschmeyer tweeted, sarcastically adding, “I can’t believe I survived this toxic culture that forced me to be accountable, put the team first and gave me infinite resources to help me if I was struggling. So unbelievably soft, and remaining anonymous is even worse.” Ruschmeyer completed his eligibility in 2022.
Added redshirt junior defensive end Jah Joyner: “This is FAKE NEWS… The program literally changes your life on and especially off the field.”
Fleck is entering his seventh season as Gophers coach. His teams have a 44-27 record, including 9-4 marks the past two seasons and an 11-2 campaign in 2019 in which Minnesota finished No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll.