P.J. Fleck: I took a 'major pay cut' for Minnesota job instead of new WMU deal
The money made sense.
At Western Michigan, Fleck was the MAC’s highest-paid coach ever at $800,000 per year. Still, that wasn’t much compared to the $3.6 million Fleck will receive annually during his five-year deal at Minnesota.
But according to Fleck, that wasn’t the full story.
He told “The Jim Rome Show” on CBS that Western Michigan made him an extension offer even richer than Minnesota:
P.J. Fleck just said on Jim Rome that he took “a major pay cut” for the Minnesota job vs. possible WMU contract. “Which nobody knows."
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) April 6, 2017
There are a few things to take in there.
The obvious question is how Western Michigan could’ve possibly afforded to exceed Minnesota’s offer. Fleck was referring to long-term money. In other words, the Broncos could’ve offered him a 10-year contract worth $2 million annually ($20 million total), which technically would’ve been a richer deal.
But Fleck said that he took a “major pay cut” to accept Minnesota’s five-year deal worth $18 million total. A $2 million difference isn’t major. A 10-year, $30 million deal would’ve been considered a “major pay cut.”
How rich was the WMU deal exactly? We don’t know for sure.
That leads to the other question. Why was Fleck talking about that on a national appearance?
RELATED: Gophers OC tells story about walking out on introduction with P.J. Fleck
Perhaps it was an attempt to say that he doesn’t just run to wherever the money is. He did preface it by saying “it’s about the dream.” There was probably another way of saying that. By saying he took a “major pay cut,” both Minnesota and WMU sort of get thrown under the bus.
The Gophers signed Fleck for double what Tracy Claeys made, which was a record-setting contract for the program. They broke the bank for Fleck, and he said he could’ve made more at a MAC school?
Meanwhile, Fleck’s old school gets outed for going to unprecedented lengths to keep a football coach only to get shut down.
However you slice it, Fleck’s comment is sure to raise some eyebrows. He made sure to say that “people didn’t know” about the contract negotiations with WMU.
Well, they definitely know now.