A head football coach is never going to say his team has been blessed with an easy schedule. It would be a disrespectful gesture in the coaching fraternity that we here so much about.

So don’t color me shocked that P.J. Fleck doesn’t view Minnesota’s 2019 season as one of the easier schedules its faced in recent years.

Minnesota is one of just four B1G teams that will play an FCS opponent this season, opening the year against South Dakota State. There are no non-conference Power Five opponents on the slate. The Golden Gophers then get a relatively beneficial draw in cross-division matchups, playing Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State.

They get Nebraska and Wisconsin at TCF Bank Stadium.

But the idea that Minnesota’s schedule is easy is one that Fleck scoffs at, in typical coach fashion. He reiterated that every opponent the Gophers face this fall will present unique challenges.

“I’ve learned in the Big Ten that there are zero easy games,” Fleck said, according to TwinCities.com. “It doesn’t matter who you play…I think every head coach in the conference will probably say the same thing. We’re not here for preseason things, we’re not here to pick things.”

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Minnesota has struggled in early part of Fleck’s run in Minneapolis in B1G play, posting just a 5-13 record. But with the West being wide open this season, there’s a good chance the Gophers can change their fortune and make a legitimate run at a division title.

And, whether Fleck agrees or not, the schedule definitely sets up nicely for Minnesota.