P.J. Fleck didn’t exactly whisper the warning in late September 2023. He came to his weekly in-season radio show with a blunt message for Minnesota fans: if they didn’t step up and put money into the program’s name, image and likeness efforts, the Gophers were going to get left behind.
Fleck said the roster churn was already real. Players had left for other schools, and he pointed directly to NIL as the reason.
“We had players that were here that are now gone and playing at another school that should be here playing right now - because [of] NIL,” Fleck said. “We didn’t pay him.
We didn’t pay him enough. That is the fact of life, and I know we all laugh at it, but that is a fact.
“So, if we want to keep players ... all these guys we have, they won’t be here next year,” Fleck continued. “I’m making sure everybody understands.
They won’t be here. We’ll be a Triple-A ballclub for somebody else.
That is the reality and the truth of the situation.”
The timing drew attention because it came only days after Minnesota coughed up a 31-10 lead in an overtime loss at Northwestern. Still, the warning landed for a reason: Fleck was describing where college football was headed, and the Gophers’ athletic department had to respond.
And it did. That radio appearance became a kind of rallying point for Minnesota’s NIL push, which picked up steam in the months that followed.
Now the challenge has only gotten bigger. Revenue sharing has raised the stakes by allowing schools to pay athletes directly, essentially creating a salary layer on top of NIL. For Minnesota, that means the pressure to stay competitive has only intensified, especially in the Big Ten, where some peers have far deeper pockets when all the money streams are combined.
That’s why the Gophers are right to get creative. In this version of college athletics, standing still is a fast way to fall behind.
In Other News...
Anthony Smith Carries Huge Hype Into A Defining Gophers Season
Anthony Smith is heading into his final season in Minneapolis with plenty of buzz attached, and not just from inside the program. The Minnesota defensive standout was named an All-American and a first-team All-Big Ten pick by Phil Steele, then added Cleveland.coms preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor, a sign of how much respect he has earned before the season even kicks off.
The hype is built on real production, too, after Smith finished last year with 12.5 sacks, which ranks sixth all-time in Minnesota history. Even with NFL draft talk already in the air from agents and personnel people, Smith chose to come back for one more year, pointing to his bond with the coaching staff, teammates and the program as the reason he wanted to stay and see it through. [Read more 🡒]