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Would connections with Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys stop P.J. Fleck from taking Minnesota job?

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
Under P.J. Fleck. Western Michigan won its first MAC title since 1988. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Under P.J. Fleck. Western Michigan won its first MAC title since 1988. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Since his departure from Minnesota in October 2015, Jerry Kill has always spoken positively about the university.

That is no longer the case.

Kill stepped down as head coach because of health issues and was succeeded by Tracy Claeys, his defensive coordinator. Claeys led the Gophers to a 9-4 record this season, but was fired Tuesday in the aftermath of a team-wide boycott that followed the suspension of 10 players stemming from an investigation into an alleged sexual assault. Claeys was heavily criticized for his support of the boycott.

In an interview with ESPN Radio in Minneapolis Wednesday morning, Kill, recently hired as the offensive coordinator at Rutgers, said he would not return to campus because of the way Claeys (an assistant under Kill for more than 20 years) was fired by athletic director Mark Coyle and president Eric Kaler. Coyle, who arrived at the university in May, said Tuesday he wanted a football program “that operates with integrity and class.”

From the Star Tribune:

“I won’t be stepping foot back in the stadium,” Kill told 1500-AM, “and I won’t be stepping back into the university.”

Kill also was sticking up for the integrity of his old program, which he thought was under attack with the words Coyle used in his comments about why Kill’s replacement was fired.

“Think about all the good things that happened with that football program,” he said. “I hope they don’t forget that. I certainly haven’t forgotten about the state of Minnesota. We gave our best to the state of Minnesota. We’ll always come to Minnesota. My daughter is there. We love Minnesota. I’ll go to every baseball game, (Vikings) football game, anything else. But I will not ever be in that stadium or that complex. And they’re building a new complex. We had a lot to do with that. I won’t ever see it. But I wish them all the luck in the world. I hope the decision that Mark made was right. I do hope the program continues to do well. I just wish people would be straightforward.”

Listen to Kill’s entire interview below:

With Claeys out of the picture, the Gophers are the only FBS team without a head coach. In the days leading up to and following the official decision to remove Claeys, Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck’s name has been connected to the Minnesota position. The two sides reportedly met on Wednesday.

In his fourth season at WMU, Fleck led the Broncos to a perfect regular season before losing to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl, so he is certainly a top tier candidate to make the jump to the Big Ten. But would he take the job?

Fleck was connected with a few other openings after the regular season, but has stuck with WMU thus far. And beyond that, Fleck has connections to both Claeys and Kill. When Kill became the head coach at Northern Illinois in December 2007, he retained Fleck as the team’s wide receivers coach. Fleck coached on Kill’s staff for two seasons. Claeys was also on the NIU staff.

Would Kill’s distaste for the removal of Claeys impact Fleck’s candidacy at Minnesota? It could, according to 247Sports.com’s Travis Haney:

Fleck would enter a complicated-but-fixable situation with the players, who have expressed disgust over the decision to remove Claeys.

Former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill did, as well. That was something an industry source thought could be a roadblock for Fleck and the school: Kill retained Fleck as an assistant at Northern Illinois when Kill took over the program in 2008. They still remain close, the source said.

If a Fleck-Minnesota match ultimately is not in the cards, other names apparently under consideration for the opening include former LSU coach Les Miles, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo and Chip Kelly. And surprisingly, Dean Johnson, the chairman of the Minnesota board of regents, dropped Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin’s name in an interview when talking about the opening.

Oh and if Fleck is worried about bringing his “Row the Boat” mantra to Minneapolis, there is some encouraging news:

For more Minnesota news, TheGopherReport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!