New Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck is the second-highest paid coach in the Big Ten West, making an annual salary of $3.5 million a year.
But according to Fleck in an interview with Sirius XM Radio on Thursday, he took a major pay cut to leave Western Michigan.
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
As coach of the Broncos, Fleck was making just over $800,000, according to USA Today.
When Fleck was thinking about leaving, Western Michigan athletic director Kathy Beauregard said she made “an incredible offer” to keep Fleck with the Broncos. Details of that offer have not been released.
Fleck’s current contract with the Gophers is for five years. His contract also includes supplemental bonuses.
If Fleck leads the Gophers to the national championship game, he receives a $300,000 bonus. According to the Pioneer Press, that’s twice the amount former coach Tracy Claeys would have received if he’d taken the team to the championship game.
Fleck also gets a bonus if players reach certain academic benchmarks.
