Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck hasn’t been at Minnesota very long, but he’s already facing his first controversy.
Earlier this week, a Michigan television station reported that Fleck was having to answer questions about contact with at least one of his former players at Western Michigan.
Broncos linebacker Robert Spillane announced that he is transferring from WMU this week.
WWMT in Kalamazoo, Michigan, reports that officials from that school contacted University of Minnesota officials with concerns that Fleck had spoken to Spillane and other players in the Broncos football program – a violation of NCAA regulations.
Spillane was Western Michigan’s leading tackler last season finishing the season with 111 tackles in 14 games. For his part, the linebacker took to Twitter to say his departure from Western Michigan has nothing to do with Minnesota.
https://twitter.com/14rspillane/status/837025889468747781
Western Michigan didn’t put any restrictions on where Spillane can transfer – though if he transfers to another NCAA FBS Subdivision team – including Minnesota – he’d have to sit out a full season before he could play.
According to The Detroit News, a source says Spillane is not going to transfer to Minnesota.
The U of M hasn’t had a lot to say about the matter yet, but according to the WWMT report, U of M officials looked into it enough to investigate the phones of Fleck and his coaching staff.
University of Minnesota spokesman Paul Rovnak told the Pioneer Press that Minnesota is not recruiting any students from Western Michigan. It is the same response Fleck gave when he was asked while at the State Capitol Wednesday.
