Where does P.J. Fleck rank among college football's top coaches according to The Athletic?
This fall, Minnesota Golden Gophers’ head coach P.J. Fleck enters his tenth season as Minnesota’s head coach and is coming off another successful 2024 campaign, with the Gophers amassing an 8-5 record, including a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.
With sustained success at Minnesota, Fleck has become one of the country’s top head coaches who has changed the culture at a struggling program and has created a sustainable, high-level program. But how does Fleck compare to some of the other top coaches across college football?
Recently, The Athletic’s Chris Vannini released his annual college football coaching tier list ahead of the 2025 season. Vannini’s rankings are done by sorting coaches into one of eight different tiers.
Tier 1: Multi-time champs
Tier 2: Established winners
Tier 3: High–level consistency
Tier 4: Rising stars and steady hands
Tier 5: Up and down
Tier 6: Show–me seasons ahead
Tier 7: Works in progress
Tier 8: Hottest seats and freshest faces
After winning eight or more games for the third time in the last four years, last season, Fleck comfortably finds himself closer to the top of those tier groups. Fleck was one of 26 head coaches ranked in the third tier 3, High-level consistency. Combine those with the 13 coaches that are ranked between the first two tiers, and Fleck is comfortably within the top-40 coaches in America.
Vannini quickly mentioned Fleck in his write-up on the third tier and included a quote from an anonymous agent.
“P.J. Fleck stays put after an 8-5 season, making six consecutive bowls in non-COVID seasons,” Vannini said about Fleck.
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What did the agent have to say?
“You know, you have to give it to P.J. Fleck. We all might think he’s corny or whatever, but he does a good job.”
Other notable coaches ranked within that third tier included Illinois’s Bret Bielema, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Miami (FL)’s Mario Cristobal, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Wisconsin’s Luke Fickell, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, and Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin.
For his career, P.J. Fleck has coached 149 collegiate games, totaling a career record of 88-61, a 59.1% winning percentage. With the Gophers, the former Northern Illinois wide receiver has amassed a 58-39 record in 97 games. As mentioned by Vannini, the Gophers have made a bowl game in each of their last six non-COVID seasons, and they have won each of their six bowl appearances under Fleck.
The Gophers have also won eight or more games in four of their last five non-COVID seasons.
Overall, it’s hard to argue with Fleck’s placement on the list. The coaches ranked above Fleck in the first two tiers are mostly consisted of national championship winning head coaches and coaches who have appeared in the College Football Playoffs; Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Penn State’s James Franklin, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, and others.
Fleck and the Golden Gophers will begin their 2025 season on Thursday, August 28, against the Buffalo Bulls at Huntington Bank Stadium. Perhaps with another strong campaign in 2025, Fleck could find himself making an argument to be moved up on the list.
