Will P.J. Fleck's name appear in coaching searches this offseason?

It's looking like it will be a chaotic coaching carousel this offseason in college football.

Oct 11, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck looks on during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Longtime Penn State head coach James Franklin was officially fired by the school on Sunday, and it could lead to a serious domino effect across college football.

Penn State Announces Change in Football Leadership.

https://t.co/RLwlzGmw0k

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) October 12, 2025

Penn State joined UCLA, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Oregon State as the seventh FBS job already open, and we're only in the third week of October. There are plenty more power conference programs, such as Auburn, Wisconsin, Florida, Florida State, Michigan State or even LSU, who could look at making a change in the near future.

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P.J. Fleck's name has been floated around for open jobs since the moment he became Minnesota's head coach in 2017. Will it happen again this offseason? We already talked about why the UCLA job could be interesting after the mutual interest back in 2023. Are any of the other open jobs that are currently open worth keeping an eye on?

The far more interesting scenario will begin later in the cycle, as many of these schools will look at hiring sitting power conference head coaches. That means there is almost guaranteed to be a few open jobs that nobody is currently expecting.

If Minnesota keeps winning this season, Fleck will only become a more popular candidate. He has reiterated over and over that he loves Minnesota, and he has a great relationship with Director of Athletics Mark Coyle. The Gophers should love that he has raised the floor of the program to a level it arguably hasn't been in the modern era. The program hasn't been this healthy in decades, but it certainly would not be unprecedented for Fleck to pursue a change in scenery after nine years at Minnesota.

The Gophers have failed to retain their defensive coordinator in back-to-back offseasons, almost exclusively due to financial reasons. They're recruiting at an "elite" level, in his terms, but does Fleck think he's taken the Gophers as far as they can go? If there were an offseason for him to do it, it might be this one.

It's hard to even hypothesize which jobs Fleck could leave for, but Penn State's decision to fire Franklin three weeks after the team was ranked No. 3 in the country proved that things move fast in the sport, and people are willing to throw around big money. There are so many scenarios that go into every single coaching search, but Gophers fans might want to buckle up for plenty of rumors this offseason during the coaching carousel.