Gophers' PJ Fleck explains 'Fleck Bank,' calls allegations 'baseless'
Minnesota Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck says claims of "brainwashing" and a "cult-like atmosphere" by multiple anonymous former members of his teams at the University of Minnesota are "baseless."
Fleck, entering his seventh year with the Gophers, addressed questions while at Big Ten Media Day Thursday about the so called "Fleck Bank" and allegations that some players have received preferential treatment in the past while others have been punished with physical activities.
"These allegations are baseless. We have full support of our athletic director Mark Coyle and our university leadership. This is a similar story that gets peddled every single year and the majority of the players have been dismissed or removed from our football team. We also have around a half dozen anonymous reporting avenues within our football program that players can go to if they have an issue," said Fleck.
"Our athletic director Mark Coyle gives his phone number, his cellphone, to every single football player to call them if they have any issue. To this date, there have been zero claims on this issue. Zero."
Related: 'Hit piece': Gophers players responds to anonymous claims against Fleck
What's the "Fleck Bank"?
"The Fleck Bank, mostly used in 2017 and '18 was an analogy used in a team meeting. Talking about the more you invest in a program, the more you're going to get out of it," Fleck explained. "There was no currency ever exchanged. There were no coins that ever existed. It was an analogy simply to explain investment for life, a life lesson of investment. Simply that."
The report from Front Office Sports also cited a 2018 review of U of M athletics that featured a claim from an anonymous person that a player on an anonymous team within the athletic department had to run stairs while carrying a weighted plate.
"We do not use physical activity to discipline our players at the University of Minnesota and we have never done that. Our players do things like they wake up early and they clean the weight room," Fleck said.
"My energy needs to be on the 2023 football team," Fleck said, "and not the baseless allegations."
