COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gophers Athletics Director Mark Coyle knows this year’s football team has “let some (games) get away from us,” but stinging losses to Northwestern, Illinois and Purdue have not changed his overall view of head coach P.J. Fleck.

“I’m absolutely convinced P.J. is the right guy,” Coyle said on the KFAN pregame show Saturday. “Nobody wants to win more than he does.”

The Gophers’ two straight losses to the Illini and Boilermakers have dropped them to 5-5 overall, 3-4 in Big Ten play, going into a stiff test against No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday.

The U went from first place in the Big Ten West in late October to needing one more win in late November to reach bowl eligibility with six victories.

But Coyle said he’s seen how Fleck remains in demand in the broader college football landscape. And turnover among college coaches began to heat up last week with a number of firings across the country, headlined Texas A&M paying a $75 million buyout for Jimbo Fisher.

“I know people don’t always believe me,” Coyle told host Justin Gaard. “But … people go after P.J. each year. He has a name. Again, I know people are disappointed in the results this year. People are still chasing him.

“If you look at these openings, his name pops up almost every time, so that is why we have to continue to be creative and do everything we can to keep him here.”

Last December, Fleck signed a seven-year extension contract through Dec. 2029. He received a $1 million raise to roughly $6 million per year. If Fleck were to leave, the U would be owed a $10 million payment in Year 1 of Fleck’s contract.

Fleck is 49-32 at Minnesota, including nine-win seasons in 2021 and 2022, but they have fallen short of winning the Big Ten West. His best season at the U came in 2019, when they went 11-2, but also lost a tiebreaker for the division title.

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