Jerry Kill Criticizes Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck: 'He's About Himself'

Former Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill is making it clear that he doesn't like the way current coach P.J. Fleck runs the Gophers program.

Former Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill is making it clear that he doesn't like the way current coach P.J. Fleck runs the Gophers program.

Kill spoke to SiriusXM College's "Big Ten Today" and shared why he has issues with the way Fleck has operated since taking over from Tracy Claeys.

"He went into Minnesota and treated the people the way he treated my guys and telling 'em he had to go in and completely change the culture and it was a bad culture and bad people, you know, he made it sound like we didn’t know what we were doing, and I took it personal. You just don’t treat people that have been with you and helped you career and you don’t even talk to him, you know, once you get the job."

Kill served as the Gophers' coach from 2011-15, finishing his tenure with a 29–29 record. He resigned in 2015 due to health problems and currently works as the athletic director at Southern Illinois. Prior to his time at Minnesota, he coached at Northern Illinois, where Fleck worked under him for two years. However, Kill thinks that Fleck changed when he joined Greg Schiano's staff at Rutgers in 2010.

"He coached with me, but after that, he changed a lot. I’ll just be honest with you guys. People that have known him before—When he got with Schiano, his personality changed a lot...I mean, I helped him get the job at Western Michigan, and I just think sometimes, ego gets carried away."

Claeys took over as the interim coach after Kill left and later became permanent. However, Minnesota fired Claeys after the 2016 season and replaced him with Fleck. Kill told SiriusXM that he talked to Fleck after he was hired at Minnesota but that conversation "wasn't good." They haven't spoken since.

"Do I still root for the Gophers? I do," Fleck said. "Do I enjoy him running up and down the sideline? No. Do I think that he’s about the players? No. He’s about himself. You can’t tell me. You’ve watched him. You listen to his interview, you think he thinks about the players?"