Big Ten Coach Exposes Fake NIL Offers Ahead of Bowl Game

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 7-5 this season following a season-ending home win over the Wisconsin Badgers with one final matchup left on Friday, Dec. 26 (4:30 p.m.) at Chase Field in Phoenix against the New Mexico Lobos in the Rate Bowl.

The Golden Gophers are led by charismatic head coach P.J. Fleck, known for his motivational slogans (‘Row the Boat’) and history of getting maximum effort and performance out of his oftentimes overmatched teams.

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Fleck coaches in a brave new world of college football including NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) payments for college football players that are often set up by universities, granting lucrative opportunities for student athletes to earn off of sponsorship deals.

On Wednesday, Fleck spoke at a press conference during which he detailed the head spinning world of NIL payments and negotiations while stating that some offers used as bargaining chips by players are not real in his personal estimation.

Fleck’s Stunning NIL Admission

Fleck’s story on NIL was shared by Tony Liebert of ‘Bring Me the News,’ a media company based in Minneapolis.

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“I don’t think the general public actually truly knows what college football truly looks like,” Fleck said.

He painted the picture of a complex process of negotiating contracts that lacks the structure of the National Football League’s professional contracts.

“I think that everybody has representation now,” Fleck said, with the goal of “getting the most money they possibly can.”

He spoke about the complex roles college coaches play in the process.

“The roles we’re in is like, you’re the head coach, you’re the president, you’re the owner, you’re the GM, you’re the director of player personnel, and you’ve almost got to be a negotiator as well of what you have in your budget…And you’re doing that without the systems that the NFL has in place,” Fleck added.

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Fake NIL Offers Cloud Negotiation Process, Fleck Says

A media member commented on the lack of a salary cap in the sport, musing that it must be difficult for Fleck and other coaches to know how much each player is being offered by other schools before writing, proposing, offering and negotiating contracts.

“Sometimes those offers are real, sometimes those offers aren’t real,” Fleck added.

“It is a very unique environment to work in,” Fleck added.

“I truly believe…You could put a camera on somebody’s shoulder…You (could) do a reality show of what’s going on right now,” the Golden Gophers coach added, gesturing that it’s a wild, unpredictable situation.

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“I don’t think the general public truly knows what college football looks like when you peel back the onion.”

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This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Dec 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.