Ex-Gophers coach Kill says successor Fleck “about himself”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill says he won’t speak again to P.J. Fleck, saying the current Golden Gophers coach is too selfish.

Kill spoke to Sirius XM radio Tuesday and said he thinks Fleck is “about himself” instead of the players . Kill said he’s been particularly offended by Fleck’s public decrees to change the culture of the program. Kill said he called Fleck shortly after he was hired two years ago, a conversation that ”wasn’t good.” Kill said that would be his last talk with Fleck, who was on his staff at Northern Illinois from 2007-08.

Kill said he thinks Fleck has changed since then and that ”sometimes ego gets carried away.”

When Fleck took over the Gophers , he called himself a ”Kill guy” and praised Kill for teaching him how to better care for his players.

Kill, who’s now the athletic director at Southern Illinois , was Minnesota’s coach from 2011-15 until a years-long bout with epilepsy forced him to retire at midseason. He was succeeded by his defensive coordinator, Tracy Claeys, who had the job for 1+ years.

Fleck, through a team spokesman, declined to comment Wednesday.

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