Demand Skyrockets For College Football Coach's Firing Following Week 1 Loss

Following their devastating 19-17 loss to North Carolina in Week 1, many fans are already calling for the firing of Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.

Despite the fact they have a new quarterback who was highly coveted in the transfer portal, and had been sold a dream all offseason that their passing attack would open things up, their offense underwhelmed. They had just one play go beyond 20 yards, were an abysmal 4-of-12 on third down and scored just two touchdowns of their four red zone trips.

In addition, to finish the game, Fleck's offense wasted valuable time and set up what ended up being an unnecessarily tough game-winning field goal attempt for his kicker. To win the game, Minnesota's offense ended up working their way to the right hash mark—the same spot their kicker missed earlier. History repeated itself, and he missed again.

However, fans aren't blaming the kicker or even the offense for the loss. All the blame is being passed onto Fleck.

"PJ Fleck should be fired," wrote one fan.

"Fire P.J. Fleck instantly. What a joke of a coach," chimed in another.

"PJ Fleck will get bought out by year's end. Guy can’t coach real football. Rowing his boat to an under .500 season," added another.

While it's still very early in the season for Fleck and company, the fact that the offense was so underwhelming after things were supposed to be different hurts. Especially when you consider the fact that the offense has been mediocre at best in the past few years and lacked explosiveness. In scoring, the unit ranked No. 83 in 2021, No. 66 in 2022 and No. 110 last season, and if they keep this up, they'll be right back near the bottom again this season.

New Hampshire quarterback transfer Max Brosmer finished 13-of-21 for 166 yards with a QBR of 47.7 as he looked shaky in his FBS debut, while the Gophers' rushing attack added just 78 yards, but did have the two scores.

Luckily for Fleck and Minnesota, they host Rhode Island next week and, according to ESPN, have a 97.3% chance of winning. They will likely also have an opportunity to build some confidence and run the score up if all goes well, which could be the boost this unit needs before diving into Big Ten action in Week 4.

Fleck's seat may not be as scorching as the fans would think, but he will undoubtedly need to make some tough decisions regarding his staff if these struggles continue.

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