Giants’ Carter Coughlin calls Minnesota football accusations ‘absurd’
The Minnesota Gophers are notorious for running a tough program, but have things gone a bit too far? At least one former university professor certainly thinks so.
Jason Stahl, who graduated from Minnesota with a Ph.D and later went on to teach history at the university, has blown the whistle on head coach P.J. Fleck and what he feels are unacceptable practice conditions.
Stahl, who no longer teaches at Minnesota, began his crusade to shed light on Minnesota’s alleged “abusive culture” a year ago.
Hello readers! My name is Jason Stahl and, until recently, I was a professor at the University of Minnesota. I was demoted for reporting on an abusive culture within the University's football coaching staff. Here is my story: https://t.co/u3OEQ1meuL
— Dr. Jason Stahl (@JasonStahl__) October 14, 2020
On Monday, Stahl gave an interview to CBS Minnesota in which he detailed some of what he had seen during his time at the university, including an overwhelming number of practice injuries.
“Lots of guys coming in casts, braces, out of nowhere,” Stahl said. “Guys who had been under previous coaches, they would say, ‘Yeah, things were hard under previous coaches, but not like this.'”
Stahl said he saw an increasing number of athletes suffering from “physical and mental health degradation,” especially after Fleck’s initial recruitment class of 2018 arrived on the scene.
“There are five individuals from that class who will never play football again. They are medically retired from the game,” Stahl said. “All from practice-related injuries. If that happened to your favorite NFL team would you think that was acceptable? Of course not, is the answer. So why do we consider it acceptable for these young men?”
One former Gopher doesn’t want to hear it, however.
New York Giants linebacker Carter Coughlin, who was selected in the seventh-round of the 2020 NFL draft after four seasons in Minnesota, isn’t buying what Stahl is selling.
These “accusations” about the gopher football program being “too hard” are actually laughable. I owe so much of the man I am today to @Coach_Fleck and to @GopherFootball . Straight up, some people just aren’t cut out for college football. That story is ABSURD.
— Carter Coughlin (@Cmoe34) May 11, 2021
“These ‘accusations’ about the Gopher football program being ‘too hard’ are actually laughable. I owe so much of the man I am today to [coach Fleck] and to [Minnesota football]. Straight up, some people just aren’t cut out for college football. That story is absurd,” Coughlin tweeted.
Of the players who have spoken out against Fleck and Minnesota football, including Alex Reigelsperger, all had publicly thanked Fleck and the Gophers when they left the program.
Fleck and Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle declined CBS Minnesota’s request for an interview, but the university did say in a statement that they had investigated Stahl’s complaints and found that no rule violations had occurred.
