Former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill blasts current head coach P.J. Fleck over antics

Not everyone is a fan of rowing the boat. 

In an interview with SiriusXM, former Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill blasted current head coach P.J. Fleck over the latter's antics in executing his program takeover and treatment of Kill's "guys."

"I just think sometimes ego gets carried away and when he went into Minnesota and treated the people the way he treated my guys, and telling them he had to go in and completely change the culture, it was a bad culture and bad people. He made it sound like we didn't know what we were doing and I took it personal," Kill said. 

Fleck was hired by Minnesota in 2017 to replace Tracy Claeys, a longtime Kill assistant who took over the Golden Gophers in 2015 after Kill stepped down due to health reasons. Despite some modest success, Claeys was fired in 2017 a few weeks after the team threatened to boycott the Holiday Bowl after the suspension of 10 players in connection to allegations of sexual assault. Claeys had publicly voiced support for his players during their boycott.  

At the time Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle said of Claeys' firing: "I determined that the football program must move in a new direction to address challenges in recruiting, ticket sales and the culture of the program. We need strong leadership to take Gopher football to the next level and address these challenges."

Kill is clearly not pleased with the way he perceived Fleck's changing of the program — especially since Kill views himself as a major reason why the 38-year-old Fleck is already where he's at in his career. 

In the interview, Kill said he helped Fleck — a former assistant at Northern Illinois — get the job at Western Michigan. Fleck's rebuilding effort there, which culminated in a 13-1 record in 2016, earned him the job at Minnesota.

"You just don't treat people that have been with you and helped your career and you don't even talk to them once you get the job," Kill said.

"He changed a lot, I'll just be honest with you guys." 

Kill and Fleck did talk once, after the latter assumed the job, but according to Kill their conversation "wasn't good." He said that's the last time he and Fleck spoke, adding "And it will be the last time."

"Do I still root for the Gophers? I do. Do I enjoy him running up and down the sidelines? No. Do I think that he's about the players? No. He's about himself... You think he thinks about the players? I just lost a lot of respect," Kill said. 

"I guess maybe disappointment is the better way to put P.J., and disappointed on how he handled some things." 

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jace Evans on Twitter @JaceTEvans.