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Watch Minnesota coach PJ Fleck wipe his player’s blood on his own face in bizarre celebration
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- Watch Minnesota coach PJ Fleck wipe his player’s blood on his own face in bizarre celebration
Watch Minnesota coach PJ Fleck wipe his player's blood on his own face in bizarre celebration originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Seeking a sixth-straight bowl game win in 2026, Minnesota has been one of the steadiest teams in the Big Ten in recent years under P.J. Fleck. Saturday marked one of the program's better wins under his leadership.
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With a 27-24 win over Washington, the Golden Gophers opened Big Ten play with a win over a talented opponent, now set to take a 3-1 record into a Week 5 matchup against Michigan .
It was Fleck's postgame intensity, however, that brought even more attention to Minnesota's win over Washington, as the head coach was seen wiping one of his players' blood onto his face.
Here's a look at the viral clip of Fleck.
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PJ Fleck wipe his player's blood on his own face
Moments after Fleck's squad held on for a 27-24 win, he was captured by cameras celebrating on the field. His intensity led him to some extreme measures of celebrating.
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During the last play of the game, linebacker Maverick Baranowski was hit in the face by a cleat, per ESPN , leading to him bleeding a bit from his mouth. When Fleck approached Baranowski on the field, he embraced him, grabbed the linebacker's head, then wiped blood from his mouth onto his own cheek.
"He's a crazy man," Baranowski said of Fleck, per ESPN. "Winning's hard in the Big Ten, and when you get to win at a place like this, just so exciting and get to enjoy that with all my teammates and my head coach always having my back for the last five years. I love that guy more than anyone and an awesome opportunity to share that moment with him."
Fleck, who has led Minnesota since 2017, called Baranowski his "blood brother."
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"Back in the day, I'm sure that's what they did -- the frontiersman out West," Fleck said of the moment, per ESPN. "Little blood on there, I guess."
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