Minnesota is calling back a familiar face to establish its program and become a better team in the difficult NCAAF landscape. Mohamed Ibrahim, the Gophers’ all-time leading rusher, agreed to return to Minneapolis as running backs coach. He is one of eight new signings announced on January 16 by head coach P.J. Fleck. Ibrahim spent six years in Minnesota, before moving to the NFL in 2023, to be part of the Detroit Lions’ staff. He has already worked with the Gophers in 2024 and was the running backs coach at Kent State, last year. Ibrahim finished his college career with 4,668 rushing yards and 53 touchdowns, which was also a Gophers record.
The roster and staff changes announced by the Gophers will undoubtedly boost the team, currently in a relatively stable position in the standings. They aspire to become a contender and have some rebuilding to do, in order to achieve that feat. To stay up-to-date on Gophers games and receive odds and statistics on college football games played all around the nation, simply visit www.oddschecker.com, which offers daily updates on all the major American sporting events.
Other relevant coaching staff changes in Minnesota
Another former Gophers player, Isaac Fruechte, was hired as wide receivers coach, after serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Dakota for the last two seasons. He played for Minnesota between 2012 and 2014 and spent three years in the NFL, with the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions, before beginning his coaching career. He replaces Matt SImon, who was not detained. SImon worked nine seasons under Fleck and served also as co-offensive coordinator.
The addition of Matt Limegrover is another one to take into consideration. He will serve as assistant offensive line coach and represents another comeback. Limegrover was the offensive line coach for Jerry Kill, between 2011 and 2015, before Kill’s departure for Penn State.
Other additions include the arrival of CJ Robbins, who was named defensive line coach after having served as Minnesota’s Rush Ends coach last year and Daniel Da Prato, moving in from New Mexico as Special Teams Coordinator. Bobby April III will coach the Rush Ends, Caleb Richardson will be the new Offensive Line Assistant Coach and Bryce Nardo will become the Senior Defensive Assistant. Fleck believes that this staff can work wonders in the new season that will begin after the summer, especially given how the transfer portal took shape.
What happened during the portal
The Golden Gophers have been quite busy during the two week transfer portal that closed on January 23. They lost maybe their best player, safety Koi Perich, but added some nice talent.
Edge T.J. Bush came from California to strengthen a unit that was already one of the best for the Gophers. The rushers can really bring Minnesota to new heights with this addition and the returns of Anthony Smith, Karter Menz and Jaxon Howard. Aydan West, cornerback from Michigan State, will take Za’Quan Bryan’s place and keep on improving in his sophomore season. The big and bad tackle from Tennessee, Bennett Warren, will be an anchor on the line and should protect the offensive skill players quite well, given his power. WIde receiver Perry Thompson was looking for a fresh start after his career stalled a bit in Auburn. He is very athletic and could become the top receiver in the team if he exploits all his talents. Otherwise, he will just be a nice addition in a room where Jalen Smith and Javon Tracy are looking for some help. The defensive tackle position was a glaring need for the Gophers and the team took care of the issue by adding Xion Chapman. defensive tackle from Florida International. He is projected as a starter given how good he is in bringing pressure to the quarterback and could be a great addition to the front line.
We are months away from the beginning of the season and we obviously need to see these players in action. However, there are reasons to believe that these guys will strengthen the roster from the get-go, because they are smart, athletic and totally in love with the game.
On Gopherhole, we will soon put out some predictions on this year’s season, to feed the fans’ curiosity before the beginning of the tournament. In the meantime, it is possible to check out our 2025 predictions, revisiting the ones we got and the ones we didn’t. Sometimes, we were terribly wrong, but in other cases, we did get them right.