Koi Perich Transfer Portal

I wonder if something happened within the family then? Because I gotta believe he would have gotten bigger money after last year.
Maybe he got a bigger bump to stay here, after last year, than we realize?

That's the problem with all this stuff being shady, in the dark back room, under the table figures.
 

I understand your reasoning but this attitude amongst our fan base is why we will never compete at a big level until we put our money where are mouths are. Indiana did and it's paying off.

I understand your reasoning but this attitude amongst our fan base is why we will never compete at a big level until we put our money where are mouths are. Indiana did and it's paying off.
The better version of this is to shut down all NIL collectives, across the sport. Make the money come only from House settlement revenue sharing and from bona fide, actual NIL endorsement deals.
 

I can't speak for Koi or any of these kids, but if they were given truth serum, I don't think winning is actually even a close to important as they will say in public. Sure they all would prefer it no doubt, but ultimately they want the money, the pomp & circumstance, and the fame more. Koi or guys like him are going to get drafted if they're good, that has never been the issue. They know the odds of being a prime story on gameday or the feature on big noon kickoff etc won't likely happen at Minnesota or the like, but since Bama osu mich ND are shoved down our throats, it sure could there. Plus they will get paid more.

As I've said over and over, I don't blame the kids, I get it, if I was that kid and OSU offered me $1m a year and id be famous and what not, I suppose id probably go too. But I do wish there was honesty in the process. I'd actually be refreshed to hear, yep Helmet school X called me in November, said id get 2x my NIL now and I want to be more famous which wasn't happening here. Never will happen but at least it wouldn't be shady.
 

Like Marcellus Marshall?

Hate calling dude out, but he just stunk
As far as starters go I think the Gophers actually have a pretty good track record of impactful players. Honestly I think its just harder to find an offensive linemen from a smaller conference to play well then it is positions like S, CB, WR etc...

With that being said bring on Beau Johnson.
 



As far as starters go I think the Gophers actually have a pretty good track record of impactful players. Honestly I think its just harder to find an offensive linemen from a smaller conference to play well then it is positions like S, CB, WR etc...

With that being said bring on Beau Johnson.
Sure, but also remember Marshall was from West Virginia I believe..
EDIT: wrong, that was Ray
 
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A little late to the party on this one but has been interesting to see the range of emotions on the posts in this thread.

I totally get the anger/frustration/sadness towards the player and the current college football landscape.

Less clear on how exactly this is Fleck's fault but assume the ones using this as a reason to take a shot at Fleck are the same handful that hate everything he does. And this is not about protecting Fleck at all costs I just legit don't understand what a coaching staff is supposed to do when a starter elects to transfer.

In the end we have done a good job over the years retaining our key players but there are going to be losses. Bucky Irving, Phillip Daniels and now probably Koi Perich are guys I am sure the coaching staff made every effort to retain but for one reason or another couldn't make it happen.

Would have loved to see Koi play his entire college career here (still might but seems unlikely). But in the end it is the unfortunate reality of this backwards college landscape right now. Every player is an unrestricted free agent and sometimes they are going to go chasing after something else.
I don’t know that anybody’s saying this is Fleck’s fault we had mixed results the past two years with terrible offenses and shitty bowl games and perhaps PJ and Koi are not great personality fits, either. Or, it could be an Or, it could be a pure money grab none of us know. Otherwise, I think we appreciate the fact that he was here for two years, especially that Golden freshman year and wish him well.
 

For anyone disposing of his jerseys - make sure to cut down the middle so they can't be recovered from the dumpster and reworn
I would at least give it to Goodwill and let them make a buck off it.
 

The better version of this is to shut down all NIL collectives, across the sport. Make the money come only from House settlement revenue sharing and from bona fide, actual NIL endorsement deals.
It's a nice dream, maybe we get there at some point but that is a long way off.
 



You could see this coming before the season even started. PJ took him to B1G Media days as a true sophomore when there were several upperclassmen with much more invested into the program. Then went out of his way to pump him up individually in interviews even though PJ is such a team, not an individual, type of coach. It seemed like Fleck was doing whatever he could to appease the guy and that's not how you do things in a program like Minnesota that prides itself on team culture.
 
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The reasons could be many. For all we know, Koi hates school, Minnesota requires attendance, and he'd rather spend his last season skating academically at a place where the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. That's an old story, even pre-dating NIL/portal.
 

I don’t know that anybody’s saying this is Fleck’s fault we had mixed results the past two years with terrible offenses and shitty bowl games and perhaps PJ and Koi are not great personality fits, either. Or, it could be an Or, it could be a pure money grab none of us know. Otherwise, I think we appreciate the fact that he was here for two years, especially that Golden freshman year and wish him well.
Was reacting the wide spectrum of posts, there aren't a lot using this this to take shots at Fleck but there are a few. Most get that this is just a byproduct of the messed up world that is college athletics right now.
 





I don’t know that anybody’s saying this is Fleck’s fault we had mixed results the past two years with terrible offenses and shitty bowl games and perhaps PJ and Koi are not great personality fits, either. Or, it could be an Or, it could be a pure money grab none of us know. Otherwise, I think we appreciate the fact that he was here for two years, especially that Golden freshman year and wish him well.
OR, Koi (like the rest of us) sees that Danny Collins should in no universe be a DC for a big 10 team and he wants to play for a real coordinator. Id put it as a +90% probability that he ends up in Miami next year (if he leaves us)
 



This is correct in my opinion.

He stayed in-state and gave Fleck two years. Fleck in return showed him a likely 8-5 ceiling going forward for how he (Fleck) runs this program.


Wild guess is Koi only intends to play one more year of college, and he wants to give it a shot at a helmet school that will be contending for a natty next year. Not necessarily just for the money, but that will also be a side bonus.


I wish Koi well wherever he goes next year, and in the NFL after that!
Respectfully, I totally disagree. I think just the opposite, the move is for the money and the side bonus is that the team is a contender. Huge majority of these decisions are based on money. Next biggest factor is playing time and then I'd bet playing for a contender is a distant 3rd.
 

Respectfully, I totally disagree. I think just the opposite, the move is for the money and the side bonus is that the team is a contender. Huge majority of these decisions are based on money. Next biggest factor is playing time and then I'd bet playing for a contender is a distant 3rd.
I respect your right to hold this opinion.

Without knowing what his 2025 tax return is and what his 2026 will be, I don't think we can conclude that.
 

Really saw more from him in his freshman year that this year. A lot of factors behind that.

As a couple of other posters noted, Koi "disrespected the ball" on the field this season more than any other player in the Fleck era. He also did a lot of soft trots when leaving the field than is typical for a Fleck-coached player. This points to an attitude issue that apparently could not be overcome.

Sorry to see him go but players now have autonomy that multiple generations of players never experienced. It will be interesting to see where he lands, especially so if he ends up boomeranging right back to the Gophers after a short-lived dalliance with other suitors.
 


Well he can be a starter on defense, offense and special teams at Iowa State. Maybe he just wants to play 100% of the snaps
 

I can't speak for Koi or any of these kids, but if they were given truth serum, I don't think winning is actually even a close to important as they will say in public. Sure they all would prefer it no doubt, but ultimately they want the money, the pomp & circumstance, and the fame more. Koi or guys like him are going to get drafted if they're good, that has never been the issue. They know the odds of being a prime story on gameday or the feature on big noon kickoff etc won't likely happen at Minnesota or the like, but since Bama osu mich ND are shoved down our throats, it sure could there. Plus they will get paid more.

As I've said over and over, I don't blame the kids, I get it, if I was that kid and OSU offered me $1m a year and id be famous and what not, I suppose id probably go too. But I do wish there was honesty in the process. I'd actually be refreshed to hear, yep Helmet school X called me in November, said id get 2x my NIL now and I want to be more famous which wasn't happening here. Never will happen but at least it wouldn't be shady.
If we are talking about athletics, it's impossible to separate winning from "pomp and circumstance". By pomp and circumstance, I assume you mean that they get to play in the biggest games with the brightest spotlights. I don't see how that is any different than winning.
 


Really saw more from him in his freshman year that this year. A lot of factors behind that.

As a couple of other posters noted, Koi "disrespected the ball" on the field this season more than any other player in the Fleck era. He also did a lot of soft trots when leaving the field than is typical for a Fleck-coached player. This points to an attitude issue that apparently could not be overcome.

Sorry to see him go but players now have autonomy that multiple generations of players never experienced. It will be interesting to see where he lands, especially so if he ends up boomeranging right back to the Gophers after a short-lived dalliance with other suitors.
Interesting thing with Koi this year is that he was 3rd on the team in tackles by a fairly wide margin but I would not have expected that based on how the games went.

What that says to me is that he was around the ball a lot but lacked the stand out individual plays that a guy like Nestor made routinely when he was in there.

The reality with Koi this season is that what he will be remembered for most was the Cal game where he was a major factor in the loss with his special teams blunders.

Will suck to see him go but he definitely was not the impact player in year two that he was his freshman year.
 

This is not the news I wanted to start 2026! So disappointing to see the prodigal son enter the portal. Whether it was scheme or whatever he did take a step back this year and maybe feels he needs a more seasoned DC. He was brutal in the Cal game and slowly got better toward the end of season but his body language suggested he was not rowing.
 

Respectfully, I totally disagree. I think just the opposite, the move is for the money and the side bonus is that the team is a contender. Huge majority of these decisions are based on money. Next biggest factor is playing time and then I'd bet playing for a contender is a distant 3rd.
I have no idea what it's about but I think it's impossible to separate playing for the "money" from playing for a "contender". I'm guessing he ends up at Ohio State and plays the position that Caleb Downs is currently playing for them.

He's obviously not going to go somewhere he isn't going to play, so that's a given. But it isn't outlandish to think that he might improve his draft stock ($$) by playing S on what might be the best defense in the country in the biggest games,

We all use this same thread of logic when we discuss why a kid would want to transfer from FCS (Max) or a smaller BCS to play in the Big 10.
 

Interesting thing with Koi this year is that he was 3rd on the team in tackles by a fairly wide margin but I would not have expected that based on how the games went.

What that says to me is that he was around the ball a lot but lacked the stand out individual plays that a guy like Nestor made routinely when he was in there.

The reality with Koi this season is that what he will be remembered for most was the Cal game where he was a major factor in the loss with his special teams blunders.

Will suck to see him go but he definitely was not the impact player in year two that he was his freshman year.
Koi didn't have the number of splash plays he had for us last year but he was way better than a lot of folks in this thread are giving him credit. He was asked to do a ton of things - play in the box, play deep zone, play man-to-man, he blitzed quite a bit. He was very versatile.
 


You could see this coming at the before the season even started. PJ took him to B1G Media days as a true sophomore when there were several upperclassmen with much more invested into the program. Then went out of his way to pump him up individually in interviews even though PJ is such a team, not an individual, type of coach. It seemed like Fleck was doing whatever he could to appease the guy and that's not how you do things in a program like Minnesota that prides itself on team culture.
I don't know that we could see it coming, but I agree that PJ disrupted the culture of the program to showcase the player. This was previously done (to a lesser extent) with DT, but I'm not remembering many (any?) other examples. If he's headed to a CFP-caliber team, I have a hard time believing he'll get much time at WR and he is definitely not going to return kicks at Miami. Perhaps those were the sort of "bonuses" Minnesota could afford to bridge a financial gap for a period of time.

Regardless, he's a really good player with a high ceiling. Tough to see him go.
 




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