All Things 2026 Gophers Spring Ball Thread (Tweets, Videos and More)

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BleedGopher said:

Gophers football open first spring practice with renewed energy​

Minnesota’s Gophers football team held an intense, physical spring practice Saturday inside their indoor practice facility in Athletes Village, their third session of the spring and first in full pads.

With the coaches yelling instructions and music blasting throughout the building, the practice featured multiple position groups rotating between drills, scrimmages and situational periods.

Coach P.J. Fleck said the team is working with a larger roster than usual, which has changed how practice is run.

“This is the largest number we’ve had in spring ball in a very long time,” Fleck said. “So we’re practicing a little bit longer than we normally practice… but the twos, threes and fours, I mean, they’re getting an enormous amount.”

Drills ranged from tackling work with padded equipment to quarterback throwing session. Late into practice, the team simulated real game situations, with the speakers playing crowd noise and referees calling penalties and two-minute timeouts.

One of those sequences ended with the offense winning a scrimmage rep and running to grab Paul Bunyan’s Axe, a nod to Minnesota’s rivalry with the University of Wisconsin. Fleck wanted a rivalry period because of the four rivalry games this season.

One of the biggest takeaways from Saturday was the competition at wide receiver, a group that struggled with consistency last year.

Receivers rotated through passing drills and scrimmage reps while working on timing and catches.

mndaily.com

Gophers football open first spring practice with renewed energy

Minnesota’s Gophers football team held an intense, physical spring practice Saturday inside their indoor practice facility in Athletes Village, their third session of the spring and first in full pads. With the coaches yelling instructions and music blasting throughout the building, the practice...
mndaily.com mndaily.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
We've come a long way from trinket games. This might sound corny to some of the older fans but I love the creativity involving game scenarios particularly as it relates to the rivalry games.
 



BleedGopher said:

Gophers football open first spring practice with renewed energy​

Minnesota’s Gophers football team held an intense, physical spring practice Saturday inside their indoor practice facility in Athletes Village, their third session of the spring and first in full pads.

With the coaches yelling instructions and music blasting throughout the building, the practice featured multiple position groups rotating between drills, scrimmages and situational periods.

Coach P.J. Fleck said the team is working with a larger roster than usual, which has changed how practice is run.

“This is the largest number we’ve had in spring ball in a very long time,” Fleck said. “So we’re practicing a little bit longer than we normally practice… but the twos, threes and fours, I mean, they’re getting an enormous amount.”

Drills ranged from tackling work with padded equipment to quarterback throwing session. Late into practice, the team simulated real game situations, with the speakers playing crowd noise and referees calling penalties and two-minute timeouts.

One of those sequences ended with the offense winning a scrimmage rep and running to grab Paul Bunyan’s Axe, a nod to Minnesota’s rivalry with the University of Wisconsin. Fleck wanted a rivalry period because of the four rivalry games this season.

One of the biggest takeaways from Saturday was the competition at wide receiver, a group that struggled with consistency last year.

Receivers rotated through passing drills and scrimmage reps while working on timing and catches.

mndaily.com

Gophers football open first spring practice with renewed energy

Minnesota’s Gophers football team held an intense, physical spring practice Saturday inside their indoor practice facility in Athletes Village, their third session of the spring and first in full pads. With the coaches yelling instructions and music blasting throughout the building, the practice...
mndaily.com mndaily.com

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...
I will probably always have trouble including the Bell as a rivalry game. Bits of Broken Chair if there is a 4th to be counted...
 


mngg11 said:
Not super encouraging that Perry Thompson was getting chided for a lack of effort this early into spring practice. Dude should have a chip on his shoulder wanting to prove he deserved more playing time at Auburn. Hoping he's more than Dylan Wright 2.0.
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Really hope it's the coaches trying to light a fire under him before it gets too late, and it wasn't too bad this early. Maybe he thought he'd walk into a starting spot but we know that's not how PJ runs things.
 








mngg11 said:
We've come a long way from trinket games. This might sound corny to some of the older fans but I love the creativity involving game scenarios particularly as it relates to the rivalry games.
Click to expand...
I agree. I got nothing out of the old spring games, even though it was fun in person sometimes. But even if someone looked good, it could just be the other player is bad kinda thing, so not much to glean imo.
 




Gophers defense flexes muscles during spring practice​


College football coaches, by their cautious nature, tend to play their cards close to the vest. Teams often keep their practices closed to the public and media, a way to protect their strategic secrets from opponents’ prying eyes.

Spring practice, however, can be an exception as some programs allow fans to have a quick glimpse under the hood. That was the case Tuesday, April 7, as the Gophers held a practice at the David & Janice Larson Football Performance Center that was open to the public. Fans had the first chance to see what the 2026 Gophers might look like, and at least on this day, they saw an impressive showing by Minnesota’s defense.

During 11-on-11 situations with contact, the Gophers’ first-team defense had the upper hand against the first-team offense. A speedy pass rush, led by senior end Anthony Smith, frequently pressured quarterback Drake Lindsey, who made some nice throws but ultimately threw pick-six to safety Kerry Brown late in the two-hour practice.

“We played really well on defense today,’’ Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “So, as a head coach, you never go home happy in spring. If one side is doing really good, [then the other isn’t]. … Kerry Brown’s a really good player, and if Kerry Brown can pick off Drake on that particular play, then Kerry Brown can have a lot of interceptions throughout the season. That’s good for the Gophers.’’

The Gophers held a scrimmage on April 4, and Fleck said both the offense and defense had their moments. This time, he put in some additional challenges for the offense to navigate.

“Today was a big-time pass protection emphasis in a lot of different ways,’’ Fleck said. “… Being able to throw it under pressure, constantly standing in the pocket, being able to deliver an accurate throw, I think that’s one thing from today that I saw, and then playing it in situational football, putting it in second-and-1 and understanding in the green zone, we’re not going to take a sack there.’’


Go Gophers!!
 





The yin and yang was on full display in front of fans inside the U’s indoor practice facility.

“As a head coach,” P.J. Fleck told reporters, “it’s really hard to go home happy because defense has a great day. Then you go back and look at the offense and oh, man, we threw that pick six, or we did that, and you’re like, oh my gosh.”

www.twincities.com

Gophers football: An off day for Drake Lindsey, but defense stands out

Minnesota’s open practice Tuesday at the indoor facility also offered glimpses of how things are going for a large group of transfers.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Go Gophers!!
 


Anyone attend the practice? Any insights from those that did? Was reading in another tweet Tha TJ Bush was looking good and Fleck was very complimentary of him saying not only can he pass rush but he’s better against the run than expected.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Anyone attend the practice? Any insights from those that did? Was reading in another tweet Tha TJ Bush was looking good and Fleck was very complimentary of him saying not only can he pass rush but he’s better against the run than expected.
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Second this. Looking to hear how various guys look right now.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Anyone attend the practice? Any insights from those that did? Was reading in another tweet Tha TJ Bush was looking good and Fleck was very complimentary of him saying not only can he pass rush but he’s better against the run than expected.
Click to expand...
I was there for the first hour, so didn’t see the whole thing but did have some takeaways. The defense was absolutely electric! They were flying around and had significantly more energy than the offense. TJ Bush stood out in indy drills to me. He’s fast and more powerful than I expected. The DB in the orange jersey (I think it was Zahir Rainer) looked really good as well. It’s obviously spring and way too early to tell, but I left a little concerned about the offensive line. I thought they looked soft and slow. People that were there the whole time might have more/different insight, but that’s what I saw.
 

GopherMenace said:
I was there for the first hour, so didn’t see the whole thing but did have some takeaways. The defense was absolutely electric! They were flying around and had significantly more energy than the offense. TJ Bush stood out in indy drills to me. He’s fast and more powerful than I expected. The DB in the orange jersey (I think it was Zahir Rainer) looked really good as well. It’s obviously spring and way too early to tell, but I left a little concerned about the offensive line. I thought they looked soft and slow. People that were there the whole time might have more/different insight, but that’s what I saw.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info! Who did they have on the Oline for starters/rotation?
 

GopherMenace said:
I was there for the first hour, so didn’t see the whole thing but did have some takeaways. The defense was absolutely electric! They were flying around and had significantly more energy than the offense. TJ Bush stood out in indy drills to me. He’s fast and more powerful than I expected. The DB in the orange jersey (I think it was Zahir Rainer) looked really good as well. It’s obviously spring and way too early to tell, but I left a little concerned about the offensive line. I thought they looked soft and slow. People that were there the whole time might have more/different insight, but that’s what I saw.
Click to expand...
Three keys to this year does Lindsey progress like you would expect in his second year of starting, can Taylor stay healthy for once and most importantly can we have an OL that is slightly above average in the Big Ten. From what we rolled out last year, the OL could torpedo the whole season unless they take a big step up.
 

NotAFanOfBecky said:
Thanks for the info! Who did they have on the Oline for starters/rotation?
Click to expand...
I’m sorry, I didn’t catch who was out there starting/rotating in. My comment was more on how the oline looked as a whole. Which regardless of which unit was in, looked slow and soft.
 





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