ESPN: Ranking the offseason for every Power 4 college football team (#9 in BT: Minnesota)

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Per ESPN:

9. Minnesota Golden Gophers​

Biggest coaching move: P.J. Fleck added special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato from New Mexico and notable names elsewhere on the staff. Former Minnesota players Mohamed Ibrahim (running backs) and Isaac Fruechte (wide receivers) are coaching the positions they played for the Gophers, and former Minnesota offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover is back as assistant offensive line coach. Minnesota also added Mike Shula, the former Alabama coach and, most recently, South Carolina's offensive coordinator, as a senior offensive assistant. Da Prato spent 2025 with UNM after stops overseeing special teams at Texas State, South Florida and Arkansas.

What went wrong: Koi Perich is a significant loss, especially to a Big Ten competitor, as the homegrown star and former top-175 recruit earned all-league honors in each of his first two seasons and was a factor on defense and returns. Similar to Purdue with Dillon Thieneman, Minnesota could struggle to watch Perich in a Ducks uniform. Other notable departures include cornerback Za'Quan Bryan, who started 10 games last season, and running back Fame Ijeboi, who showed some promise as a reserve. Minnesota kept its top assistants but lost running backs coach Jayden Everett to rival Wisconsin and cut ties with longtime assistant Matt Simon, who had been with Fleck since 2014. The transfer group, though solid, isn't filled with guaranteed starters.

What went right: Minnesota brought back the core of a team that has been a consistent winner under Fleck, including several players who could have jumped to the NFL or cashed in as transfers. All-Big Ten defensive end Anthony Smith, who led the league with 12.5 sacks and finished second with 17.5 tackles for loss, returned for his final season, as did running back Darius Taylor, who can be productive when healthy. The team strengthened its defensive front through the portal with Bush (Cal) and others, while helping quarterback Drake Lindsey with Thompson from Auburn and several others. Minnesota's 2026 recruiting class ranked No. 31 nationally, and is headlined by Johnson, Voss and Trout, all four-star prospects from the state.

www.espn.com

Ranking the offseason for every Power 4 college football team

Nail the transfer portal? Miss a big recruit? Find a top coordinator? All are part of our offseason evaluations.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Go Gophers!!
 


At least it doesn't come off as AI generated and doesn't have obvious mistakes in it.

I was wondering why they mentioned Howie Johnson instead of Aaden Aytch, but then on 247 Howie is higher, but wasn't Aaden almost a 5*?
 

GopherTheJugular said:
At least it doesn't come off as AI generated and doesn't have obvious mistakes in it.

I was wondering why they mentioned Howie Johnson instead of Aaden Aytch, but then on 247 Howie is higher, but wasn't Aaden almost a 5*?
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According to Rivals, Aytch is the 33rd rated recruit and rates the top 32 as 5*.
 

Kinda hoping we are able to pull off Fonzie Day at a home game. Bring in Henry Winkler!
 



I get that we will miss Koi so from that standpoint it stands to reason that on paper the team will suffer. But all things considered, I think the defense will be pretty pleased with the new guys in the secondary (West, Knutson, Smith, etc.,)
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I get that we will miss Koi so from that standpoint it stands to reason that on paper the team will suffer. But all things considered, I think the defense will be pretty pleased with the new guys in the secondary (West, Knutson, Smith, etc.,)
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We thrived before he was here, we'll thrive again.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I get that we will miss Koi so from that standpoint it stands to reason that on paper the team will suffer. But all things considered, I think the defense will be pretty pleased with the new guys in the secondary (West, Knutson, Smith, etc.,)
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With improved cornerback play the secondary might be even better this year. His abilities as a kick/punt returner are a little overrated. He had the big mistake against Cal, and while he did have some big returns he never housed one, but then again maybe our return teams weren’t that good either.
 



They didn’t even mention Noah Jennings, this offense is so loaded
 


JoeCool said:
They didn’t even mention Noah Jennings, this offense is so loaded
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I'm going to take a "wait-and-see" approach on that.

I like the defensive potential. They were decent last season although not as good as the best Fleck defensive teams (21, 22, 24). They just needed to get a little better and maybe they've done that.

The offense on the other hand was pretty anemic last season (23 points per game, 102 out of 136 FBS teams nationally, 15th in the Big Ten). The offense needs to be significantly better. Part of the reason the defense gave up as many points as they did is that offense left the field too quickly too often.
 

Zion Steptoe > Noah Jennings, Perry Thompson > Zion Steptoe, Noah Jennings > Perry Thompson.
 






DarrenTheGreek said:
I get that we will miss Koi so from that standpoint it stands to reason that on paper the team will suffer. But all things considered, I think the defense will be pretty pleased with the new guys in the secondary (West, Knutson, Smith, etc.,)
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Koi who?
 



march madness said:
We basically traded Koi and his NIL $ for some top level mid major DT's, and DE Bush. We were super thin at DT, and we have some Safety options to replace Koi.
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YEP! I was a big Koi Perich fan but he did not have a great season in 2025. He was not a huge loss with what we now have in the Safety room. Koi going to Oregon is a great move for both parties. Koi will do very well with a loaded Oregon team that could win the National Championship. I'm happy for him and I'm happy for what lies ahead for the Gophers. We are a better team with the options we now have at DL and Safety. Go Gophers!
 

Anyone else feel we were a much better running team with the RPO as a staple? I fully expect a good to very good defense. I expect an improved passing game. But if we can't improve on 103 rushing yard per game, 3.6 average, the offense won't be that improved.
 

march madness said:
Anyone else feel we were a much better running team with the RPO as a staple? I fully expect a good to very good defense. I expect an improved passing game. But if we can't improve on 103 rushing yard per game, 3.6 average, the offense won't be that improved.
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I think the problem is that the offense has been too predictable. Harbaugh has been somewhat predictable situationally in when calls running plays, and it has also been somewhat predictable just looking at the OL splits and offensive personnel when we are running.
 

march madness said:
Anyone else feel we were a much better running team with the RPO as a staple? I fully expect a good to very good defense. I expect an improved passing game. But if we can't improve on 103 rushing yard per game, 3.6 average, the offense won't be that improved.
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Our OL was better?
 

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