Minnesota Gophers Head Football Coach P.J. Fleck spoke at the Big 10 media day yesterday about the success of the program.
Fleck pointed out some of the successes he and the team have had on the field in addition to winning their sixth straight bowl game. He was quick to lean into the success some of the program's top players have had reaching the next level in the NFL.
"Talk about developing young people, you recruit them, you develop them, you retain them, and you repeat," Fleck says. "But we're talking about six straight years of a first or second round draft pick in a row at the University of Minnesota."
Fleck also praised their accomplishments off the field.
"Academically we have over a 3.2 GPA as a football program," says Fleck. "We had 10 players with a 4.0 this past semester. We've got 10 academic All-Americans since we've been there, and this past semester there were 59 all-Big Ten Academic selections from the Gophers."
Prior to P.J. Fleck's arrival at the University of Minnesota, the Gophers had six head coaches in 12 years. He's stabilized the program in a way not seen since coach Glen Mason's run of success, and something that has been rare at the U since the dominant days for the Gophers decades ago.
Entering his ninth year, Fleck is the only person to have won six straight bowl games in the program's history and he used one word to describe his team.
"This football team in 2025 are multipliers A times B times C times D. They're a team," says Fleck. "They legitimately want other people to be successful and they make sure those people are successful. Whether they're at the same position, they're competing with them or not."
Changing Landscape of College Football
For Fleck and the Gophers, it's clearly accomplishments to be proud of as they head into another season in an expanding - and changing - landscape of Big Ten and NCAA football as it moves into almost a professional sports model. Payers are going to be paid.
Schools across the country are now putting an NCAA settlement - worth about $20 million at Minnesota and most major schools - into the pockets of players. Minnesota Athletic Director Mark Coyle says the bulk of that money goes towards football (basketball and hockey are the other two main programs that will get money).
"It's no doubt been a very difficult time, because you've had to make some really hard decisions," Coyle told WCCO earlier this summer. "And for the sports that we aren't revenue sharing with, you know, we've made it very clear to those coaches, as we learn more information, if we find out that we're an outlier in any of their programs, we can always make adjustments."
It makes recruiting a more complicated issue. Not only are you working to distribute those millions of dollars, players are also still able to negotiate name-image-likeness deals which can be worth millions more for top players.
Add in one more proposal from the University. They're now going to tack a $200 annual athletics fee for Twin Cities campus students. That money is going to pay for "general cost increases" within University athletics. Coyle noted that the athletic program - despite major television revenue still coming into the school - is facing an $8 million deficit.
"We've looked at our travel schedules for our teams to try to be more regional, so we've had to make cuts and do those type of things to help navigate this," Coyle tells WCCO.
Gophers Plan to Go All-In with Koi Perich
On the field, Minnesota has talent, and Fleck has definitely had relative success recruiting. Landing last year's best in-state player, Esko's Koi Perich, was a coup. And he landed on all the freshman All-America teams, and has already landed on some early, preseason All-America lists.
Perich, a safety and punt returner as a freshman, is going to expand his role in 2025 according to Fleck, who says his prize recruit is going to play on offense this year as well.
"He's gonna play offense, defense, and special teams," says Fleck. "I think that's very clear and everybody understands that. That's three different. Three different spots. Offense, defense special. Number 3, him and Drake Lindsey, our quarterback, are best friends and how good of friends they are as Drake Lindsay changed his number from 3 to 5 to make sure Koi had his number. So, talk about a selfless teammate."
Minnesota opens the season August 28 at home against Buffalo. The home schedule also includes Purdue, Nebraska, Michigan State and Wisconsin at Huntington Bank Stadium this season.