The Gophers kicked off their annual coaches' "Road Trip" bus tour around Minnesota on Monday morning with a send-off at TCF Bank Stadium, before heading on a 14-city journey.

Football coach P.J. Fleck said he was looking forward to exploring the state. This is the first time he's been part of a caravan like this, as his other coaching jobs haven't been at schools with the only Division-I programs in their respective states.

"We didn't have that at Western Michigan," he said. "You have Michigan, Michigan State, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley -- there were so many schools. And I'm sure Michigan and Michigan State did some things like that, but in the Mid-American Conference, you don't own the state like that.

"But that's what's really different about the state of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota. Everybody here, for the most part, is a Gopher fan, and we've got to collect them all and put them in that facility [TCF Bank Stadium] over the next however many years."

Fleck, Richard Pitino and the other coaches are scheduled to hit Winona and Rochester today. Here's the full list:

City

Date / Time

Event Location

Minneapolis

May 22 - 8 a.m.

Tribal Nations Plaza at TCF Bank Stadium

Winona

May 22 - 12:00 p.m.

Elks Lodge

Rochester

May 22 - 4:30 p.m.

Somerby Golf Club and Community

Owatonna

May 23 - 8:00 a.m.

Holiday Inn (Owatonna)

Fairmont

May 23 - 12:00 p.m.

Holiday Inn (Fairmont)

New Ulm

May 23 - 4:30 p.m.

Turner Hall

Redwood Falls

May 24 - 8:30 a.m.

Redwood Area Community Center

Hutchinson

May 24 - 12:00 p.m.

Crow River Golf Club

Spicer

June 5 - 11:30 a.m.

Johnny O'Neil's Green Lake Social

Perham

June 5 - 4:30 p.m.

Perham Lakeside Golf Club

Park Rapids

June 6 - 8:00 a.m.

Blueberry Pines Golf Course

Bagley

June 6 - 11:30 a.m.

Timber Events Center

Coleraine

June 6 - 4:30 p.m.

Eagle Ridge Golf Course

Hibbing

June 7 - 7:30 a.m.

Mesaba Country Club

Sartell

June 7 - 12:30 p.m.

The Grands at Mulligan