Five storylines to watch as Gophers football training camp gets underway

The Gophers football team will open its 2025 season against Buffalo on Aug. 28 at Huntington Bank Stadium, and that means coach P.J. Fleck’s squad has one month until the games start to count.

Players reported to training camp Sunday, and Monday will mark the team’s first practice. This will be the Gophers’ ninth season with Fleck as coach, and they are seeking their seventh winning record in that span.

Here are five story lines to watch:

1. Quarterback, quarterback, quarterback

The Gophers bounced back from a 6-7 mark in 2023 to an 8-5 record last year in large part because of quarterback play. Graduate transfer Max Brosmer proved to be the efficient decisionmaker, clutch performer and poised leader Fleck and his staff were seeking. Now, Minnesota is hopeful that Brosmer passed those traits to Drake Lindsey, the redshirt freshman who hasn’t yet been named the starter but has worn that role since January. Lindsey brings size (6-5, 230 pounds), a big right arm and impressive prep stats (3,941 passing yards, 54 touchdown passes as a senior). What he doesn’t have is extensive collegiate experience.

“It’s the final piece to build the team how you want it,” Lindsey said of training camp. “You try to make sure the standard’s at the top every single practice, and not letting it come down for anything. And just attacking every single day with a learning mindset.”

Behind Lindsey, the Gophers have a couple of transfers in fifth-year Emmett Morehead (Boston College) and sophomore Dylan Wittke (Virginia Tech), plus true freshman Jackson Kollock and sophomore Max Shikenjanski.

Between Daniel Jackson and Elijah Spencer, the Gophers are losing a combined 127 receptions for 1,567 yards and 10 touchdowns. Replacing that productivity won’t be an easy feat, but Fleck has several candidates. Continued development from wide receiver Le’Meke Brockington (18 catches, 282 yards, one TD in 2024) and tight end Jameson Geers (28 catches, 298 yards, four TDs) will be key. Fleck also will count on transfer wideouts Javon Tracy (57 catches, 818 yards, seven TDs in 2024 at Miami of Ohio), Malachi Coleman (four-star recruit and transfer from Nebraska) and Logan Loya (109 catches, 1,314 yards, 12 TDs in five years at UCLA).

“Training camp could be really exciting for Malachi Coleman because he has traits that I haven’t seen in a long time,” Fleck said.

Also in the mix will be the ultimate wild card: Koi Perich, the second-team All-American safety and return specialist who worked with the offense during spring practice.

3. Speaking of star power

Perich, the sophomore from Esko, Minn., who led the Big Ten with five interceptions last year, becomes even more important to Minnesota’s defense this fall. The Gophers are set well with Perich, Kerry Brown and Aidan Gousby at safety, and they’re the strength of a secondary that must replace cornerbacks Justin Walley and Ethan Robinson, plus the versatile Jack Henderson. The football always seems to find Perich and look for him to build on season that included 46 tackles and 2 ½ tackles for loss in only three starts.

4. He’s already a junior

Running back Darius Taylor burst onto the scene in 2023, rushing for 799 yards in only six games. Last year, Taylor stayed healthy, rushed for 986 yards and led all Big Ten running backs with 54 receptions. Taylor has averaged 5.53 yards per touch in his Gophers career but look for the staff to use speedy transfer A.J. Turner from Marshall as a complement to Taylor, helping avoid overuse.

“I just want to become a more defined running back,” Taylor said. “I just want to make myself better and clean up the edges in all aspects of the game, the pass game, run game, pass protection, cerebrally understanding the team.”

5. Field goals count, too

For the first time since the 2022 season, the Gophers will rely on someone other than Dragan Kesich to do their place-kicking. The “Serbian Hammer” was the Big Ten Kicker of the Year in 2023 and amassed 194 points over the past two seasons, but he has exhausted his eligibility. That leaves a competition between true freshman Daniel Jackson of Alexandria, Minn., and Syracuse transfer Brady Denaburg. Jackson has a long field goal of 54 yards in high school, while Denaburg was a two-year starter on placekicks at Syracuse.