If you have a helicopter at your disposal you might as well use it, right?
That's just what Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck did Friday night, when a helicopter arrived at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex, picked up Fleck and wide receivers coach Matt Simon and whisked them away to Eastview High School in Apple Valley. That's where Edina's Quinn Carroll, a prized offensive tackle recruit was playing.
The helicopter ride was just the start of Fleck's plan to impress Carroll. Fleck wore a gold Gophers jersey with Carroll's No. 75, while Simon sported a gold jersey with No. 83, which Jay Carroll, Quinn's father, wore as a Gophers tight end from 1980 to '83.
Quinn Carroll, a 6-6 and 290-pound junior, has scholarship offers from most major powers, including Alabama, Notre Dame and USC.
With the Gophers on their bye week, Fleck and his assistants spent a lot of their time recruiting this week. He visited two games Friday night.
If Fleck's grand entrance via helicopter seems familiar, it is. Former Gophers coach Tim Brewster flew by helicopter to three games in the metro area in 2009.
RANDY JOHNSON
