Gophers football training camp starts with goal of recapturing 2019's success

A college football team's media day typically has coaches and players brimming with optimism. No team has taken a loss on the season, and hope still springs eternal.

On Tuesday at the Athletes Village, the Gophers held their media day with plenty of smiles and goodwill, but also with the attitude that they have a lot of work to accomplish between Wednesday's opening practice drills and the Sept. 2 opener against Ohio State.

"This is a very important year for us,'' said coach P.J. Fleck, entering his fifth season as Gophers coach, coming off a 3-4 season hampered by COVID-19 issues but with the 11-2 breakthrough season of 2019 not yet a distant memory.

Fleck and Co. want to make sure that 2021 looks more like 2019 than 2020, and to do that, the coaching staff put the team through rigorous spring practices, aiming to make up for the development time lost to COVID-19 and setting the tone for the season.

"We got after it in the spring,'' Fleck said. "If you ask a lot of our football players, that was probably one of the hardest things they've went through just from the whole season, coming back and all the things they've been through.''

It's just the approach that the Gophers need, according to defensive lineman Micah Dew-Treadway, entering his third year with Minnesota after four at Notre Dame. Dew-Treadway described how the tense moments in big games serve as a bonding agent among players.

"This is hard. Let's get through it,'' he said. "That's the type of stuff that brings us together. Being connected is something I think is very undervalued.''

"We have a lot of depth,'' Fleck said, "and I think that's critical anytime you want to be a really good football team.''

All those attributes will be put to a stiff test right away when Ohio State, last year's national runner-up to Alabama, visits Huntington Bank Stadium on the first Thursday in September for a nationally televised game. Before turning their attention completely to the Buckeyes, the Gophers know they need to make huge strides during training camp.

"We're really process-driven, and we have to change our best on a daily basis and come together,'' Morgan said. "That's how we'll be able to look back at ourselves and say, 'OK, we've given ourselves a chance to be successful Sept. 2.' ''

Added guard Conner Olson, "Ohio State will be Ohio State when we play them, and in the meantime the only thing we can do is prepare ourselves.''

Like Dew-Treadway, Olson pointed to the bond that the Gophers have developed. He came back for a sixth season that the NCAA allowed by not charging players a year of eligibility in 2020.

Chris Autman-Bell, the Gophers top returning receiver, sees the work put in during spring football as carrying a lasting influence.