Gophers football safety dance relies on Kerry Brown, Aidan Gousby standing in for Koi Perich

If you see Koi Perich catch a pass for 30 yards this fall, don’t forget to thank Kerry Brown. If Perich rips off a 10-yard gain on a sweep, be sure to tip your hat to Aidan Gousby.

Perich, the Gophers’ do-it-all sophomore safety, will have a role on offense this season, as training camp has shown. To utilize the Esko, Minn., native’s skills when Minnesota has the football, he might take a handful of snaps fewer on defense. That’s where Brown and Gousby come in. They’re high-end and versatile safeties who team with Perich to make their position group one that even the blue blood programs would envy.

And if they can fill in while defensive coordinator Danny Collins “lends” Perich to the offense, all the better.

“We have a plan in place,” said Collins, who’s in his first year as defensive coordinator but who has coached the team’s safeties since 2022 and has been part of Fleck’s staffs since 2015 with Western Michigan. “We’re ready for that plan right now. In the season, we have it pretty narrowed down.”

Collins last week pointed to a third safety, senior Darius Green, having a strong training camp, but Green did not practice Tuesday because of injury.

Brown, a 5-10, 190-pound third-year sophomore from Naples, Fla., has shown he’s a quick study since arriving on campus in January 2023. He played in five games that year, preserving his redshirt, and spent most of the season on special teams. He finished strong with two tackles in the regular-season finale against Wisconsin before collecting five tackles in his first start, vs. Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl.

Last year, Brown started nine of 12 games and finished third on the team with 63 tackles. He developed a knack for making big plays, including a fourth-down stop that ended a drive in a win over Maryland and a tackle for loss on third down and a pass breakup on fourth down to end an Illinois drive with the Gophers leading 22-17 in an eventual 25-17 upset of the No. 24 Illini. He finished the season with two interceptions and four pass breakups.

“Kerry Brown loves football,” Collins said. “The thing that I love is how he comes to work every day — he’s always got a smile on his face, but he’s a guy that can do everything. He can play a post, he can blitz, his man coverage is the best that it’s ever been. He’ll hit you, you know. … He’s played six different positions, so being able to do that, that’s what makes him a really special player."

For Brown, confidence comes through practice and striving to improve.

“I just believe in what I can do,’’ he said. “I make sure to study every single day, get in the film room, work on my technique on the field and off the field and just continue to get better so I can play all those different roles.”

At 6-0 and 190 pounds, Gousby plays with a physical tone and made 23 tackles last year. The junior from Lehigh Acres, Fla., redshirted in 2022, played nine games in 2023 before missing the final four contests because of injury and started eight games among 10 appearances in 2024. He’s looking forward to expanding his role.

“It’s plug-and-play,” Gousby said. “Wherever I’m needed, I’ll be there. We’ve got so many weapons in the room — defense in general, and the whole team, honestly. Wherever I can plug in and play, I’m going to give my all."