

Gophers football head coach P.J. Fleck described this spring's practices as the toughest in his decade-long tenure, citing a deeper roster with 36 new players. He emphasized the team's resilience and the positive foundation laid for the upcoming season.
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P.J. Fleck can be prone to prodigious statements about the status of his Gophers football program. In that vein, to cap spring practices last Saturday, the U head coach said it was the most difficult series of 15 practices in his 10 years as head coach.
“This team is tough,” Fleck said. “This has been the hardest spring we have ever had, hands down. … We don’t practice longer than 95 minutes; that was not the case this spring.”
With 36 new players — a combo of additions from the transfer portal and early enroll freshmen — the U was deeper than most spring sessions, so they were able to platoon more than three units on both sides of the ball. That allowed them to practice 30 to 40 minutes more than usual.
“This team handled the spring ball better, respectively, than anybody I’ve ever hard,” Fleck said. “I told guys in (the locker room) that was the best spring I’ve been a part of.”
Fleck knows that promises nothing to his 2026 team, but it’s a good foundation to build from as they continue to work out and train before preseason camp begins in late summer.
Here are eight other colorful quotes from spring ball:
Darius Taylor has amassed 3,132 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns in his first three seasons, but he is turning over every rock to find improvements going into his senior year.
“I’ve got with a chef and I’ve got down to the macros level (carbs, proteins and fats),” the 6-foot, 215-pound running back said in March. “I’ve got with a Pilates coach. I’ve been doing Pilates every Wednesday and Saturday, just to strengthen those small core muscles and pelvic floor — all those things.”
Taylor will be the U’s bell cow tailback this fall, with senior A.J. Turner and incoming freshman Ryan Estrada the two most likely running mates.
The Gophers ranked 116th in the nation at 3.57 yards per carry last season and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh dedicated a portion of offseason study to NFL and college run-game schemes. He specifically mentioned diving into the work of Sean McVay and the L.A. Rams.
“The No. 1 thing we are going to instill in our guys is physicality,” Harbaugh said. “We are going to have a mentality up front that we are going to average four yards a carry. That is our goal.”
While it would be a half-yard improvement, that’s still a modest benchmark. A 4.3-yard-per-carry average would be needed to crack the top half of the 136 teams in FBS a year ago.
P.J. Fleck stated that this spring's practices were the hardest he has experienced in his 10 years as head coach.
The Gophers football team welcomed 36 new players, including transfers and early enroll freshmen.
The addition of new players allowed the team to platoon more units, enabling longer practice sessions than usual.
The preseason camp for Gophers football is set to begin in late summer.

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Edge rusher Anthony Smith led the Big Ten with 12 1/2 sacks last season. So, if Minnesota’s offensive line can block him, they can block anybody, according to Fleck.
Fleck often enjoys quoting movies and spun a new version of a famous pep talk from Patches O’Houlihan in the 2004 comedy “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.”
“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a … ball. If you can block Anthony Smith, then you can block anybody,” Fleck joked. “Some people have no idea what that means. You (reporters) all do. My players are looking at me like, ‘What’s it got to do with dodging a wrench?’”
Koi Perich’s transfer to Oregon drew a lot of attention in the offseason, but fellow u safety Kerry Brown of Naples, Fla., turned down interest from other big schools closer to his home to come back to Dinkytown for his final year.
“I just love to be here,” said Brown, who was fourth on the team with 56 total tackles and two interceptions in 2025. “This is where I wanted to be at. I have a bond with my team and my coaches.”
Before becoming the U’s new special teams coordinator, Daniel Da Prato was leading New Mexico’s kickoff return unit that had a 100-yard return for a touchdown against the Gophers in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix in December. The U eventually won 20-17 in overtime.
“That was a tough one,” De Prato said in mid-April. “I’m going to be honest. I’m going to take a half-day off here when they get their rings here some point.”
A few days later, the players were gifted studded rings with Goldy’s head as the centerpiece. It was the U’s ninth straight bowl win since 2014.
Karter Menz was quiet as a mouse when he arrived at the U from Horace, N.D. in the 2023 recruiting class. But his play has grown louder.
He had two sacks in the spring scrimmage last Saturday after posting 5 1/2 sacks in the final seven games of the 2025 season.
“Coach (Danny Collins) talks about that a lot; it’s like flipping the switch from the (person) you are off the field and (the player) on the field: turn the dark side on once you get on the field,” Menz said.
After spring practice No. 3, Fleck was asked by a local photojournalist an out-of-left-field question about North Dakota State joining the FBS ranks in the Mountain West Conference starting this fall.
“I got 99 issues, problems, things and that’s not one of them,” Fleck said. “But I wish them all the best, I guess. But my focus is on the University of Minnesota.”
Since coming to the U in 2017, Fleck showed no desire to schedule the Bison when they were winning FCS national championships, and he won’t be sending a gift basket to Fargo now.
The Gophers return their starting quarterback for the first time since Tanner Morgan came back in 2022, and Drake Lindsey has a strong foundation to build on for this fall.
As a redshirt freshman, Lindsey completed 63% of his passes for 2,382 yards, while taking care of the football (18 touchdowns to only six interceptions).
Going into his second year as starter, Lindsey will be asked to take the next step. He led the U on two scoring drives in the spring game, including a 74-yard bomb to Cincinnati transfer receiver Noah Jennings to set up the opening touchdown.
“I think Drake has really improved in the command of the offense, the mastery of the offense, making other people around him better,” Fleck said. “He’s got to continue to improve though. You can never be accurate enough.”