Golden Gophers – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Hard to Believe Koi Perich Won’t Move on from Gophers

Posted on January 2, 2026January 2, 2026 by David Shama

Koi Perich, the home state hero, has his name in the college football transfer portal. He reportedly hasn’t decided whether he will transfer or return to the Gophers for his junior season next fall.

If the Esko, Minnesota native didn’t intend to move on, why place his name in the portal window which opened today and runs through January 16? Perich, who was a Sporting News second-team All-American as a freshman safety in 2024, already knows how much money he can earn playing for the Gophers. He’s also familiar with the coaches, teammates, program environment and 2026 expectations.

By declaring the Gophers are still in the picture, Perich does give himself leverage when he and his representatives consider offers from other programs. The posture also takes some public “heat” off him in his home state.

“This is definitely not about the money,” an authoritative sports source told Sports Headliners today about Perich’s motivations.

Make no mistake. The University of Minnesota football program wants to retain Perich. For the coming season the Gophers might be willing to pay him low seven-figures in combined revenue share and Name, Image and Likeness money for his expected final season of college football before he declares for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Gophers football star Koi Perich — Koi Perich photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

That’s really stretching the budget because college safeties usually have a compensation ceiling under $1 million (see August 24 Max Olson ESPN.com story on money value per positions in college football). The Gophers, though, could be willing to go higher based on Perich’s resume of being among the more talented and experienced safeties in college football, plus his value as a kick and punt returner, and part-time availability as a receiver and runner on offense.

The Miamis, Ohio States and Oregons have the resources to outbid the Gophers on Perich but his decision whether to move on is probably first about playing for a program that can realistically compete for conference and national championships. The last two seasons the Gophers have produced 8-5 overall and 5-4 conference records.

A talented and motivated Perich wants to win every game. That’s not realistic at Minnesota where last month the team had to go into overtime to defeat non-power four conference New Mexico in the Rate Bowl. In 2025 Minnesota was embarrassed in conference losses to Ohio State and Oregon by a combined score of 84-16.

Perich almost chose Ohio State coming out of high school where he was a four-star recruit and one of the nation’s best safety prospects. A last-minute decision sent him to coach P.J. Fleck’s program which just completed its ninth season under his leadership.

In Columbus the Buckeyes are presumably losing All-American safety Caleb Downs who is eligible for the NFL Draft after playing three seasons for Ohio State. Perich could step in and start, while being surrounded by a much more talented group of teammates.

Oregon star safety Dillon Thieneman is also a junior and eligible for the draft. Downs, Thieneman and Perich are all free safeties.

And at Miami, Perich could join his former Gopher defensive coordinator Cory Hetherman who has the same role for the Hurricanes. Miami and Oregon are still alive in the college football playoffs while Ohio State, the 2025 defending national champions, was eliminated New Year’s Eve in a semi-final loss to the Hurricanes. Those three programs offer the opportunity to play on college football’s biggest stages.

Home state college heart strings and the opportunity to play in front of family don’t figure to keep Perich in a Gopher uniform. Growing up in the small town of Esko outside of Duluth, it was the Vikings who stirred his deep passion, not the Gophers. And with the money Perich can now command in college football, he can afford to pay for his family to see him play anywhere in the country.

When Perich was a freshman, he did a memorable late October interview with Paul Allen on KFAN Radio. He talked about how the Gophers, despite their 5-3 record, were a top 10 caliber team. Call it naïve for him to say what he did, or just a young man talking about aspirations for his team, to this listener his comments were telling about his desires.

Neither the eye test nor the Pro Football Focus analysis verify that Perich was as effective last season as his first. His interception total, for example, was down from five to one, while offenses strategized to avoid his area on the field. PFF graded him 88.9 for his overall performance as a safety in 2024, one of the best numbers in the country for his position. This year his grade was 62.4.

It’s emotionally difficult for Gopher fans to think about the 2026 season without their home state hero. However, even if Perich returned for the coming year, it was definitely going to be his last in college football. From the start it’s believed his plan was to play three years and then move on to the NFL.

There is also solace in knowing the safety position isn’t as important as several others on the team. That list starts with quarterback and includes offensive and defensive linemen. Pushed for an answer, college football authorities would generally prefer a superb cornerback to a gifted safety.

If this is goodbye with Perich, be grateful it’s not redshirt sophomore quarterback Drake Lindsey departing. Or junior running back Darius Taylor who announced today he will return rather than opt for the 2026 NFL Draft.

While in no way diminishing the contribution of Perich, the source referenced above said losing Perich will not be “catastrophic” for the program.

1 comment

Shadow of 2019 Success Hangs Over Gopher Football

Posted on December 28, 2025 by David Shama

The University of Minnesota football program has produced similar results in recent seasons and hasn’t duplicated the excellence of 2019 when the Golden Gophers went 11-2, including a prestigious Outback Bowl win over SEC power Auburn.

After the Outback victory, the Gophers finished No. 10 in the Associated Press top 25 poll. In head coach P.J. Fleck’s third season at Minnesota his team emerged as a Big Ten title contender, going 7-2 in league games including a for the ages home upset of then No. 5 ranked Penn State.

That team’s roster had major contributors recruited by Fleck such as wide receiver Rashod Bateman, quarterback Tanner Morgan and tailback Mo Ibrahim. Significant playmakers on that team included many individuals recruited by the previous coaching staff regimes such as safety Antoine Winfield Jr., defensive end Carter Coughlin, linebackers Thomas Barber and Kamal Martin, and wide receiver Tyler Johnson.

The Gophers haven’t finished a season (including bowl games) with a top 25 ranking since the magic of 2019. Disregarding the COVID shortened 2020 campaign, the program has usually produced similar win and loss totals.

In both 2024 and 2025 the Gophers were 8-5 overall, 5-4 in the Big Ten. The 2021 and 2022 teams were both 9-4, with the former finishing 6-3 in conference games and the latter 5-4. The outlier season was 2023 when Minnesota was 6-7 and 3-6.

The last five seasons Minnesota has qualified for and won its bowl games including the 20-17 victory Friday over New Mexico in the Rate Bowl. Fleck is undefeated in bowl games with the Gophers, winning seven consecutive outings. Minnesota’s total win streak of nine is the best in the nation and in Big Ten history.

Doesn’t it seem like there’s a Groundhog Day movie feel here?

Gopher football coach P.J. Fleck — P.J. Fleck

Fleck, his staff and players are doing all kinds of things right and doing them consistently. They rally to win in come from behind games including against four foes in 2025, showing they can make coaching adjustments and perform in the clutch. They often beat the teams they’re expected to handle, including non-conference softies and league opponents. They have stoked home state pride by defeating Wisconsin in four of the last five years and getting Paul Bunyan’s Axe comfortable with a Dinkytown residence. And in the transfer madness of the 2020s, Fleck and his staff have been very successful in retention of players.

Off the field, players consistently attend class and produce GPA’s that make mom and dad happy. Fleck insists on more than academics off the field, though. His serving and giving community commitment has staff and players engaged in efforts and appearances to help those in need in the community. And unlike the distant past, scandal caused by miscreant behavior hasn’t embarrassed the University.

Less appealing in the sameness mode is how the Gophers fare on the field against the “big boys” of the Big Ten. In 2025 Minnesota was outscored by 84-16 in games against conference titans Oregon and Ohio State. Fleck is also 0-4 in the Little Brown Jug rivalry with Michigan and two years ago in Minneapolis lost 52-10.

Iowa sometimes flirts with Big Ten “big boy” status and pretty much owns the Gophers. Fleck is 1-8 against the Hawkeyes and this year his team was pounded 41-3 in Iowa City. The last two seasons Minnesota has been outscored 72-17 in the Floyd of Rosedale series.

Both Iowa and Minnesota are self-described developmental programs, meaning four and five high school recruits don’t flock to Iowa City and Minneapolis. Iowa is clearly better at the developmental stuff than the Gophers. Iowa’s defenses and special teams are usually among the elite in the nation. The best players on those units regularly include players from the state of Iowa, sometimes coming from small town high schools.

Annual season results for Gopher fans typically include frustration with a more than winnable game or two that turns into a L. In 2024 the Gophers blew a prime opportunity to open the season with public favor, losing a big nonconference game at home to North Carolina, 19-17 (two missed field goals). In 2023 and 2025 they had aggravating 37-34 and 38-35 road losses to a Northwestern program that specializes in mediocrity. After this fall’s loss fans were writing about a “pitiful defensive performance” and questioning the coaching.

Even home attendance patterns are similar in this era of Gopher football. Average home attendance for the last five seasons is in the 45,000 to 48,500 range at 50,805 seats capacity Huntington Bank Stadium. Public season ticket sales for the last three years have been in the 23,000 to 25,400 range.

More numbers? The Gopher football program’s salary pool to pay assistant coaches is consistently among the lowest in the Big Ten. And money to pay players for Name, Image and Likeness at Minnesota is believed to be average at best among Big Ten peers and perhaps lagging behind a lot of programs.

For the most passionate Gopher football fans who burn to win, it’s impossible not to envy the stunning success of Indiana football the last two seasons. Historically, the Big Ten’s worst football program has transformed itself to one of the nation’s best. In 2025 the Hoosiers are 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in the nation. And this comes off an 11-2 season a year ago.

The Hoosiers needed a miracle man to transform their deplorable program, and they got one in head coach Curt Cignetti. A master program organizer, talent evaluator, game and practice coach, and motivator, Cignetti, 64, received a major college coaching opportunity late in life. He had won at previous lower tier spots (Google him) and has shocked the sports world with his success at IU.

No doubt the Hoosiers have more money to pay players than in the past but the resounding success in Bloomington is about much more than that. It’s about coaching genius led by a man who is so good at everything he does, it’s impossible to believe he couldn’t win championships at most any school: From the Azusa Pacific Cougars to the Hamline Pipers to the Youngstown State Penguins.

There are renaissances going on at other programs, too. Included are places like Minnesota, where hometown college football teams fight the burden of a neighborhood NFL team that constantly grabs attention and resources. In Nashville, long time loser Vanderbilt has emerged as a national success story with the help of a prominent assistant coach named Jerry Kill. He brought his fiery New Mexico State quarterback, Diego Pavia, with him to help lead head coach’s Clark Lea’s Commodores.

In the last two seasons, Arizona State and its young head coach Kenny Dillingham, have become a better story than the local NFL Cardinals, winning the Big 12 title a year ago and making plans to develop a national footprint of success. Dillingham is a Sun Devil alum, just like Brent Key is an alum at Georgia Tech. He has revived the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta with winning seasons, including 9-4 in 2025.

Fleck and the Gophers, of course, want the success of the best teams, too. He encouraged his players to be “delusional” in their thinking before the 2025 season, encouraging them to have College Football playoff ambitions.

That’s the right kind of mindset for his program. To achieve that, the Gophers will need a more talented roster and one that includes many of the more gifted players having extensive playing experience. That’s what happened in 2019.

In attempting a 2019-like comeback, don’t expect the Gophers to break any rules in recruiting or other areas. At Minnesota (true for a long time), the mantra is “dot every ‘I,’ cross every ‘T.’ “

There we go again, talking about things that have been in place for years in Dinkytown.

2 comments

25 Years Calls for Remembering One Special Sports Story

Posted on December 19, 2025December 19, 2025 by David Shama

With calendar year 2025 coming to a close, I am asking what is your favorite Minnesota sports story for the first 25 years of the new millennium?

True, there haven’t been a ton of cherished times on the local sports scene since the year 2000. I once worked for the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, so God forbid that I label this town as Loserville, but few will argue we excel in disappointing outcomes.

The Vikings haven’t been to the Super Bowl since 1977. The Vikings have almost made the big show several times since then, including 2010 when an overtime loss to the Saints in the NFC championship game spoiled their ambitions. The hero who had more to do with the Vikings getting that far was quarterback Brett Favre whose first season in Minnesota is my favorite story of the millennium.

For years I risked being charged with treason before Favre arrived in Purple Town. His long career and accomplishments with the Packers had my adulation, even though I kept a low profile about it. The Purple Faithful might have hung me in effigy at Winter Park if they had known my secret loyalty.

All that changed with the public, though, in the summer of 2009 when ill will was immediately forgotten by Viking fans and he was embraced like a long-lost son of Bud Grant.

At age 39 and after 16 seasons in Green Bay, and one lost season with the Jets, there had been speculation earlier in the year Favre might retire from the NFL. Nope, the old gunslinger had more football to play and agreed to lead Minnesota—the Packers hated division rival to the west.

On August 18, 2009, he arrived in St. Paul on a private jet. Throngs of media and fans deluged the Vikings training facility in Eden Prairie. Favre’s decision to play for the Vikings was worthy of front-page news and interrupting regularly scheduled TV programming.

The town was buzzing about the former Super Bowl winning quarterback who would be a sure first ballot hall of famer. The three-time NFL MVP changed expectations inside and outside of the locker room. The good old southern boy with the cocky attitude, powerful arm and knack for winning big games had arrived. The fans adored him and teammates responded to his leadership. They also poked fun of his age by putting a rocking chair in the locker room.

Favre and the Vikings had a magical ride in 2009 including the first regular season home game. He threw a miraculous 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis in the end zone to defeat the 49ers 27-24. The Vikings had trailed 24-20 in the fourth quarter when the 80-yard TD drive started. It ended with Favre’s laser to Lewis to win the game with two seconds remaining.

Upon arrival in Minnesota Favre made it clear his ambitions were the highest possible. His performance backed that up. He threw only seven interceptions, the best of his career as a starting NFL quarterback dating back to 1992. His passing rating of 107.2 was also a career best, and only three previous times did he ever total more than the 33 touchdown passes of the 2009 season.

Favre was the team’s MVP, and his No. 4 jersey was the best-selling that year in the NFL. The Vikings transformed into one of the NFL’s most watched and popular teams.

Minnesota finished 12-4 during the regular season, the team’s best record since 1998 when the Vikings were 15-1.

Brett Favre with former U great and Packer teammate Darrell Thompson

It was an ecstatic experience for Minnesotans to watch this aging quarterback (turned 40 that October) inject life into a struggling franchise and show he could still play some of the best football of his life. His appeal, too, went beyond the field and throwing impossible passes. He came off as a blue-collar country boy with a charismatic personality. Fans knew of his flaws, a struggling past of alcohol and drugs, but that was ignored by the public and no doubt some thought his mistakes made him even more endearing.

In the playoff opener after the regular season, Favre fever rolled on as he threw four touchdown passes in a home beat down of the Cowboys, 34-3. He threw three touchdown passes, had no picks and the defense was ferocious.

A week later in the NFC title game in New Orleans the Saints played like they were crazed —with defensive players diving at Favre’s legs and targeting him with rough antics. It was later confirmed that there was a payoff bounty to players for excessive play in the game and in other games the Saints played.

Favre managed to survive but the Vikings should have been the beneficiary of unnecessary roughness calls. It might well have made a difference in the outcome of a game the Vikings lost 31-28 in overtime.

A lot of Vikings could have played better, including Favre who had two interceptions and a fumble in the game. The superhero, playing in his last playoff game, turned out to be human but what a ride he took the town and franchise on from August of 2009 to late January of 2010!

We witnessed what greatness is all about.

Favre returned for one last season in the NFL and with the Vikings. In 2010 the preseason excitement of Favre playing one more year diminished in the reality of a losing season and declining performance by him as he threw more interceptions than touchdown passes.

But 2010 didn’t throw any shade on the marvelous ride of 2009!

1 comment