NCAA – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Dry Spell Way Too Long on Vikings Postseason Consistency

Posted on February 4, 2026February 4, 2026 by David Shama

In four seasons under the leadership of recently dismissed GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and current head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings have made the playoffs twice, qualifying in alternate years going back to 2022. Go back almost to the start of the new millennium and the Vikings have shown similar frustration and inconsistency in earning a postseason spot.

It hasn’t been since 2000 that the Vikings strung together three consecutive playoff appearances. Coach Denny Green’s teams made the playoffs five consecutive times from 1996-2000. In Green’s first season, 1992, he also started a run of three straight playoff appearances.

Bud Grant’s Vikings had a streak of six consecutive playoff seasons from 1973-1978. Although there were three Super Bowl losses in that period, it was clearly a period of glory for the franchise.

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell image by David Shama — Kevin O’Connell

What the current Viking drought shows is the lack of consistency by the Vikings in the new millennium. NFL teams who have achieved three straight playoff years and sometimes more in that time frame include the Bears, Bengals, Bills, Broncos, Bucs, Cardinals, Chiefs, Colts, Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons, Giants, Packers, Panthers, Patriots, Raiders, Rams, Ravens, Saints, Seahawks, Steelers, Texans, Titans and 49ers.

That’s 24 of the 32 NFL teams.

Teams with the most sustained success have great quarterbacks. The Vikings have been searching for “the guy” for decades while quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and others have lit up defenses.

Interestingly, Green never found the savior, but he found multiple quarterbacks in the 1990s that brought success. They had the support of superb linemen and receivers and an elite running back in Robert Smith.

A veteran pro football source, who has worked as an executive for NFL teams, believes the Vikings could make the playoffs after the 2026 regular season. “…It’s such a competitive league. Injuries are going to play a big part in it. The quarterback play obviously (is vital). Neither of those things lined up for them (the Vikings) this year and they still won nine games…. It shows that there’s enough talent to get it done, and if you’ve got a really top quarterback, and if (J.J.) McCarthy becomes that player, then there’s a really good chance they could have an extended streak of consistent playoff appearances and become a Super Bowl contender.”

The Vikings will be dealt an easier schedule in 2026 because of their mediocre record last season. One that figures to be more manageable than in 2025 because the Vikings had gone 14-3 in 2024.

Worth Noting

ESPN.com’s David Purdum recently wrote that approximately $1.76 billion is expected to be wagered on Sunday’s Super Bowl via U.S. Sports Books, per the American Gaming Association. That would represent a 27 percent increase from last year. Legalized gambling via Sports Books is available in 39 states and the District of Columbia, Purdum wrote.

Marshall Tanick, the Minneapolis-based attorney, writer and historian, wrote in a recent article for the Minneapolis Times that sports wagering in America had roots in Minneapolis after World War II. “The saga started here in the backroom of a cigar store on the corner of 4^th and 1^st Avenue, in what is now referred to as the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, about two blocks from where the Target Center stands. It was initially created by Leo Hirschfield, the slightly built but highly sharp son of a Minneapolis physician,” Tanick wrote.

A publication called the Green Sheet was sold by Hirschfield to clients offering odds on games involving two of the most popular sports of the day, major league baseball and college football. Ironically, Minnesota is one of the states where legalized gambling is not available. https://minneapolistimes.com/minneapolis-was-the-mecca-of-sports-betting/

In Sunday’s matchup between the favored Seahawks and Patriots, at least one former Gopher will earn a Super Bowl ring. Linebacker Boye Mafe and tight end Nick Kallerup play for the Seahawks, while linebacker Jack Gibbens is with the Seahawks.

Vikings alumni with the Seahawks are running back Cam Akers, quarterback Sam Darnold, linebacker Chazz Surratt and former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Alums with the Patriots include wide receiver Stefon Diggs, quarterback Josh Dobbs, center Garrett Bradbury, linebacker Christian Elliss, offensive tackle Vederian Lowe and defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga.

Darnold can become the fourth quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl in his first season with a team. The others are Tom Brady (Super Bowl LV with the Bucs), Trent Dilfer (Super Bowl XXXV, Ravens) and Matthew Stafford (Super Bowl LVI, Rams).

Chiddi Obiazor, the defensive end from Eden Prairie listed at 6-6, 275-pounds, has transferred from Kansas State to national champion Indiana. He seems a likely starter for the Hoosiers who host the Gophers October 31.

The Gophers aren’t included in the many “way too early top 25 rankings” from many sources. Opponents drawing mention on Minnesota’s 2026 12-game schedule are Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State and Washington.

Twins pitchers and catchers report for their first workout next week, February12 at the Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers. First full squad workout is February 16. First spring training game is at the complex February 20 against the Golden Gophers.

The Gopher men’s basketball team is averaging 8,511 in home game attendance (similar to last year’s 8,923) at Williams Arena, capacity 14,625. The St. Thomas men’s team, playing in its new Lee and Penny Anderson Arena with a capacity of 5,400, is averaging 2,723. The Tommies averaged 1,437 last season at Schoenecker Arena.

It will be interesting to see how the Wild and other playoff contending NHL teams play after a layoff of more than two weeks to accommodate the Winter Olympics. Injuries sustained in the Olympics and the issue of team chemistry are a potential nemesis because of the long break.

The Wild plays its final game before the break tonight in Nashville against the Predators, then resumes with a key matchup in Colorado against the Western Conference leading Avalanche February 26.

The highly acclaimed annual MFCA Coaches Clinic, headquartered at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park, will be held March 26-28 and is a partnership with the football Gophers. https://www.mnfootballcoaches.com/page/show/2279758-mfca-clinic-information

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Contract Extension for P.J. Fleck Reportedly in the Works

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

University of Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck, hired in January of 2017, has received numerous adjustments to his contract over the years and apparently is headed for another revision soon.

School president Dr. Rebecca Cunningham indicated that at a social club gathering in Naples, Florida recently. Minneapolis-based attorney, writer and historian Marshall Tanick reported via email to Sports Headliners what Cunningham and Fleck said at the Minnesota Breakfast club gathering, an organization in Southwest Florida that was started in 1964 by Minneapolis natives and draws prominent speakers during the winter months to its weekly programs.

Tanick wrote Cunningham “intimated that the school is about to extend Fleck’s contract” which now runs through 2030. Other details weren’t offered but a new extension falls in line with the support Fleck has received from athletics director Mark Coyle who hired him.

U coach P.J. Fleck & school president Rebecca Cunningham — Coach Fleck & Dr. Cunningham photo by Marshall Tanick

Coyle has frequently praised Fleck’s work at Minnesota, and he mentioned on local radio last fall the possibility of another revision to the coach’s contract which most recently was upgraded in July. The details of that agreement included increasing the amount of annual retention bonuses for remaining Minnesota’s coach. Also, part of the new agreement was a reduction in the amount owed to the U if Fleck were to leave the program by his own choice.

Fleck’s present deal pays him $6 million, plus escalating retention bonuses that started at $1 million in 2025 and go up each year. His $7million compensation last year ranked No. 12 in the 18 team Big Ten, per USA Today. He was tied for 31^st best paid among all college football head coaches, according to data published annually by USA Today.

Fleck has frequently had his name linked to other coaching openings in college football. Although he has yet to win a division or conference championship at Minnesota, his record compares favorably with his predecessors. He is the fifth-longest tenured coach in program history and currently only Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has been at his school longer among Big Ten coaches.

Fleck’s career Big Ten record is 39-40 and having about a .500 winning percentage is the best among Gopher coaches since Murray Warmath coached his last season in 1971. He is 66-44 overall at Minnesota and has moved ahead of Glen Mason for fourth most wins ever by a Gopher coach. He’s led the Gophers to five seasons of eight or more wins. His winning percentage of .600 is third best among Gopher coaches who coached 40 games or more.

Last season the Gophers were 8-5 overall, 5-4 in the Big Ten. Minnesota was 7-0 and undefeated at home for the first time since 1967. The Gophers won their seventh consecutive bowl game under Fleck when they defeated New Mexico in the Rate Bowl in Phoenix.

Tanick reported Fleck said the 2025 season was about what he expected and “pretty good.” He also said the Gophers may be better next season with the “majority of the team” returning. He highlighted three of his most gifted returnees in quarterback Drake Lindsey, running back Darius Taylor and edge rusher Anthony Smith.

Tanick wrote that Fleck is excited about Beckham Sunderland, a placekicking transfer from Michigan and Texas State. Fleck described the senior as an “unreal kicker.” He played at Texas State for special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato, who recently was hired for that job at Minnesota.

Fleck and his staff have had success in retaining most of their best players in the recent past. The transfer portal has created a lot of annual change with rosters but Fleck told the Florida audience his program has lost only two key players dating back to 2022. Both ironically transferred to Oregon with running back Bucky Irving joining the Ducks in 2022 season and safety Koi Perich leaving last month.

Fleck dropped an interesting nugget when he said Perich will receive a $2 million compensation package to play his junior season at Oregon in what is expected to be his final year of college football. Perich is one of the nation’s best strong safeties and excels as a punt and kick returner.

Yet the Ducks may have overpaid for the Esko, Minnesota native. Safety is usually not a position where players are able to command $2 million. That level is more typical for quarterbacks and stud linemen, particularly pass rushers.

Fleck expressed confidence to his Naples audience about the players competing to replace Perich who was a 2024 freshman All-American. Speculation is a top candidate is junior Mekhai Smith, the transfer from Lehigh who Pro Football Focus graded as the top safety in the Patriot League last year.

With limited high school talent in the state to recruit, and challenged by Name, Image and Likeness funding below many programs in the Big Ten and other power conference teams, Fleck and the Gophers are a developmental program. That often dictates finding undervalued recruits and overseeing the progress of all players on the roster to improve and even exceed expectations.

With that status, the Gophers are often compared to Iowa, a program that consistently makes the most of its talent. The Hawkeyes are better at what they do than the Gophers, characterized by their lights out defenses and extraordinary special teams that include top tier returners, kickers and punters.

Fleck is 1-8 against Iowa and no doubt burns to get that second win this fall in Minneapolis when the Hawkeyes come to town. Fleck and Coyle also got the message that once lowly Indiana was able overnight to climb from the basement of college football to the penthouse.

Beat the Hawks, improve the overall Big Ten record and muscle into the college football playoffs soon, and Fleck will certainly be in line for another extension, his best yet!

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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.

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