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Perich on Potential Path to Be Most Decorated Gopher Ever

Posted on July 27, 2025July 27, 2025 by David Shama

Koi Perich could become the most decorated player in the history of University of Minnesota football, a program that dates back to 1882. The Golden Gophers safety and return specialist earned numerous honors as a freshman in 2024 and he is identified by many sources this summer as a national player to watch during the coming season.

His 2024 recognition included:

Sporting News Second Team All-American
FWAA Freshman All-American
All-Big Ten First Team, Defensive Back
All-Big Ten Second Team, Return Specialist
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
Big Ten Freshman of the Week
Shaun Alexander (National) Freshman of the Year Award Finalist

This summer college football magazines are touting Perich as a 2025 preseason All-American safety. One of the magazines, Phil Steele Publications, also named Perich as a third team All-Big Ten punt returner.

Perich is included on the recently announced Big Ten football Honors List of the top 16 players for the coming season. He is also on the watch list for the Lott IMPACT Trophy Award, presented annually to a defensive player for his character and athletic abilities. He is also expected to be on the watch list for the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s premier defensive back.

Perich presumably will play this season and next for the Gophers before entering the NFL Draft. He could become the all-time aggregator of football awards in Dinkytown, partially because of his excellence and also because through the decades more and more honors have been created for college football players to win.

Koi Perich photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

No football freshman at the U ever had the decorated season that Perich earned. Looks like he will rule the sophomore category, too. Center Greg Eslinger, who would go on to win the prestigious Outland Trophy and Remington Award later on in his career, was named All-Big Ten as a sophomore in 2003, but based on pre-season hype Perich could do more than that.

The legendary Paul Giel had some serious hardware in his possession, but the great halfback earned his major honors as a junior and senior in the 1950s. The two-time All-American was also twice named the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player. Despite playing on a mediocre team, Giel was runner-up for the 1953 Heisman Trophy in possibly the closest vote ever for the award.

The intrigue about Perich, who could become Minnesota’s first three-time All-American, certainly goes beyond what he showed last season. Yes, his athleticism and heady play helped him lead the Big Ten in interceptions with five. And, yes, he had a mesmerizing 82-yard punt return against defending national champion Michigan in the “Big House.” But this year coach P.J. Fleck is making it known his versatile star will be asked to be a playmaker on offense, too.

Expectation is that while Perich won’t be an every down player on offense, he could have numerous touches in each game as a receiver and runner. “Koi is very explosive,” said first-year quarterback Drake Lindsey.

Lindsey and Perich have been working together in the offseason. Lindsey, an Arkansas native, has become close friends with Perich. The two were down in Arkansas during the offseason where Lindsey threw to Perich.

It’s been apparent to Lindsey that Perich’s football gifts include his sure hands. He has also seen Perich’s successful assimilation of the formations and nuances of the Gopher offense. “He’s really smart,” Lindsey said.

If Perich, who is about 6-1 and 215 pounds, takes to offense like he has defense and returning punts and kicks, he could follow a similar path to Travis Hunter who won the Heisman Trophy after last season. In the almost unheard-of age of players contributing on both offense and defense, Hunter was elite playing cornerback and wide receiver for Colorado.

It’s premature and irresponsible to make comparisons between Perich and Hunter. But Perich, the small-town kid from near Duluth, has already put his name on the national stage.

And it looks like he will bring fame to not only the Gophers but to Esko, Minnesota, population of about 2,000. Esko came up in a recent interview with Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine who asked what he should see in the small town if he had a week there.

“Oh, not much,” Perich quipped.

Revsine then said what if he had just a “few hours” to check out the town.

“Hey, that’s all you need,” Perich replied. “Got one stop light. Go check out the school. We got Tequilla Town (restaurant). I think that’s what it’s called now. …”

Indeed, that’s what the restaurant name is. Perich recalled that the Mexican cuisine restaurant replaced the pizza place in town. He usually gets things right on and off the field.

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Ready for a Top 25 List for The Last Six Months of 2025?

Posted on July 10, 2025July 10, 2025 by David Shama

The calendar shows we’re halfway through the year and I am listing 25 things I am hoping for in the next six months.

Alert: recognizing the varied tastes of readers regarding humor, please note the word “wink” will be used to indicate anticipated levity. Feel welcome to use this as a prompt to laugh (howl?), like in the TV studio when a sign says: “APPLAUSE!”

Well, it’s already July 10 so best get to these 25 gems whether they be well-intended, sarcastic or funny.

1. The Timberwolves are bringing back 36-year-old Joe Ingles for another season at a reported $3.6 million to provide karma in the locker room and cheerleading from the bench. How cool would it be for the seldom used Ingles to have a double-digit scoring game playing in front of his autistic young son Jacob?

2. New Wolves owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez could have a “wandering eye” when it comes to keeping the team in Minneapolis. Hoping the replacement for Target Center will stay in the city rather than be built in the ‘burbs. The city is the economic hub of the region, and a new arena is vital to its future as a place where Minnesotans want to be.

3. Let’s hope when the 2025-2026 schedules come out, there are fewer same night home conflicts involving the Wolves, Wild and Golden Gophers men’s basketball than ever before. Also, we can do without those Gopher basketball games on the same Sundays the Vikings play.

4. A longshot, but how inspiring it would be to see all the NHL Russian hockey players join with North American-based past and present Ukrainian amateurs and pros in leading a public peace vigil to encourage an end to the brutal war that has saddened the world for years.

5. Wink: Wondering if Wild GM and woodworking enthusiast Bill Guerin might send me a table for outside grilling. Por favor, have the table on wheels, with a butcher block top, hooks and a beer bottle opener.

6. Wink 2: Hoping our area can attract an American Cornhole League franchise so we can move a step closer to having every kind of sports franchise under the sun.

7. Any chance Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, among the highest paid at his position in MLB, can hit like a $33 million player?

8. Fingers crossed that center fielder Byron Buxton plays a career high 140-plus games this season.

9. It will be a classy union if anticipated new Twins franchise buyers include Joe Mauer in the ownership and he becomes a prominent face of the franchise for decades to come.

10. Hoping for more games where the Twins use former manager Paul Molitor as the analyst on broadcasts. His insights are among the best in Twins broadcast history.

11. Get ready to applaud if the Vikings announce plans for statues outside U.S. Bank Stadium including one for legendary coach Harry Peter Grant. At the same time also commit to honoring the famed “Purple People Eaters” with a statue. That defensive line scared the deuce out of opposing offenses for about a decade and consisted mostly of Alan Page, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall and Gary Larsen.

12. The Gophers need to get into the statue-erecting business too outside of Huntington Bank Stadium. There are a lot of ultra worthy names to choose from starting with Bobby Bell, Bernie Bierman, Greg Eslinger, Paul Giel, Bronko Nagurski and Bruce Smith.

13. Shocking: 2016 Vikings No. 1 draft pick Laquon Treadwell, considered a consensus bust in Minnesota, has stayed in the NFL playing for five other teams including in two games with the Colts last season. But, no, he isn’t returning here in 2025.

14. Fingers crossed Jordan Addison doesn’t have a three-peat of summer driving incidents.

15. More fingers crossed: Quarterback Max Brosmer makes the Vikings’ 53-man roster or at least the practice squad.

16. Miracle: Vikings fans choose not to boo the snot out of first-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy when he screws up. And he will.

17. Miracle 2: the football Gophers win either at Oregon or Ohio State.

18. Happy Birthday, Reusse: Coach P.J. Fleck and the Gophers defeat Nebraska on Patrick Reusse’s 80^th birthday, October 17. (For the unaware: Google Reusse on Fleck.)

19. Networking: let’s get new Golden Gophers basketball coach Niko Medved together with Jim Dutcher, the 92-year-old wise man who was head coach of the 1982 Big Ten title team.

20. Bulletin board locker-room material: In the last 20 men’s basketball seasons the Gophers have one winning season in conference games, while neighboring rivals Wisconsin and Iowa have 17 and nine respectively.

21. Wink 3: Potential speaking invitations for yours truly? Nope. Don’t like speaking and no good at it. (Available, though, for a five-figure fee!)

22. Appropriate: The Lynx win the WNBA championship against the Liberty on a controversial call by the refs.

23. Appropriate 2: The Lynx acquire Minnesota native Paige Bueckers prior to next season.

24. Canterbury Park and Running Aces get dealt in on sports wagering when state legislation is finally approved.

25. And we all need to remember this quote from Samuel Johnson in the next six months and beyond: “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”

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Supporters Talk ‘Recipe’ for Coach Medved Success at U

Posted on June 25, 2025July 8, 2025 by David Shama

There is an old cliché about impressive coaches “winning” their introductory press conferences. An initial honeymoon can extend longer and that appears to be the reality for new University of Minnesota men’s basketball coach Niko Medved.

The Minnesota born and raised Medved has been a hit since the announcement came on March 24 that he was leaving his successful program at Colorado State to take the head coaching job at his alma mater. He’s been embraced literally and figuratively because of his ties to the state, successful coaching record at multiple stops and a personality that resonates as authentic, humble and determined to restore the Gopher basketball brand.

Sports Headliners checked in with sources tied to the program and asked their thoughts about the 52-year-old Medved who was a student manager in the 1990s under head coach Clem Haskins. That era was the last time the program had a glorious run—with Williams Arena turned into a mad house and the best ticket value in town for sports entertainment.

…”It’s probably the best fit this place has had in quite some time,” said former Gopher radio analyst Spencer Tollackson about the Medved hire.

Tollackson played at Minnesota in 2006-2007 when Medved was an assistant on the staff. So, too, did Jamal Abu-Shamala who believes the new coach will do a “fantastic job running the program.”

One of the requirements for success with the Gophers, Abu-Shamala reminded Sports Headliners, is connecting with the community and fans. “He’s the perfect guy for this day and age. He’s really good in front of a crowd. He’s good in front of people and that’s only going to build that connectivity to the program which people feel they need…here in Minnesota. I think that’s more critical than ever.”

In the new millennium, losing seasons have become commonplace at the U. Minnesota finished last in the Big Ten standings in both 2022 and 2023. The last time the Gophers finished with a winning record in Big Ten games was 10-8 in 2017. Prior to that the only winning season in conference games was 2005 at 10-6.

Medved’s coaching chops with teaching and strategizing will be important for a turnaround, but talent always figures in prominently. And in the new world of college basketball, players can earn not just six-figures but become millionaires because of revenue sharing by athletic departments and compensation for name, image and likeness.

Tollackson refers to the “differentiating factor” of money in today’s landscape. And he recalled someone said this to him: “The answer is money. Now what’s your question?”

Gopher booster Bob Klas has given significant amounts of money to Minnesota’s official collective for NIL, Dinkytown Athletes. He was asked the following:

Can Medved be more successful as Gopher coach than his four predecessors in this millennium? And what will it take?

“A key to Niko being successful, as I imagine will be true for most other coaches, will be the amount of revenue sharing and NIL money he’ll have available for his program,” Klas said via email. “From what I’ve heard and read so far, the (Gopher) athletics department seems committed to providing him with a competitive budget. If that happens, I think Niko’s program can be in the upper half of the Big Ten, which hasn’t been the case for a while.”

Jim Petersen, a member of Minnesota’s 1982 Big Ten championship team, said previous coach Ben Johnson “was kind of hamstrung a little bit” regarding NIL money but he anticipates Medved having more resources. Word is men’s basketball will have more money than in the past from Dinkytown Athletes, and revenue sharing by the athletic department is expected to begin this summer for multiple sports at Minnesota including Medved’s program.

“I think he’s going to be successful,” Petersen said in response to a question about what the future will hold for Medved.

Those who know Medved believe his success will partially come from his ability to identify talent when others don’t. At Colorado State he recruited Minneapolis native David Roddy when many programs didn’t show that much interest, and he helped develop him into a NBA first round pick. In this week’s draft former Rams star Nique Clifford, who transferred to Fort Collins after a mediocre run at Colorado, is likely to go in the first round.

Abu-Shamala sees Medved as a coach who burns to win and will discover under the radar talent. “I think he’s super competitive. He’s a worker. He’s out and about all the time connecting with coaches…but he’s also going around and he’s looking at players’ intangibles that I think are often overlooked.

“Nowadays, there’s all these analytics. This guy shoots this percentage from three and this is how he fits in. But I think often overlooked is the element of who they are as people and how they fit into a culture. And I think he will do a really nice job of finding those players that have the pieces that you can’t measure with analytics.

“David Roddy had that. He’s just a worker. He didn’t fit a position, so people didn’t know where to slot him. And you get guys like that, that can find a role on a team, and they’ll be successful.”

If Abu-Shamala sounds pumped about Medved, he’s not alone. “I want to go play (for him) right now,” said the 63-year-old Petersen, once a prep All-American at St. Louis Park High School and also an NBA veteran.

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