P.J. Fleck extolled attributes and virtues of the 31 incoming freshman players signed to the Gophers’ 2026 recruiting class last Wednesday. He even shouted out notable things about some of their parents and siblings.
For instance, Tolleson, Ariz., receiver Rico Blassingame’s mom and dad love craft beer. Beverly and Ryan will likely be spotted with pints in a local brewery when visiting their son next fall.
The kid brother of Janesville, Wis., offensive lineman Gavin Meier was exceptionally inquisitive during a recruiting meeting in Fleck’s corner office at the U. Kenny peppered the head coach with questions.
The mother of Newberry, Fla., receiver Hayden Moore “makes the best macaroni and cheese in the world,” Fleck exclaimed. Heidi carefully sent a sample of the dish to Minnesota for Fleck to eat, and Fleck revealed some no-longer-secret ingredients to her recipe (sharp Sargento and mozzarella cheeses).
After a 35-minute rundown of each new player, Fleck was asked a question about the importance of connections with members of each player’s family.
“I think it’s absolutely critical,” Flek responded. Then he went on a rant about another facet of his job: retention of current players on the roster.
Since last summer, the NCAA has allowed athletic departments to distribute revenue sharing payments directly to players, so whether a current player comes back to a school or not includes a direct financial component. That often entails the Gophers working with someone from outside the player’s immediate family to represent them in negotiations.
“Those parents are so important to me, but there’s people that say, ‘Don’t talk to the parent, I’m the agent,’” Fleck said in front of media members and a group of program boosters inside the U’s locker room at Huntington Bank Stadium last week. “Nah, I’m going to talk to the parent. … And I’m going to talk to the kid,”
Fleck said an unnamed player recently walked into his office and said, “It’s just business.”
“I said, ‘It’s not business here. There is a piece of business here. But this is not business. This is a life program,’” Fleck said. “And these guys knew exactly that, because I give that line.”
Fleck leans on his “Row The Boat” culture and incorporating off-the-field facets, such as volunteering, into how the U operates. On the business side, he said detailed contract negotiations are handled by the Gophers’ General Manager, Gerrit Chernoff, and Director of Player Personnel, Marcus Hendrickson.
“We don’t have to talk money,” Fleck said about his personal meetings with existing players.
“But that kid is going to sit down there and have a man-to-man business conversation before he goes and runs your company or you hire him,” Fleck said as he gestured to boosters.
Fleck added that type of difficult conversation will prepare the player for life after college, giving an example of star players perhaps having an important dinner with the leadership of an NFL team before being drafted.
“We better get comfortable being a little uncomfortable and that’s OK,” Fleck said. “I’m not trying to trick a kid. The salaries are kind of set by the market. I just want to talk to the kid and I’m going to talk to the parent. People don’t like that; they don’t like that. But that is my promise to families.”
As part of the House v. NCAA settlement, $20.5 million will be distributed by the Gophers athletic department and other major programs nationwide to individual players in 2025-25 academic year. Each football team has approximately $15 million to distribute in shares to players. Name, image and likeness (NIL) sums are in a separate pot. For rev share, star players at vital positions will receive the most money, and the rest will trickle on down the line with the smallest allotments going to low-rated freshman buried on the depth chart.
Since the end of the 2025 regular season, the Gophers have had 10 total players announce intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2. Nine of them were back-ups, former walk-ons, special teams contributors or freshmen likely looking at long waits to receive playing time in a few years.
Then there’s Fame Ijeboi, a redshirt freshman running back who showed promise with 515 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in 11 games last season. The Pennsylvania product stepped up in 2025 when staring tailback Darius Taylor was again sidelined by injuries.
Through his representatives, Ijeboi said Tuesday he plans to enter the portal with three years of eligibility remaining. That’s a blow to the Gophers’ depth and player development at an important position.
“There’s going to be some guys we keep; some guys we can’t keep,” Fleck said in general about player retention during the Rate Bowl news conference on Sunday. “… That’s true for everybody in the country, but I’m really proud of our guys and the maturity that they handle all this with. It’s a tough few weeks; it is.”
The Gophers did an exceptional job retaining players after the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Only a few key players left those off-seasons. During this period, programs are in wait-and-see mode for who might not be coming back for 2026.
Last year, the Gophers worked ahead on player retention during their second in-season bye week. This year, it’s been happening more after the regular season ended less than two weeks ago.
“You don’t know who is coming back,” Fleck said. “There are a lot of things being said. There are different negotiations being done. It’s very unique, but I think coaches and players are learning a lot from all of this. You know what fits you and what doesn’t. That is OK. At the end of the day, you are going to create a football team that fits you, that they selected to be there and that you learn about as a football coach in who you bring in.”
Related Articles
Gophers running back Fame Ijeboi plans to enter transfer portal
Gophers next? Minnesota Duluth TE Luke Dehnicke making jump to DI
Gophers football: P.J. Fleck shares why he fired U’s defensive line coach
Gophers football: New Mexico will be a challenge in the Rate Bowl
Gophers likely bowl destination: Rate Bowl in Phoenix
Leave a Reply