The Gophers football program will kick off the New Year with a big push to keep another top-ranked, in-state recruit from leaving Minnesota. The U has signed the No. 1 high school player in the state in the last two cycles and wants to keep that trend alive in the 2026 class.
In 2024, Esko safety Koi Perich turned down Ohio State to become all-Big Ten as a true freshman last fall. For 2025, Robbinsdale Cooper linebacker Emmanuel Karmo declined a bunch of Big Ten schools, signed with Minnesota in December and will be on the roster next fall.
Now, the priority target is Roman Voss, a versatile 6-foot-4, 215-pound athlete from Jackson County Central, a small school in the southwest corner of the state.
Tom Schuller, a longtime coach and teacher at Jackson, started bringing his cellphone to class last spring in order to field all the calls about Voss. “It was nonstop,” he said. “There’s a lot of people after him. I’m not sure which Big Ten schools are not after him right now.”
Voss has received offers from Minnesota and its top two rivals, Iowa and Wisconsin, as well as Illinois, Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State and California. Nebraska, Penn State and others also have shown interest.
“We think he’s just an exceptional athlete,” 247Sports’ Midwest analyst Allen Trieu told the Pioneer Press in December. “That’ll be a fight for Minnesota. Iowa’s done a good job. Wisconsin’s done a good job. I would think he ends up in the Big Ten, but where?”
Schuller said Voss is “extremely humble,” while older brother Rudy Voss said Roman isn’t caught up in the spotlight that comes with being a coveted recruit. Voss is a four-star prospect considered to be within the top 200 in the nation, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.
“I want to be a starter at whatever school I go to and then make it to the NFL,” Roman Voss said in text message responses to questions from the Pioneer Press. “I want to love the coaches, feel welcomed and feel home. A school with good culture.”
Roman Voss said he “definitely” has a few favorites but isn’t letting on which ones are at the top of his list. He wants to make a commitment this summer, before his senior season.
The Gophers are believed to be in the thick of the competition for Voss, and the U often gains verbal commitments from players during official visits in June.
Voss became the starting quarterback at JCC as an eighth-grader, an impressive feat even at a small Class 2A school. He said he grew “mentally stronger” with the early experience. Only three middle-schoolers have played that early since Schuller joined the staff in 1988.
With Voss at the helm, Jackson runs a diversified offense, which can shift from five-receiver formations to the “Roman Bone,” a type of wishbone with three running backs near the line of scrimmage and Voss in the shotgun.
“Anytime he touches the ball, something can happen,” Schuller said. “He can run over somebody, by him, jump over the top of him. It’s like he’s out of place at times.”
Jackson County Central quarterback Roman Voss leaps over a Pipestone defender during a 48-7 win over the Arrows in the Section 3AA championship game on Nov. 1, 2024. Voss is considered the top prospect in Minnesota in the 2026 recruiting class. (Dan Condon / Jackson County Pilot)
Voss, who also plays safety, has led Jackson deep into the playoffs the last two years, but injuries ended both seasons at the biggest moments. An ability to stay healthy is a concern about him going into his college career.
In the 2023 state semifinal, Voss’s head bounced off the turf at U.S. Bank Stadium and he left the field on a stretcher. Barnesville came back to beat JCC and advance to the state title game.
In the state quarterfinal in November, Voss busted off a 70-yard touchdown run to start the game, but he later injured his ankle. His team, however, held on to beat Norwood-Young America.
Despite the win, Schuller acknowledged he was dejected over the loss of Voss and a key receiver/cornerback.
Sensing the reaction, Voss then sent a text message to the coaching staff. It said to not use his injury as an excuse and reminded them that they still had a very good team.
“It really was uplifting for him to text the coaches and be able to recover over the weekend,” Schuller said. “You don’t want kids to see you down when you’re a coach, so I thought he really helped.”
With Voss wearing a protective boot on the sideline, Jackson County Central won two more games and completed the program’s first undefeated season (13-0) with a 42-26 win over Staples-Motley in the state championship game in Minneapolis.
“I thought it was important to text them and make sure they were at their best mentality and focus on winning with what we got,” Voss texted. “It was really hard not to play the state championship, but I’m so thankful my brothers could get it done. I fully believed that we were still going to win it without me.”
This is the type of leadership Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck loves to see in his quarterbacks, but what position Voss will play in college is up in the air right now. Minnesota will likely take a wait-and-see approach on that subject.
In Schuller’s opinion, Voss should stay on offense. “He’s an NFL-caliber tight end,” his high school coach said. “I think he’s that good.”
Meanwhile, Trieu leans toward a spot on defense. “Probably a linebacker or a hybrid pass rusher,” the recruiting analyst said.
Roman’s older brother, Rudy, was a record-setting quarterback at JCC who walked on at South Dakota State, earned a scholarship and was a reserve QB as the Jackrabbits won the FCS national championship in 2022. After three years, a back injury ended Roman’s career; he is now an assistant football coach and runs the strength and conditioning program at Jackson.
“(Roman) is just a physical specimen,” Rudy said. “He’s just scratching the surface, I think. He’s got a lot of upside yet. It’s been really fun to just see him develop as a player.”
Roman’s older sister, Sadie, is a standout volleyball player at Division II Sioux Falls. Their parents were athletes growing up, and one of the Voss’ maternal cousins is Kyle Vanden Bosch, a Larchwood, Iowa, native who attended Nebraska and was a three-time Pro Bowl defensive end across an 11-year NFL career.
For Schuller, who also won a state title at JCC in 2001, Roman is simply the best player he has ever coached. “If you get one of these guys in your lifetime,” he said, “you’re one lucky son of a gun.”
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