On game days, John Nestor wears his heart on his sleeve, so it’s easy to see how much the Gophers cornerback loves football. He hypes up the crowd and teammates alike. He will do it in front of more than 100,000 hostile fans at No. 1 Ohio State or in the friendly confines of Huntington Bank Stadium.

Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back John Nestor (17) breaks up a pass intended for California Golden Bears wide receiver Trond Grizzell (7) in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)

“Every play he is jumping around with passion and energy and you see the same guy in practice,” Gophers defensive coordinator Danny Collins said before Friday’s home game against No. 25 Nebraska. “… The more guys we can get on the field that are like that, that love football, that play the game for their brother, (the better). I love coaching him, because that attitude he brings every single day. It’s infectious.”

It’s become cliche for coaches to say they wish they could clone a certain player to get more of that guy on the field, and in a spinoff of that axiom, the Gophers wish they had more success stories like Nestor via the NCAA transfer portal after the 2024 season.

At the season’s halfway point, Nestor — a transfer from the rival Iowa Hawkeyes — is the clearcut top player among more than 20 additions Minnesota made last offseason.

“I don’t think you’re ever going to be 100%,” head coach P.J. Fleck told the Pioneer Press of his assessment of the transfer class. “Again, you have to speed date, right? So you’re looking for what fits you, what does the depth look like, what is the need of that person coming in here. I think we’ve had a lot of transfers help us in a huge way. And I think we’ve had some guys that have some developing to still do, and we know that going into that.”

One of the keys to the success of Nestor, Fleck said, was how the Gophers recruited him coming out of Chicago and knew the type of player and person he was.

Nestor has played 90% of Minnesota’s defensive snaps this season, with Pro Football Focus giving him an above-average overall grade (67.2). The Chicago native has a team-high three interceptions, and five pass-breakups and is fourth with 21 total tackles.

Up front

The biggest letdowns through six games has been the transfer reinforcements along both lines.

On the offensive side, Dylan Ray (Kentucky) and Marcellus Marshall (Central Florida) are part of a group that has struggled to create holes for a running game that ranks outside the top 100 in the nation. In pass protection, they are No. 1 and 2 in pressures allowed for Minnesota this season, per PFF.

On the defensive side, tackle Rushawn Lawrence (FCS-level Stony Brook) has contributed on more than 40% of total snaps, with 11 tackles and one sack. After that, zilch.

Tackle Mo Omonode (Purdue) was ruled out with a season-ending injury before the opening game, and edge Steven Curtis (FCS-level Illinois State) has not yet played in a game despite not being on the unavailability reports.

NIL ceiling

Defensive line, for instance, is considered a premium position in the portal, meaning bigger name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation. The Gophers are trying to be competitive in that marketplace, but there is a ceiling on what they can offer players relative to other, bigger schools. And in turn, that limits the size and talent level of those they can sign.

“We’re never going to get the highest-ranked transfer and the No. 1 transfer in the in the portal, nor are we going to be the highest paid,” Fleck said. “But we’re going to look for guys that fit us. Some guys can help and some guys can’t.”

Still need development

This look at the transfer class is a midterm assessment in more than one way. Half of the Gophers incoming transfers have additional years of eligibility remaining beyond 2025.

That’s good news for the likes of Jaylen Bowden, a cornerback from FCS-level North Carolina Central. While he joined before spring practice, Bowden is still learning the system and needs to become more consistent on the practice field before playing in the Big Ten.

With Bowden needing more time — and having 2026 to show growth — the Gophers turned to Jai’Onte’ McMillan when injuries at corner stacked up before the Purdue game. Primarily a nickel back, McMillan played 31 snaps at outside corner and had a vital pass-breakup on fourth down that helped seal the win over the Boilermakers.

After walking on at TCU and playing three seasons, McMillan is in his second year at Minnesota.

“It’s way smoother,” McMillan said about his second go-round. “The first year you have to learn the ins and outs of everything.”

Some help on offense

The Gophers have received contributions from five offensive skills players via the portal. The top one has been receiver Javon Tracy from Miami (Ohio), who is tied for first No. 1 in receiving yards (253) and sits at No. 2 on the team in targets (28), receptions (16) and touchdowns (two).

AJ Turner, a running back from Marshall, was contributing with 16 carries for 64 yards and one score before his season ended with an apparent knee injury in the loss at California in Week 3. Turner and Tracy have eligibility beyond 2025.

Tailback Cam Davis (Washington), tight end Drew Biber (Purdue) and receiver Logan Loya (UCLA) have each played more than 100 snaps and have had a handful of touches. They are done after this fall.

Tidbits

Athletic wideout Malachi Coleman, a transfer from Nebraska, received his first target in a FBS game against Purdue. The Lincoln, Neb., native has been considered raw and still two years to play after 2025. … Punter Tom Weston, who also has two years remaining, has been a quality addition from Division II Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas. He has a 45.8-yard average with eight punts landed inside the 20-yard line and nine traveling more than 50 yards. … Kicker Brady Denaburg has made eight of 11 field goals and has 27 touchbacks on 30 kickoffs, but is 1-for-4 on field goals over 40 yards.  … Offensive lineman Kahlee Tafai (Washington) and Jaden Ball (Purdue) both have multiple years of eligibility left. … Linebacker Jeff Roberson (Oklahoma State) has played 39 fill-in snaps. … Quarterback Emmett Morehead (Old Dominion/Boston College) was brought in to provide veteran experience behind first-year starter Drake Lindsey, but he appears to be fourth on the depth chart behind No. 2 Max Shikenjanski and Dylan Wittke, a second-year transfer from Virginia Tech.

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The Center for Broadcast Journalism announced Harry Colbert Jr. as the new vice president for the St. Paul organization.
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The center is a non-profit organization that focuses on teaching the next generation of broadcast journalists. It was founded by Georgia Fort and Marianne Combs. Fort, the president of the Center for Broadcast Journalism, said Colbert will fit because of his years of experience in reporting and teaching journalism.
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Fort said she originally met Colbert around 2010 when she was the radio host for 89.9 KMOJ news.
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Colbert will focus on programming and the radio station for the organization, according to Fort. The center’s radio state is POWER 104.7 FM.

Colbert said that as the new vice president, he wants to increase representation for Black journalists in the newsrooms via reporting and in leadership. Colbert worked at publications including MinnPost, North News, and Insight News. Colbert was also the former president of the National Black Association of Journalists Minnesota chapter.

For him, teaching the next generation of students is something vital.
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“At the end of the day I have X amount of years left, both as a professional and as a human being on this planet. And someone did something important for me who put me in this position. Therefore, it’s my obligation and my purpose to make sure I do for the next generation,” Colbert said.
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When Colbert became the editor-in-chief of North News in 2020, he covered the George Floyd protests. Colbert said the experience showed him how little the Black community was being reported on accurately.
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“It highlighted the fact that our stories need proper framing. These are the stories that people in our communities had been telling long before they had been being broadcast live, streamed, televised,” Colbert said.
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According to David Pierini, the current editor of North News, which covers North Minneapolis, Colbert’s ability to be a trusted source helped the team cover the protests more accurately.

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“Through the George Floyd protest from the time his murder happened right up until the verdict, he was kind of one of the leading voices in the Twin Cities. I mean, he really was a respected voice through the columns that he wrote,” Pierini said.
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Colbert will start on Nov. 3. For new journalists going into broadcast journalism, he said that authenticity is everything.
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“Be true to your purpose, be true to your calling, and keep the community first,” Colbert said.

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Energy said Thursday it has finalized a $1.6 billion loan guarantee to a subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest power companies to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines across five states, mostly in the Midwest, for largely fossil fuel-run energy.

AEP Transmission will upgrade power lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and West Virginia to enhance enhance grid reliability and capacity, the Energy Department said. The project is meant to help meet surging electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

Ohio-based American Electric Power, which owns AEP Transmission, is one of the nation’s largest utilities, serving 5.6 million customers in 11 states. It primarily produces electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear power, along with renewable resources such as wind and hydroelectric power.

Thursday’s announcement deepens the Trump administration’s commitment to traditional, polluting energy sources even as it works to discourage the U.S. from clean energy use.

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Earlier this month, the administration cancelled $7.6 billion in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election. A total of 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable, the Energy Department said.

The cancellations include up to $1.2 billion for California’s hydrogen hub aimed at developing clean-burning hydrogen fuels to power ships and heavy-duty trucks. A hydrogen project costing up to $1 billion in the Pacific Northwest also was cancelled.

The loan guarantee finalized Thursday is the first offered by the Trump administration under the recently renamed Energy Dominance Financing program created by the massive tax-and-spending law approved this summer by congressional Republicans and signed by President Donald Trump. Electric utilities that receive loans through the program must provide assurances to the government that financial benefits from the financing will be passed on to customers, the Energy Department said.

The project and others being considered will help ensure that Americans “will have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy for decades to come,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

“The president has been clear: America must reverse course from the energy subtraction agenda of past administrations and strengthen our electrical grid,” Wright said, adding that modernizing the grid and expanding transmission capacity “will help position the United States to win the AI race and grow our manufacturing base.”

The upgrades supported by the federal financing will replace existing transmission lines in existing rights-of-way with new lines capable of carrying more energy, the power company said.

More than 2,000 miles of transmission lines in Ohio serving 1.5 million people will be replaced, along with more than 1,400 miles in Indiana and Michigan serving 600,000 customers, the company said. An additional 1,400 miles in Oklahoma, serving about 1.2 million people and 26 miles in West Virginia, serving 460,000 people, will be replaced.

The projects will create about 1,100 construction jobs, the company said.

The loan guarantee will save customers money and improve reliability while supporting economic growth in the five states, said Bill Fehrman, AEP’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “The funds we will save through this program enable us to make additional investments to enhance service for our customers,” he added.

Wright, in a conference call with reporters, distinguished the AEP loan guarantee from a $4.9 billion federal loan guarantee the department cancelled in July. That money would have boosted the planned Grain Belt Express, a new high-voltage transmission line set to deliver solar and wind-generated electricity from the Midwest to eastern states.

The Energy Department said at the time it was “not critical for the federal government to have a role” in the first phase of the $11 billion project planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The department also questioned whether the project could meet strict financial conditions required, a claim Wright repeated Thursday.

“Ultimately that is a commercial enterprise that needs private developers,” Wright said. The company has indicated the Grain Belt project will go forward.

Trump and Wright have repeatedly derided wind and solar energy as unreliable and opposed efforts to combat climate change by moving away from fossil fuels. Wright said the Grain Belt Express loan was among billions of dollars worth of commitments “rushed out the doors” in the waning days of former President Joe Biden’s administration.

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former WWE CEO Vince McMahon has been allowed to enter a pretrial program to resolve a reckless driving charge stemming from a crash this summer in Connecticut.

A state Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that McMahon could enter the program if he made a $1,000 charitable contribution and only drove if properly licensed and insured. If he does that, the reckless driving charge and another charge of following too closely will be dismissed in one year.

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McMahon was accused of causing a July 24 crash on the Merritt Parkway in Westport that wrecked his Bentley and damaged two other cars, state police said. No one was injured in the crash, and the other drivers did not object to McMahon’s application for the pretrial program.

The police report said McMahon was driving northbound on the parkway, also known as Route 15, when he rear-ended a BMW and crashed into wooden guardrail. A car traveling in the southbound lanes struck debris from the crash that flew over the guardrail.

McMahon did not speak during the brief hearing. His attorney, Mark Sherman, said afterward that “not every car accident is a crime. That’s what happened here, an accident.”

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, last year, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.