PHOENIX — Leaders of the Gophers football program discussed one of the biggest hot-button topics over dinner last week at the luxurious Sheraton Grand Resort at Wild Horse Pass.

Before winning the Rate Bowl, 20-17 over New Mexico on Friday, Athletics Director Mark Coyle, head coach P.J. Fleck and general manager Gerrit Chernoff met to look ahead at the opening of the transfer portal on Friday. It was one of many, many discussions they have had on the issue.

“It comes up on Jan. 2. We all know that date. We all know it’s coming really quickly,” Coyle told the Pioneer Press last week.

The bowl game was the 13th and final data point to conclude the Gophers’ batting average wasn’t high enough on incoming players across last year’s two transfer portal windows.

They finished with an 8-5 record this year, but that mark could have been better if they hit on more than a few new players last winter and spring.

Minnesota, and everyone in the nation, will only have a few, short weeks to improve its roster for next season. With no spring window this year, players have until Jan. 16 to enter the portal, with the goal of them committing, signing contracts and enrolling at their new school in time for spring semester in January.

The Gophers will enter Year 2 of revenue-sharing payments to players in June and will be adjusting how to best use approximately $15 million allocated annually to their football roster. To strategize, the U has consulted with the Timberwolves, Vikings and Wild to learn about how Minnesota’s pro teams manage their salary caps, Coyle said.

“They talked about the importance of (how) you have to have good data, because if you miss on somebody, it’s a kick in the shins,” Coyle said. “That is what we have to evaluate in terms of moving forward, having good evaluations on players.”

For 2025, the Gophers were successful with cornerback John Nestor, receiver Javon Tracy and punter Tom Weston. All three of those starters are back next season, too.

The Gophers also had serviceable additions in right tackle Dylan Ray, defensive tackle Rushawn Lawrence and kicker Brady Denaburg. They were seniors this year.

Minnesota had a bigger handful of players who can be given incomplete grades for their time so far with the program because they have eligibility remaining for 2026 and can still develop into quality players.

But the Gophers had more misses in the portal, especially along the defensive line and offensive lines.

“How do we have to vet players even more to find the right fit?” Fleck asked last week. “Gerrit Chernoff and (director of player personnel) Marcus Hendrickson do such a great job of that. They have learned from our past.”

The Gophers brought in more than 20 players last year. This year’s tally is to be determined, but the entire roster will be assessed for needs. The U has had a strong retention rate of current players on the roster, which cuts down on how many new players will be needed.

“It’s not going to be a massive number, because I feel really good about our retention rate,” Fleck said.

Minnesota will continue to look for players with multiple years of eligibility, players with developmental upside and ones who fit in with a program that emphasizes work in the classroom and the community.

The Gophers also don’t have the largest Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) budget, so they can’t wade too deeply into the overall transfer talent pool.

With the addition of revenue sharing, the other bucket of funds for players, missing on a paid-for prospect stings not only the on-field performance, but also the budget. It’s more real now, Coyle says.

“We do a lot of due diligence,” the AD said. “ Are you going to be 100% all the time? Absolutely not. But again, the closer you get to 100%, the better you are going to be long-term.”

The Gophers are believed to have three primary positions of need: defensive line, receiver and offensive line.

The return of D-end Anthony Smith for 2026 is a boost to the position, but veteran tackle help is a must with Deven Eastern, Jalen Logan-Redding and Lawrence out of eligibility.

Top receiver Le’Meke Brockington just finished his senior season, and quarterback Drake Lindsey needs more help on the outside. The two-touchdown performance in the Rate Bowl from rising junior Jalen Smith was a good sign, and Tracy will be back. But dynamism to create separation and win contested catches are coveted attributes.

The Gophers’ front five struggled mightily this season. Four of the pieces are back for 2026, but they will likely pursue at least one tackle with the exit of Ray.

Minnesota Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck talks about the 2026 recruiting class during an event at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Dec. 3, 2025. (Trenten Gauthier / Gopher Athletics)

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With Minnesota Wild stars like Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber getting their first taste of big-time hockey at past World Junior Championships, the local NHL club was in full support of St. Paul and Minneapolis landing one of the planet’s largest international hockey events when it was awarded two years ago.

The downside, for the Wild, was turning over their locker room, and their home rink, to the best young stars from 10 nations. As a result, the Wild boarded a northbound plane before sunrise on Saturday morning, and they won’t return to the State of Hockey for two weeks.

Some coaches would look at this as a daunting challenge. Wild coach John Hynes is taking an optimistic approach.

“I think you can look at it two ways. You can try to take advantage of it, or you can look at it in a different way,” Hynes said, speaking to reporters at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg following the Wild’s Saturday morning skate.

The seven-game road trip that began Saturday evening in Winnipeg is the third time in franchise history that the Wild have played seven consecutive games away from St. Paul, and the first time that they will not be returning to Minnesota at any point during the voyage.

After the World Juniors gold medal has been awarded and all of the red, white and blue bunting has been taken down, the Wild’s next home game will be two weeks from now, when the New York Islanders visit Grand Casino Arena on Saturday, Jan. 10. But Hynes said they are determined to make the best of time in Manitoba, Nevada, California and Washington.

“We have seven games in this trip. I feel like we have some time where we have some practice days, we have some off days, staying in some different types of hotels. So I think that’s going to be good,” he said. “Our group, I think they do well together, so I think that always helps when you have a team that’s really cohesive, that likes to spend time together on the road.”

With the NHL’s prohibition on any team activities – including travel – on Dec. 24, 25 and 26, Saturday was shaping up to be one of the more interesting travel days the Wild will have this season. They left MSP before 7 a.m. for the one-hour flight to Winnipeg, staying at a downtown hotel, but only during the day. Following Saturday night’s game, they were scheduled to pack up and leave for their next road game, in Las Vegas on Monday, and were expecting to check into their hotel there sometime after 2 a.m.

After a lousy October that saw Minnesota win just three of its first dozen games, the Wild were red hot in November and December, reaching 50 points before Christmas for the first time in franchise history. Still, they were 0-1-1 in their last two games before the break, and Hynes admitted that with the long road trip looming, perhaps the three day break came at the right time.

“That stretch right before Christmas for us was very difficult,” Hynes said. “So I think just the freshness of having a few days off is good. But the urgency to get back to winning and coming out of the break on this road trip is something we want to really try to take advantage of.”

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Another snowstorm is on its way.

The Twin Cities are expected to see rain early Sunday morning turn to a wintery mix and then snow in the morning hours. By the time the snow wraps up Monday morning, the area could see 5 to 8 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

A light glazing of ice is possible, as are wind gusts up to 40 mph. Travel could be very difficult, the weather service warns.

Fog is expected to precede the snow. A dense fog advisory is in effect for the metro from 8 p.m. Saturday until 6 a.m. Sunday.

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The Gophers football program is expected to hire Stanford defensive coordinator Bobby April III to be the U’s new rush ends coach, a source told PioneerPress on Saturday.

April has been at Stanford for three seasons, where he also served as outside linebackers coach. From 2018-22, he was at Wisconsin, where his coaching helped put three guys in NFL: Andrew Van Ginkel (Vikings), Nick Herbig (Steelers) and Zach Baun (Eagles).

Stanford, which is going through a head coaching change to Tavita Pritchard, had the 28th-ranked rushing defense in the nation in 2025. The Cardinal’s scoring defense and total defense were program-bests since 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Before Wisconsin, April was in the NFL for six seasons, with the Bills, Jets and Eagles. His father, Bobby April Jr., was a longtime coach in the NFL.

April fills the role vacated by C.J. Robbins, who is being elevated into the Gophers’ full defensive line coach position.

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