How will Gophers football program handle transfer portal this spring?

Andy Greder, Pioneer Press
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The Gophers football program opened spring practices this week, giving head coach P.J. Fleck and his staff their first glance at what the team will look like this fall. Some positions are easy to project.

Athan Kaliakmanis will be the U’s first new starting quarterback to open a season since 2018. Aireontae Ersery will be hard to move off left tackle. Cody Lindenberg will run the defense at middle linebacker, and safety Tyler Nubin will patrol the secondary.

But the depth chart won’t be written in pen after the spring game on April 22 at Huntington Bank Stadium.

“The great thing about spring is, and we’ve always said it, (in) spring, you will never win the job,” Fleck said before the U’s first practice on Tuesday. “You are going to set up winning the job.”

That outlook is especially true in 2023 with the NCAA transfer portal routinely altering college rosters. Even this week, Fleck said receiver Dylan Wright is no longer on the team, bringing the total to 14 scholarship players who have left the U since November.

Meanwhile, Minnesota brought six players in through the portal in December and January, including outside receiver Elijah Spencer, whom Wright would have competed with for playing time this fall.

Newer recruiting site on3.com has ranked how programs have handled the portal nationwide, with Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes at No. 1. Wisconsin, with new coach Luke Fickell, was ranked No. 6, and Minnesota was the next Big Ten West Division program on the list at No. 24.

In February, cornerback Beanie Bishop and linebacker Donald Willis — two penciled-in starters for this fall — said they were leaving the Gophers, creating more opportunities for others on the roster.

Fleck said Tuesday that when an experienced player departs, his aim is to back-fill through the portal with another veteran from elsewhere. If a younger player exits, that hole might best be filled with a high school prospect in the next recruiting class.

Given the experience level of Bishop and Willis, cornerback and linebacker appear to be top positions the U will target when the transfer portal reopens May 1-15. Minnesota already brought in Western Michigan linebacker Ryan Selig in December and the Illinois native is involved in spring practices. This can be seen as a response to Braelen Oliver leaving a few days before; he ended up going home to Georgia Tech.

“We probably weren’t going to take another linebacker,” Fleck said. “But then we had (Willis) transfer from the linebacker position. So, again, you want to be able to fill that number with somebody.”

“But right now (in spring ball) we are going to see what that looks like,” Fleck added. “See how far the guys have come, (whom) we have a lot of faith and hope and aspiration for.”

That list of up-and-coming linebackers includes Devon Wiliams, Joey Gerlach of Woodbury and Maverick Baranowski, Fleck said.

The Gophers’ schedule of 15 spring practices also will be a time when current players decide if they will leave the U. Minnesota will, in turn, find a way via the portal or giving walk-on players scholarships to reach the total of 85 scholarships by next summer.

“You don’t know what your team truly is going to look like roster-wise until probably July 1,” Fleck said this week. “That is when you are really going to know.”

Coming and going

List of scholarship player movement to and from the Gophers since late November:

New players

Receiver: Elijah Spencer (Charlotte); Corey Crooms Jr. (Western Michigan)
Linebacker: Ryan Selig (Western Michigan)
Nickel: Jack Henderson (Southeastern Louisiana)
Defensive lineman: Chris Collins (North Carolina)
Running back: Sean Tyler (Western Michigan)

Departed players

Cornerback: Beanie Bishop (undecided); Steven Ortiz (Massachusetts); Jalen Glaze (Florida A&M)
Linebacker: Donald Willis (undecided); Braelen Oliver (Georgia Tech)
Receiver: Mike Brown-Stephens (undecided); Ike White (Charlotte); Dylan Wright (undecided)
Running back: Trey Potts (undecided)
Defensive linemen: Austin Booker (Kansas); Gage Keys (Kansas); Lorenza Surgers (undecided)
Nickel: Michael Dixon (Rutgers)
Offensive line: Cameron James (Jackson State)

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