Three Offseason Moves That Could Transform Gophers Football in 2026

There's plenty of reason to be encouraged about Minnesota heading into next season.

Isaac Fruechte as offensive coordinator at North Dakota. | Picture via: University of North Dakota Athletics

The Gophers had an incredibly busy offseason retooling their coaching staff and making roster moves in the transfer portal. Here are three moves that could transform their outlook in 2026.

Retooling defensive line

Minnesota's first significant move of the offseason was letting go of defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter. Despite encouraging stats like 39 sacks as a team, it was clear the position group took a step back. The Gophers proceeded to retain top pass rushers Anthony Smith, Jaxon Howard and Karter Menz. They went out and added Cal edge rusher TJ Bush Jr., FIU's Xion Chapman and Marshall transfers Naquan Crowder and Sid Kabba through the portal. Rush ends coach C.J. Robbins was promoted to defensive line coach, and they hired Stanford defensive coordinator Bobby April III as the new rush ends coach.

The Gophers' defense had a relatively down season in year one under new defensive coordinator Danny Collins, ranking 50th in points allowed per game at 22.9. There's plenty of reason to think they'll make improvements in 2026, and their defensive line is a big reason why.

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Hiring Isaac Fruechte as WRs coach

Matt Simon had a wide receiver coach on P.J. Fleck's coaching staff dating back to 2014 at Western Michigan. His tenure started well with the development of Corey Davis with the Broncos, along with Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman at Minnesota. The wide receiver room had become stagnant since that magical 2019 season. Daniel Jackson's 863 receiving yards in 2024 were the most by a Gophers receiver between 2020 and 2025.

Fleck did a hard thing this offseason by letting go of a longtime assistant, and they went out and hired former Gophers wide receiver Isaac Fruechte, who was most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Dakota in 2025. Fruechte has quickly risen up the coaching ranks since playing at Minnesota from 2012 to 2014 and the Vikings from 2015 to 2017. Minnesota will need more consistent play out of its wide receivers in 2026 if it wants to see Drake Lindsey continue to develop, and hiring Fruechte might be the first step to finding that.

Hiring Mohamed Ibrahim as RBs coach

The Gophers have not had a running back run for more than 1,000 yards in a season since Ibrahim graduated in 2022. Their once dominant running game has fallen off a cliff when it comes to consistency. Minnesota had two different running backs coaches in that time frame, with Nic McKissic-Luke and Jayden Everett.

Everett left his post for Wisconsin, and Ibrahim was hired as his replacement after spending one season as Kent State's running backs coach. Star running back Darius Taylor is back for one more season at Minnesota, and Ibrahim could be the missing piece that helps him finally put together his best collegiate season in 2026.