Fleck has a sixth-year QB he loves at Minnesota

After five seasons of college football, Max Brosmer had probably earned a relaxing spring break.

Minnesota’s new starting quarterback — and new captain — didn’t take one. Instead, he took a page out of an NFL quarterback’s playbook and invited several Gopher receivers to his home in Roswell, Georgia, for four days of workouts.

“I made a little itinerary,” Brosmer said at Minnesota’s news conference in March.

Several wideouts — including two from Georgia — took Brosmer up on the offer.

“There’s a crave and a desire to grow and progress,” Brosmer said.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder threw for 3,464 yards and 29 touchdowns last season at New Hampshire, announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal on Nov. 24, 2023. He got an offer from Minnesota Nov. 27. On Nov. 28, Gopher starting QB Athan Kaliakmanis entered the portal himself. Brosmer officially picked Minnesota Dec. 3.

Talk about crave and desire. After his team lost its final four games of the regular season, coach P.J. Fleck wanted a change at QB, picked his guy and had the deal done before other power conference schools could get a crack at a second-team FCS All-American.

UM posted its first losing season under Fleck since 2020 — for a full year, it was actually since 2017. Fleck wanted the QB position filled by a veteran.

“This isn’t like having a freshman come in here that’s really talented,” Fleck said at his mid-March news conference. “(Brosmer) has all the experience that you want. That doesn’t promise you anything, but it gives you a better chance. His work ethic is through the roof. He’s really taken this team probably farther, quicker than maybe expected.”

Brosmer’s arrival ranks as the biggest offseason wave made by Fleck’s boat, but he hired two new coordinators, too.

One, defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman, replaced the departing Joe Rossi, who left the Twin Cities for more money at Michigan State. The other, special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky, is a 40-year veteran brought in to improve the Gophers’ shoddy return units.

Fleck stood pat with his offensive coordinators following years of switching up leadership in that role. UM’s offense struggled considerably in 2023, finishing 110th in points per game, 120th in yards per play and 125th in yards per game. Minnesota’s normally reliable rush attack ran hot and cold, in part because Kaliakmanis completed just 53.1% of his passes, the lowest rate for a regular starter since 2017.

In comes Brosmer. His highlights show off accuracy, craftiness in the red zone with shovel passes and improvisations, and adequate mobility on the zone read play.

“You start with the intangibles — they’re through the roof,” Fleck said. “…You feel like he’s already been here for 30 years.”

Brosmer appears to lack a big arm, but so did Tanner Morgan, Fleck’s favored five-year starter. So do a lot of above-average quarterbacks on seven-win teams.

And Minnesota’s schedule — along with a defensive front seven full of old guys — puts seven wins in reach. The Gophers play their first four games at home, including their Big Ten opener against Iowa. And they picked the right years to play at rebuilding Michigan and UCLA while hosting USC and Penn State.

Annually a name that pops up for open jobs, Fleck opted to remain at Minnesota instead of pursuing the Bruins job. He deflected the UCLA question when asked in March. Fleck, entering his eighth season, is now the Gophers’ second-longest-tenured head coach in the last 50 years. That stint includes a 6-1 record against Nebraska, and a five-game winning streak.

For the first year since NU joined the league, the Huskers-Gophers series goes on hiatus. It returns in 2025.

By then, Fleck’s level of patience at Minnesota may have more definition.

He’s bemoaned, at times, his program’s inability to prevent elite talent — like running back Bucky Irving — from transferring to places like Oregon. He’s created an NIL-donors-only practice this spring for those who contribute to the Dinkytown Athletes fund and chose to forgo a public spring football game.

“I want to keep things inside the best I possibly can keep things inside,” Fleck said, “with the way college football is changing.”

No Brosmer for you, Big Ten Network subscriber. At least not until next September.