WELCOME BACK TO SPORTS. NOW, EVERYBODY. WHILE THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON IS STILL MONTHS AWAY, THE GOPHER MEN REMAIN HARD AT WORK TRYING TO PREPARE FOR THINGS TO COME LATER THIS FALL. P.J. FLECK AND COMPANY MOVING INDOORS THIS AFTERNOON AS THE GOPHERS RESUME SPRING PRACTICE. THE GOPHERS ANNOUNCING THEY WILL NOT HOLD A SPRING FOOTBALL GAME THIS SEASON. BUT THE TEAM NEEDS ALL THE PRACTICE TIME IT CAN GET BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF NEW FACES, BOTH ON THE FIELD AND ON THE SIDELINES. ONE OF THOSE FACES IS COREY LEATHERMAN, MINNESOTA'S NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR. THE GOPHERS TOOK A BIT OF A STEP BACK ON DEFENSE IN 2023, AND WHILE YOUTH WAS A PART OF THAT, P.J. FLECK HAD PLENTY TO SAY ABOUT THE DIRECTION THIS DEFENSIVE UNIT IS GOING UNDER THEIR NEW DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR. WE DID HAVE SOME DEPTH ISSUES THAT WERE A LOT OF YOUTH BEHIND IT, BUT WE KNEW IF WE GOT TO THAT POSITION, IT WAS WORTH THE INVESTMENT AND WE PLAYED THOSE GUYS AND THOSE GUYS ARE BETTER THIS YEAR THAN THEY WERE LAST YEAR, I ALSO THINK, YOU KNOW, I THINK COREY'S COME HERE. THE DEFENSIVE STAFF'S DONE A GOOD JOB OF SIMPLIFYING SOME THINGS, WHICH I THINK ALLOWS THEM TO PLAY A LOT FASTER. I THINK WE GOT TO A POINT IN OUR DEFENSIVE SCHEMES OF BEING HERE FOR SO LONG THAT, HEY, THEY CAN HANDLE THAT, THEY CAN HANDLE THAT. I WILL CHANGE THAT. WE'LL MANIPULATE THAT. WE'LL ADD THAT, WE'LL CHANGE THAT, WHICH IS FINE. THAT'S GREAT. IF THE GUYS THAT ARE PLAYING CAN HANDLE THAT. BUT THE MINUTE WE COULDN'T HANDLE THAT, I THINK WE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WE SAW THE RESULTS OF THAT AND NOBODY'S FAULT BUT MINE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, I SEE THAT DIFFERENTLY NOW, BECAUSE OF THE DEPTH THAT WE HAVE AND THE EXPERIENCE NOW THAT'S BEHIND SOME OF THOSE GUYS DEFENSIVELY, I MENTIONED THE NEW FACES ON THIS TEAM, AND THAT INCLUDES NEW QUARTERBACK MAX BROSMER, THE TRANSFER FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE, P.J. FLECK HAS BEEN VERY COMPLIMENTARY OF HIS NEW SIGNAL CALLER. AND HIS ABILITY TO ADAPT QUICKLY TO HOW THE GOPHERS WANT TO PLAY IN FACT, BROSMER HAS IMPRESSED HIS TEAMMATES SO MUCH THAT HE'S ALREADY BEEN NAMED A TEAM CAPTAIN, AND THAT IS AN HONOR THAT IS NOT LOST ON THE NEW GOPHERS QUARTERBACK. I THINK PLAYING QUARTERBACK AT IT. THERE'S A DEPENDENCY OF LEADERSHIP AT THE POSITION, AND IF YOU CAN COME IN AND IN 2 OR 3 MONTHS AND BE ABLE TO DO THAT, I'M PROUD OF MYSELF, BUT I'M ALSO SUPER THANKFUL OF MY TEAM FOR BELIEVING IN ME IN SUCH A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, AND NOT EVEN MY TEAM. JUST MY STAFF TO LIKE EVERYBODY TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, BUYING INTO ME, WHICH IS THE