Pastor-trainer helps Gophers' Blake Cashman convert to standout linebacker

There's always a long line of people that help college athletes reach their potential. For Gophers linebacker Blake Cashman, there was a unique situation with Jeff Warner, a co-pastor, along with his wife, Julie, at The Rock Church in Burnsville.

Warner is the father of Cashman's former Eden Prairie football teammate Hunter Warner, now a defenseman with the Iowa Wild. One day when Cashman was playing strong safety for Eden Prairie, Jeff Warner saw him and said he knew Cashman was going to be a star.

"I saw Blake in high school and he was a great football player," Jeff Warner said. "He was undersized and he had great speed and great agility. I noticed they were playing him at the wrong position, they had him at strong safety. … Everybody talked about my son and they talked about another guy, and I told my wife, '[Cashman is] the best athlete on the field.' "

Cashman and Jeff Warner eventually started talking, and Warner offered to help him with physical training. Cashman recalled their early interactions.

"I got to know [Hunter Warner] and his family really well," Cashman said. "His dad actually told me that he wanted to start training me, so I started training with him. He was getting me big and strong and getting ready for college football. Then he actually invited me to his church where he's a preacher there. I started going there, and it has been great ever since."

Jeff Warner said his relationship with Cashman has only grown from those early days.

"I'm his pastor and we've built up a great relationship. He's one of the greatest young men I've ever got to be part of his life," he said.

Warner said that from the minute he started training him, he thought Cashman was destined to be an outstanding linebacker, even though everyone else saw the 6-2, 225-pounder as a safety.

"I started training him and I just told him, 'Blake, I believe you're … going to be a great linebacker,' " Warner recalled. "He wasn't offered a scholarship from nobody and I said, 'You're going to not only do very good at the Gophers, but you will play in the NFL one day.' I thought we had to get him stronger, get him a little faster, get his core a lot stronger and develop his stabilizer muscles."

Former Gophers football coach Jerry Kill finally decided to permanently move Cashman to linebacker, which happened early in his freshman season. But Cashman did get some minor experience at the position under Mike Grant at Eden Prairie.

"When I came here I was happy to be a safety, but Coach Kill told me within a week of fall camp that he was going to convert me to linebacker," Cashman said. "I kind of expected it going into spring ball my freshman year."

Jeff Warner said it was years of training and getting stronger that put Cashman in the position to succeed in the Big Ten.

Cashman made a game-high 12 tackles, including two for loss, in the Gophers' 17-12 victory over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl last December. He had 9½ tackles for loss over the final five games last season.

This will be a big junior year for Cashman, who will be counted on to be one of their best defensive players.

He said he's had a lot of help learning the position.

"Linebacker coach [Mike] Sherels, when he was here, pushed me hard to learn all the techniques and fundamentals," he said. "The older guys, like Nick Rallis and Jack Lynn, really took me in and showed me the key details in the film room. That helped me a lot."

That led to his breakout season.

Cashman didn't fully participate in spring camp because of a shoulder injury, but said he is healing fine. The injury actually happened in the spring before his sophomore season, but he was able to play through it last year.

"I got hurt in fall camp of sophomore year, last year," he said. "I didn't miss any practice. It was just something I put a [brace] on … and it supported me through practice and getting me by."

As he had promised since taking over the program, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck rewarded Cashman with a well-earned scholarship on Wednesday.

• While the Wild might have struggled down the stretch of the regular season, the Vegas oddsmakers still view them as having some of the best odds to win the Stanley Cup. Jimmy Shapiro of Bovada reports the Wild have the third-best odds of winning the title at 8-1. The Blackhawks have the best odds at 4-1, and Washington is at 9-2.

• Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski made a visit to the Twin Cities last week and there's no doubt he's heavily recruiting Apple Valley guard Tre Jones. Krzyzewski — who recruited Jones' brother, Tyus, who went on to win an NCAA title with the Blue Devils in 2015 — already has a commitment from Jones' former teammate, Gary Trent Jr. Krzyzewski has done a great job recruiting the state of Minnesota.

• The Twins have gotten great starting pitching for the most part this season, but Jose Berrios continues to knock on the door of the big leagues at Class AAA Rochester. The 22-year-old star prospect was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after striking out seven over six scoreless innings at Syracuse last week in the season opener.