Gophers coach P.J. Fleck waiting for right time to hire new D-coordinator

The four weeks between the Gophers' regular-season finale against Wisconsin to the Quick Lane Bowl were going to be busy anyway for coach P.J. Fleck and his staff, with recruiting, player movement and transfer portal issues to address.

That time became even more hectic with the news last week that defensive coordinator Joe Rossi was leaving Minnesota to take the same position at Michigan State.

Fleck said the search for Rossi's replacement won't be finished before Tuesday's bowl game in Detroit and that he's shifting his focus for now to the game.

"I want to give 100 percent of my attention [to finding a defensive coordinator] like I did to this book,'' Fleck said, referring to a binder that detailed the Gophers' 2024 recruiting class. " ... For me to be able to put 100 percent of my attention into the hire, I'd be shortchanging my team, our staff, our players [for the bowl game]."

Fleck said he told the team to be patient on the coordinator hire. His aim is to have it done in the first week of January.

"This is about getting to see people face-to-face," he said. "I owe it to our team to do due diligence necessary to find the best leader of the defense."

Fleck mentioned three staff members on defense in safeties coach Danny Collins, defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III and cornerbacks coach Nick Monroe.

"This isn't like bringing in an entire staff and starting over,'' he said. "We've got incredible recruiters, incredible coaches. What you're looking for is that presence in front of the room, that leader in front of the room that's going to be able to add to what we do."

Four Gophers recruits have been invited to play in the All-American Bowl, a high school all-star game on Jan. 6 in San Antonio that features the nation's top high school talent. Esko safety Koi Perich, offensive linemen Nathan Roy of Mukwonago, Wis., Brett Carroll of Olathe, Kan., and defensive lineman Riley Sunram of Kindred, N.D., were invited to the game.

The four players in the game are the most the Gophers have had in a recruiting class. Over the past two years, they will have had six, after wide receivers T.J. McWilliams and Kendric Lanier II were invited last season.

Wednesday afternoon, after Fleck held his signing day news conference, the Gophers received another transfer commitment from Central Michigan defensive lineman Quindario Lee.

A 6-5, 280-pounder from McKenzie, Ala., Lee had 28 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks for the Chippewas this season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Lee's signing comes after the Gophers had a transfer player decommit on Wednesday. Navarro (Texas) College edge rusher Eddy Toussom earlier had verbally committed to Minnesota but the junior college product announced on the X platform that he was going to Alabama Birmingham.

The Gophers announced the signing of one preferred walk-on. He's Rockford (Minn.) defensive back Harrison Brun, who had 86 tackles, nine tackles for loss, four interceptions and eight pass breakups as a senior this season.