Gophers football has taken Max Brosmer and his parents for a wild ride, with Camp Randall next

A year ago this week, the Brosmer family gathered at their lake home on the Georgia-South Carolina border, sat at the dining room table and discussed the big decision that son Max was about to make.

A three-year starting quarterback at FCS-level New Hampshire, Max was considering entering the transfer portal to play his final season for an FBS program, seeking a challenge that would grow his game and help him in his quest to play in the NFL. He weighed the options with his parents, Colin and Jayna, and brother, Fish, then decided to make his leap of faith.

Some 1,100 miles northwest, P.J. Fleck and Greg Harbaugh Jr. needed to fix the Gophers’ passing offense, which ranked 126th among the nation’s 134 FBS teams in 2023. The head coach and his primary play-caller wanted a leader and efficient passer from the transfer portal, and they quickly settled on Brosmer as their target.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better as far as I’m concerned,” Colin said, with Jayna echoing, “One hundred percent.”

A year later, Brosmer will play his final regular-season game for the Gophers when they face Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Friday at Camp Randall Stadium. He’s committed to playing in Minnesota’s bowl game, too, but this will mark his final game with this current roster, before NFL draft-related opt-outs and transfer portal transactions. He’s eager to participate in the most-played rivalry in college football — Saturday’s game will be the 134th between the teams — with Paul Bunyan’s Axe at stake.

“That’s one of the really cool things about playing college football, especially at the University of Minnesota, where you get to play in that game and you get to live that experience,” Brosmer said.

By all accounts, Brosmer has been just what Fleck and Harbaugh wanted when they went quarterback shopping. They weren’t able to spend lavishly, but they’ve shown a flair for finding a bargain.

The Roswell, Ga., product has completed 67% of his passes for 2,426 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions, as the Gophers enter the Wisconsin game at 6-5 overall (4-4 Big Ten). Brosmer led comeback wins over then-No. 11 USC and UCLA and guided them past No. 24 Illinois. He had a string of 206 consecutive passes without an interception end in last week’s 26-25 loss to No. 4 Penn State. Pro Football Focus gives him an 86.5 passer grade, 11th among FBS QBs.

Brosmer’s ability to diagnose coverages and go through his progressions — his winning touchdown pass to running back Darius Taylor at UCLA was his fifth option — has been impressive. He knows when to rely on go-to wideout Daniel Jackson and when to spread the ball around. And Harbaugh trusts him to adjust the play as the defensive looks change.

“I’m starting to put a lot on Max,” Harbaugh said. “Going into last week, we averaged about 20 kills and alerts in a game plan. Going into the Penn State game, we had 63 kills and alerts in that game plan. … It was really good to see the guy be able to do that, to handle that much information.”

Along for the ride during Brosmer’s final season of college football are his parents, who live in Roswell and travel to all of the Gophers games. They’ve seen a loss in the opener, a four-game win streak and near-misses against a couple of college football’s blue bloods.

They both quickly point to the victory over USC as a highlight because of the finish — Max scoring the winning touchdown on a sneak in the final minute — and because they both joined in the field-rushing revelry. “I almost broke my ankle jumping off that brick wall,” Jayna said. “There was no way, no how I wasn’t getting down there.”

Added Colin, “Got in the locker room, too — one of us, anyway.”

Minnesota’s road games have added meaning for the Brosmers, who’ve made new friends with other players’ parents during tailgate parties. The trip to UCLA hit home with Colin because the family attended the Rose Bowl between Ohio State and Utah following the 2021 season. For Jayna, the trip to Michigan and the Gophers’ near-miss comeback holds special meaning.

“Playing in Michigan,” she said, “at Michigan Stadium, even though we lost that one, that was the moment where it hit for me, like, ‘Oh my God, we arrived. … That’s my kid down there playing,’”

Brosmer became a leader the minute he joined the Gophers during last year’s prep for the Quick Lane Bowl. After spring practice, he used NIL deals to help organize a trip of skill position players to join him at the lake home and in the Atlanta area for workouts and bonding. He didn’t forget about his linemen, sending them to a national camp. And during the season, he and his linemen have a weekly dinner at The Freehouse in Minneapolis where they observe one rule: No football talk.

“You can kind of get away from football and talk to each other as human beings and not football players,” Brosmer said.

Watching from afar during the week but up close on game days, Colin Brosmer has noticed the growth in his son in off-the-field duties, such as media interviews.

“He’s just real, he’s human,” Colin said of Max. “He’s not a robot. He actually engages [with the media]. That hasn’t surprised me, but I’m proud of him for that.”

Friday morning, the focus for Max Brosmer will be football and a chance to put another stamp on a season in which he’s injected the Gophers with a jolt of energy. His skills as a quarterback have helped the Gophers compete in every game, including last week’s down-to-the-wire loss to a Penn State team likely to be in the College Football Playoff. A win over Wisconsin would give him one more highlight in a year of making an immediate impact.

“He’s exceeded all my expectations,” Fleck said, “just because I know the type of competitor he is.”