Tom Moe's family tree keeps growing Gophers

Several families have deep ties to Gophers athletics, but it's hard to think of one with a longer lineage than Tom Moe. He will have two grandsons on the Gophers football team in sophomore linebacker Carter Coughlin and preferred walk-on defensive tackle Quinn Coughlin, who will join the team this fall.

Both Coughlins played at Eden Prairie under Mike Grant, who has won 10 state titles with the Eagles.

Moe was a three-year letterman in the late 1950s, when freshmen weren't eligible to play college football. He had a stellar football career, leading the Gophers in receptions in 1958 and being named team MVP in 1959. He also lettered three times in baseball, hit .340 for his career and was third on the team in RBI during the Gophers' 1960 national championship season. Moe returned to the university to serve as athletic director from 1999-2002.

Tom's son, Mike, was a backup quarterback for Rickey Foggie in 1984-85 after transferring to Minnesota from North Dakota. Tom's son-in-law, Bob Coughlin, was a two-year letterman for the Gophers as a defensive tackle in 1989-90.

Coughlin married Jenny Moe, Tom's daughter. Jenny and her sister, Jackie, each won state tennis singles titles when they played at Edina. Jenny was named to the All-Big Ten team four times for the Gophers, and Jackie became an All-­America player at Texas.

Carter and Quinn are the sons of Jenny and Bob. And Jackie married Steve Kramer, and they have a son named Cole who started last year at quarterback for Eden Prairie as a sophomore and is being recruited by the Gophers.

Cole, playing for the run-happy Eagles, still completed 49 passes for 904 yards and 12 touchdowns as Eden Prairie was the Class 6A runner-up after losing 28-20 to Totino-­Grace in the Prep Bowl.

As a Gophers freshman linebacker last season, Carter Coughlin played in 11 games and started one. He finished the year with 25 tackles, including four for a loss, and two sacks.

He was asked about his grandfather's influence on him in such a big sports family.

"Oh 'Papa,' as I call him, has been unbelievable," Carter said. "He's honestly one of the most supportive grandparents I've ever seen when it comes to sports. He comes to all of my games, came to all of my siblings' games, along with all of my cousins, and we have a big family. He has been unbelievable.

"It was really cool going through the whole recruiting process starting out because he was a huge voice of wisdom for me. He helped me find my way here. Along with that, as I've gone through all the different changes when it came to Coach [Jerry] Kill, Coach [Tracy] Claeys, and now this coaching staff, my grandpa helped me out a lot. He's a man of great wisdom, and he's always been there for me and always will be there for me."

Carter said he's proud of his family's long association with the Gophers.

Carter was a big recruiting get for the Gophers as Rivals had him rated as the No. 8 linebacker in the country coming out of Eden Prairie in 2016. He played well as a freshman, but he's still looking for improvement.

"Personally I need to improve using my hands, which is going to be big because I only weigh about 225 pounds right now," he said. "I need to use my hands a lot more since I'm lining up as the edge rusher and going against offensive tackles and tight ends quite a bit. So I need to get better at using my hands and defeating blocks."

Carter was recruited by Kill, played his first season under Claeys and now, after some initial disappointment after the firing of Claeys, he really likes what he's seen of new head coach P.J. Fleck.

"[Fleck] is a tremendous leader, and the culture he has instilled here is something that everybody wants to be a part of," Coughlin said. "He's so full of energy and the energy catches onto everybody. That's why our practices are so fun and so upbeat."

Can the Gophers improve on a nine-win season and a Holiday Bowl victory? Carter said a lot depends on how well players buy into Fleck's message.

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