Koi Perich Playing Offense and Defense for Gophers?

When Koi Perich signed with the Minnesota Gophers, after late surges from helmet schools like Ohio State and Florida State, the 96 overall 4-star high schooler out of Esko, MN was the second highest rated recruit of the internet era to ink a National Letter of Intent to play for the Golden Gophers football team.

The Gophers’ only high school signee ever ranked higher than Perich was Washburn running back Jeff Jones (2014), who never recorded a carry or catch in his two years at the U of M. Now entering his sophomore season, it’s safe to say Koi Perich’s collegiate career is going in the complete opposite direction.

As a true freshman, Perich led the Big Ten in interceptions, with five — to go with 46 tackles, 3 passes defended and 1 forced fumble — in an epic first season that earned him 1st Team All-Big Ten defense, 2nd Team All-Big Ten return specialist and NCAA All-Freshman defense (The Athletic).

Minnesota Gophers have Koi Perich wearing offense/defense jersey at practice

But defense may not be the end of Koi Perich’s collegiate aspirations. At Minnesota’s spring practice on Tuesday, which was open to media, the uber-talented safety was wearing a dual-colored jersey that allowed him to take reps on both offense and defense.

A split jersey for #Gophers star DB Koi Perich in spring practice.

He said the QB's were having trouble seeing him all over the field, and the jersey was Fleck's idea. @KSTPSports pic.twitter.com/Mk4iaELtI8

— Alec Ausmus (@A_TwiceKSTP) April 9, 2025

Koi Perich rocking that dual jersey.

Half offense, half defense. pic.twitter.com/H8PnNebV0p

— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsMN) April 8, 2025

According to 247Sports’ Ryan Burns, the white portion of Perich’s new practice jersey signifies the offensive side of the football. Maroon is the defensive side. The plan for Koi offensively is at wide receiver, but Fleck told media members gathered on Tuesday that the true sophomore will have to earn his snaps on that side of the football.

Related: Top MN Gophers Lineman Returning for 2025

Koi Perich took snaps on offense during three Minnesota Gophers games last season and he let the only pass thrown his way slip through his fingers. But last year the 6’1″, 200 lb true freshman didn’t arrive in Dinkytown until the summer, due to his commitment to his high school track team last spring.

“I think Coach Harbaugh has done a really good job of giving him what he can handle. But whatever we give him, we want him to be really good at. This isn’t just a gadget thing. We want him to be an athlete on this football team and make plays on every side of the ball, plus the return game and he’s done a really good job of handling all of it.”

PJ Fleck on Koi Perich playing both sides of the football (via 247Sports)

#Gophers safety Koi Perich sporting a dual off/def jersey at practice while getting reps on both sides of the ball.@koiperich3 on going both ways: "It means a lot."

Coach Fleck: "He's a versatile athlete. The more you can do with Koi Perich, the better off you're going to be." pic.twitter.com/M8s28Jqpl3

— Will Hall (@WillHallKARE11) April 9, 2025

That’s why he didn’t start his first game until later in the season. Obviously, that is not a problem this spring. And now, PJ Fleck is looking to utilize all of Koi’s talent. If it works, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Perich play hundreds of snaps on both sides of the football, not to mention his continued ability as a returner.