$1 Million Reasons Why Koi Perich Bailed on MN Gophers

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Koi Perich - Minnesota Gophers
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This offseason has been a relative success for the Minnesota Gophers football team. It started with the best recruiting class in modern program history, which PJ Fleck parlayed into an extremely productive transfer portal window.

Minnesota’s biggest win of the offseason, though, was retaining most of the team’s best players from 2025 — including offensive stars Drake Lindsey and Darius Taylor, along with defensive standouts, Anthony Smith and Kerry Brown. And that’s just the beginning of the list.

Of course, there was one offseason departure that rocked Gopher nation, following Minnesota’s bowl victory over New Mexico on the day after Christmas.

Then, on New Year’s Day — not even a week after Fleck’s seventh-straight postseason win — news broke that homegrown superstar from Esko, MN Koi Perich, was entering the transfer portal.

Solved: Why Koi Perich left Minnesota Gophers

After visiting multiple NIL rich schools, including Miami and Texas Tech, Perich landed in Eugene, where he eventually committed to Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks.

Why did Koi Perich decide to bail on the Minnesota Gophers after two seasons? Immediately upon his entry into the transfer portal, Gopher football insider Ryan Burns (247Sports) gave two reasons: (1) He wants to compete for a National Championship and (2) he wanted to GET PAID.

Here’s what I will say. Do believe this decision to hit the portal is about chasing a National title? I do believe that is the biggest driving factor, I do. But the other [undeniable] factor is Koi Perich is going to make hella money.

Koi Perich is going to go get a hella bag. I get it, because I think all of the schools over the next 24, 72 to 96 hours, you’re going to see his name attached to all blue bloods [with money].

Ryan Burns – Gopher Gridiron Radio

Quite honestly, those are two pretty legitimate reasons to leave one workplace for another, even if you really like where you are. While there’s no guarantee Perich’s transfer to Oregon will produce a Natty opportunity, recent college football history tells us it’s much more likely with the Ducks than it would have been as a Gopher.

And if you are wondering how much more Koi is making in Eugen vs what he would’ve made in Dinkytown, PJ Fleck gave some insight into that recently when he spoke with U of M alumni in Florida this week, as reported by Marshall Tanick (Minneapolis Times).

Koi Perich got the bag he was looking for in Oregon

It sounds like the Gophers knew Koi Perich was leaving a decent amount of time before he did. Fleck didn’t say how long they knew he was hitting the road. More than likely, it came to light during the weeks between the season finale win vs Wisconsin and the bowl victory over New Mexico.

But then, somewhat surprisingly, Fleck went on to tell the snow bird alumni group that the NIL package Perich received from Oregon was worth a whopping $2 million.

Fleck let on that “we knew during the season that he was leaving” at the end of it, and he stated that the Esko, Minnesota native had received a $2 million package to join the hugely-funded Ducks, a large number, but dwarfed by many other players in high demand these days. He assured the crowd that “the guys behind [Perich] are exceptional.”

Minneapolis Times

For context, Koi’s NIL package at Oregon comes to light just days after Charley Walters (Pioneer Press) reported last weekend in his monthly column that the NIL package offered to Perich from his hometown school was worth $1 million.

In other words, the kid from Esko had at least $1 million reasons to change uniforms, and that’s before we talk about National Championship odds playing for the Ducks and MN Gophers.

Related: 2026 Gopher Football Record Prediction

Koi Perich lands at Oregon having already compiled 128 total tackles, 5.5 TFL, 1 sack, 6 interceptions, 1 INT TD, 1 FF and 5 passes defended as a Golden Gopher.

Five of his six career picks came as a freshman — which helped him make 1st Team All Big Ten and multiple All-America teams, as a freshman. He did, however, return his only sophomore interception in 2025 for a touchdown.

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