Hated Rival Swoops in on MN Gophers Coach
The NCAA football transfer portal opens on Friday. Thus, it was no surprise Thursday night, when the Minnesota Gophers saw a couple of players announce their plans to enter the portal when it’s officially available in the morning.
Unfortunately, it isn’t just players leaving tonight. According to Adam Rittenberg (ESPN), PJ Fleck is also losing his second assistant coach in as many days too.
Minnesota Gophers lose RB coach Jayden Everett to Wisconsin
On Wednesday, Minnesota cut the cord with defensive line coach CJ Robbins. On Thursday, they lost running backs coach Jayden Everett, who is reportedly being hired away by hated rival Wisconsin.
Source: Wisconsin is set to hire Minnesota running backs coach Jayden Everett for the same role. Everett coached Darius Taylor this season and was at Michigan in 2024 with Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings. Also has coached at Vanderbilt, Tulsa, Akron@RyanBurnsMN first report.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 1, 2026
Related: Gopher Football Star Makes Huge Announcement
Everett lasted just one season in a maroon and gold quarter-zip. He was hired in February last year, after one season as running backs coach at South Alabama.
Before that, he held lower-level coaching jobs at Michigan, Vanderbilt, Tulsa, Akron, Central Michigan, Indiana State and Hutchinson Community College.
Prior to his coaching career, Everett played linebacker and earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Indiana State, where he was a defensive captain his senior season.
Could PJ Fleck turn to familiar help in RB room?
Now, Minnesota has a running backs coaching position to fill. The obvious candidate is probably Mohamed Ibrahim, the leading rusher in program history.
Ibrahim has one year of RB coaching experience under his belt, following his positional coaching debut at Kent State, where he was hired by their head coach and former Minnesota RB coach, Kenni Burns.
Prior to his year at Kent State, Mo was a lower-level assistant with the MN Gophers. Now that there’s a need in the running back room, will PJ Fleck tap his old workhorse back to return in a different way? We’ll soon find out.
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