That’s easier said than done, trying to operate legitimately in this Wild Wild West NIL era of college athletics. Yet, outside of losing local superstar safety Koi Perich, Fleck has held his roster together pretty darn well, keeping a large majority of starters on both sides of the ball.

Another top talent announces return to Minnesota Gophers football

It doesn’t take a long look around the country before you realize that isn’t the norm in a lot of other schools, and something fans should not take for granted. And on Monday afternoon, Dinkytown Athletes announced more top talents who have signed on for another season in Minnesota.

The first came on the offensive line, when the Gophers’ collective announced that starter Ashton Beers is returning for 2026. The Wisconsin native finished is coming off of his third season in Dinkytown, second as a starter.

🧱 It all starts up front 🧱

🏈 〽️ @beers_ashton Will Be Back in 2026 〽️🏈@cubfoods is a proud sponsor of Gopher Athletics pic.twitter.com/cZ55bEBau5

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) January 5, 2026

Related: MN Gophers Land Former Top 100 Recruit Out of Transfer Portal

Ashton Beers’ duties last season, where he started 12 games at center, were much different than what he saw in 2024. In his redshirt freshman season, the Wisconsin native was mostly utilized as a right guard, where he logged over 500 snaps. He also started two games at left guard (130+ snaps).

In total, Beers has logged 1,454 snaps on the Minnesota Gophers’ offensive line, in his three years on campus. His grades (if you believe in PFF) aren’t great (62.7 OFF), but the 6’6″ 315 pound center took a big step forward in pass blocking (58.4 to 82.7) from 2024 to 2025 — a sign PJ Fleck & Co hope will lead to major growth in 2026.

MN Gophers top 2025 recruit also returning for sophomore season

Linebacker Emmanuel Karmo grew up in the Minneapolis area and attended Robbinsdale Cooper high school, before becoming the Minnesota Gophers No. 1 composite signee in their 2025 high school recruiting class, according to 247Sports.

🔒 👇 Defense 🔒👇

🏈 〽️ @EmmanuelKarmo28 Will Be Back in 2026 〽️🏈@cubfoods is a proud sponsor of Gopher Athletics pic.twitter.com/xNmJtzqybT

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) January 5, 2026

In his true freshman season, Karmo played in 12 games for his hometown Golden Gophers. He totaled 222 snaps (PFF), 156 on defense and 66 on special teams (mostly kick coverage).

His numbers and grades look like that of a talented freshman. Karmo totaled just 14 tackles, but nine were solo and one was a sack. He also recovered a fumble and added two passes defensed.

Other Minnesota Gophers returnees for 2026

The youngster didn’t register in the PFF rankings, because he was not on the field enough. That’s probably better off because his grades on defense — 58.6 DEF, 40.3 TKL, 63.2 COV — were disappointing, to say the least.

According to Darren Wolfson (KSTP), both Beers and Karmo have been inked for a while now, but Monday was the first time either side had made things public.

Bowl season, especially these days, are especially tricky to navigate for any college football program. The portal is open and players are hopping in and out like it’s a cold shower.

Meanwhile, the coaching carousel is even more unstable, as we saw this year at Ole Miss — when they lost head coach Lane Kiffin to LSU before the Rebels played in the College Football Playoff.

Minnesota Gophers collective announces return of two key starters

That’s why we now have players announcing their re-commitment to schools that they already play for. At Minnesota, for the most talented and coveted Gopher football players, that process goes through the school’s official NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes.

For example, when top cornerback John Nestor and starting o-lineman like Greg Johnson decided they wanted to stay in Minnesota for another year, they were rewarded with a new NIL contract through Dinkytown Athletes, deals that were announced via DA’s social media platforms Tuesday.

One more game this season. One more season after that 〽️

Proud to announce he’ll be playing in the @RateBowl and returning for the 2026 season 🏈

Gopher Rate Bowl content is presented by @CubFoods pic.twitter.com/y8FGbMfeUa

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) December 23, 2025

Locked in for the @RateBowl and committed to returning for the 2026 season 〽️

Gopher @RateBowl content is presented by @CubFoods pic.twitter.com/RbOTmx662G

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) December 23, 2025

In his third season as a Gopher, Greg Johnson started all 14 games for Minnesota in 2025, ten of which came at left guard, where he is at his best.

According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson — who has one year of eligibility remaining — was the 28th best guard in the country, grading out at 73.3 overall. His pass block grade was 82.5.

Related: MN Gophers Promote Coach on Defense

Unlike his o-line teammate, John Nestor’s production in maroon and gold is a lot easier to measure on paper. Not only did he lead the 2025 Minnesota Gophers in interceptions with 5, but he returned one of those picks for a touchdown, while also collecting 47 tackles, 6 TFL and 6 passes defended.

PFF likes Nestor too. His overall grade on defense is 77.9, his coverage grade a 76.5 and run defense 79.8. If there was any upperclassman corner that had to be retained this offseason, it was Nestor, who still has two years of eligibility remaining.

Thinking aloud: How great was John Nestor yesterday? 🪓

9 TKL
2 TFL
2 INT
1 FR

Relive his top plays from @GopherFootball's rivalry win 👇 pic.twitter.com/fhrZ8KcKuX

— Minnesota on BTN (@MinnesotaOnBTN) December 1, 2025

CFB Wild Wild West makes bowl season unpredictable

Because of all the moving and grooving around college football, in the weeks leading up to bowl season, each individual game is like a box of chocolates. As Forest Gump would say, you never know what you are going to get.

The same can be said year-to-year, in what is the Wild Wild West of collegiate athletics and the NIL era. Every offseason, players from each school have the option to enter free agency (the transfer portal), without penalty, forcing some teams to completely flip their roster from one season to the next.

Related: Blossoming MN Gophers Running Back Enters Transfer Portal

One program that has retained talent better than most of the middle-tier football schools across the country is the Minnesota Gophers, a testament to what PJ Fleck has built at the U of M, in a very short amount of time and incredibly unstable NIL landscape.

Related: Gophers Football Receiving ‘Substantive NIL Packages’ Recently; Basketball Still Behind

Gray Duck Spirits, Dinkytown Athletes forecast $1M/YR in NIL contributions

“If we can do 30% of the Minnesota market leader in vodka we will be close to our million-dollar goal. The rest of the goal would come through Duck Duck Beer and Fan Pack seltzer sales,” said Gray Duck partner Jerry Schulz. “On average consumers can save 25% versus the market leader for the same quality due to Gray Duck’s new premium filtration method. We have created a win-win. Fans get a quality product for less cost that supports our state and what we care about. Every dollar matters to the athletes and the success of our athletic programs. We are asking fans to join us and when buying vodka, beer or seltzers think about the impact you can have.”

Gray Duck Spirits Press Release

Of course, the release did not include how much of the Minnesota vodka market Gray Duck Spirits currently owns, but nonetheless, it appears they are excited about the partnership they have with Dinkytown Athletes.

And why wouldn’t they be? I have to imagine they have seen sales skyrocket since announcing that 20% of Duck Duck Beer, 25% of Fan Pack Seltzers and 30% of Gray Duck Vodka sales in Minnesota all go toward the official U of M collective.

Dinkytown Athletes operating on all cylinders for Minnesota Gophers NIL fund

DTA has made a huge impact on the the University of Minnesota’s NIL situation compared to the rest of the Big Ten, and other power 5 athletic departments nationally. At this point, they’ve executed countless deals with local businesses across the state, including a sweet bacon promotion with Thousand Hills Meats that funnels 100% of proceeds for the month of January to Dinkytown Athletes.

But still, I can’t imagine anything will end up outdoing what they have in place with Gray Duck Spirits. There are a lot of Minnesota Gophers sports fans who enjoy their occasional (or more than occasional) adult beverage. With all other things mostly equal — and for the average every-other weekend drinker, that’s usually the case — why not buy the brand that sends part of your money to your favorite college sports teams?

“The potential for our partnership with Gray Duck is now massive,” said Dinkytown Athletes Vice President and Co-Founder Rob Gag. “The reception fans have given Duck Duck Beer has been incredible to see. Now if we can help Gray Duck grow their vodka sales the impact will be exponential. This is a Minnesota company (Gray Duck) giving back to a Minnesota organization (Dinkytown Athletes) that supports student athletes at the University of Minnesota. We’re already seeing success thanks to our wonderful fans, let’s see how much we can grow.”

Gray Duck Spirits Press Release

So what are you waiting for, Minnesota sports fans? Tomorrow is a holiday. You might as well safely venture out tonight to the closest Gray Duck beverage dispensary, and make sure you responsibly contribute to the Gophers’ cause.

DTA’s ability to play catch up over the last 12-15 months is paying dividends for Gopher athletics, quite literally. They’ve struck deals with all sorts of Minnesota-based companies, bringing in NIL contributions via everything from merchandise featuring student athletes, to a new beer called Duck Duck beer. They’ve also helped to collect “a substantive” amount with private booster donations, behind the scenes.

Related: Top In-State 2024 Recruit Koi Perich Officially Signs with Gophers

Dinkytown Athletes + Thousand Hills Meats = 100% Gophers NIL Fund

And over the weekend, Dinkytown Athletes announced yet another genius partnership and promotion, this time with Thousand Hills Meats. Running for the entire month of January, 100% of all Thousand Hills bacon bought at participating co-op grocery stores (listed below) will go straight to the University of Minnesota’s NIL fund.

🥓🔥👀🚨〽️Now Entering Bacon Mode〽️🚨👀🔥🥓@GopherSports FANS:@ThousandHillsLG is donating 100% of the profits from their bacon purchased from select retails now through 1/31/24‼️🥓🔥👀🚨〽️

Details in the pics, grab some today‼️ pic.twitter.com/FyJl5oaS94

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) December 30, 2023

Lakewinds Food Co-op

• Chanhassen – 435 Pond Promenade
• Richfield – 6420 Lyndale Ave S
• Minnetonka – 17501 Minnetonka Blvd

Mississippi Market Co-op

• St. Paul – 1500 West 7th St
• St. Paul – 622 Selby Ave
• St. Paul – 740 East 7th St

Wedge Co-op

• Minneapolis – 2105 Lyndale Ave S
• Minneapolis – 3815 Sunnyside Ave

Related: Under PJ Fleck, Gophers Will Never Lack Motivation

Whole Foods

• Duluth – 610 E 4th St
• Duluth – 4426 Grand Ave

Spiral Food Co-op

• Hastings – 1250 S Frontage Rd

Cook County Food Co-op

• Grand Marais – 20 E 1st St

Valley Natural Foods

• Burnsville – 13750 County Road 11

That’s right. If you need bacon and you live in Duluth, Hastings, Grand Marais or just about anywhere in the Twin Cities, you can choose one of these local co-ops near you and every penny spent goes straight to the Minnesota Gophers NIL fund. How incredible is that?

Another brilliant way to bring in NIL

How many Gopher football fan families consume bacon? Imagine if 25% of those families bought all of their bacon for the month of January (plus a few extra pounds for the freezer) from one of these stores. That’s a lot of cash for keeping and bringing in talent.

This is just the latest brilliant NIL fundraising idea hatched and executed by Dinkytown Athletes, which has completely changed the Name, Image and Likeness game for the Minnesota Gophers.

Read all of our Minnesota Gophers football coverage

But when their starting quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis and 3rd-string QB Drew Viotto both entered the transfer portal at the end of the season, Minnesota’s only remaining option to start the Quick Lane Bowl was redshirt senior, Cole Kramer.

Related: Get to Know Cole Kramer, Minnesota’s Quick Lane Bowl QB1

Minnesota Gophers Paying Cole Kramer NIL Funds to QB the Quick Lane Bowl

Still, PJ Fleck had a problem. Kramer wasn’t planning to stick around until the end of December, either. He had a new house ready for him in Arizona, a fiance ready to get married and a big boy life to start. So, Fleck did what any QB desperate college football coach would do in the year 2023.

He offered Cole some NIL money, possibly as much as $30,000, to stick around Dinkytown for one more month and quarterback Minnesota vs the Bowling Green Falcons at Ford Field (Detroit, MI) the day after Christmas.

This news was first reported by an anonymous poster on the GopherIllustrated.com (247Sports) message boards with the username ‘EdenPrairieGopher‘. Here’s part of his post:

Just heard from an A+ source that Cole Kramer was given $30,000.00 to play in the bowl game from our NIL Fund. He was set to leave but thought this would be a great way to pay for his February wedding.

EdenPrairieGopher – GopherIllustrated.com paid membership message boards

Related: Why Did Athan Kaliakmanis Enter the Transfer Portal?

The anonymous tipster went on to complain about how terribly PJ Fleck and the owners of Dinkytown Athletes are handling the NIL money that he and other well-off Gopher football fans are contributing to the cause. I’ll get to that part of the conversation momentarily.

“Downvote or call me a troll based on my opinion or that this was my first post, doesn’t matter to me one bit. I’ll set the record straight and be done. I’m a U of M grad ’92, I’ve been fortunate enough to make a good living and give back in ways that get me a great parking spot for all home games and have been at very intimate gatherings with both PJ and JK.“

EdenPrairieGopher – GopherIllustrated.com message boards

Anonymous report confirmed by Gopher insider

First, it’s important to credential this rumor because EdenPrairieGopher, no matter how legit he sounds, isn’t a reliable insider who we should all take at their message board word. The same is not true for Gopher football insider, Ryan Burns.

Burns is the lead U of M football recruiting analyst and beat writer for 247Sports and he’s been a go-to guy in town for anything Gopher football related for a decade. Oh, and his cousin and podcasting partner is Derek Burns, who co-founded and co-operates Minnesota’s NIL collective, Dinkytown Athletes.

Burnsie confirms in one of his replies to EdenPrairieGopher that Minnesota is indeed paying Cole Kramer out of their NIL fund to stick around for the upcoming bowl game. Ryan doesn’t completely shut down the amount the amount EPG reported ($30K) either, though he says,“my numbers are different from yours”.

“They did allocate some funds to Kramer, that’s true. I’d say that my numbers are different from yours on what Cole got, but I could care less about that. That’s not important.”

Ryan Burns – GopherIllustrated.com

PJ Fleck flush with NIL cash???

Now that we know EPG’s report — that Kramer is being paid from the Gophers’ NIL fund to stick around for the bowl game — is true, let’s talk about the amount. Maybe Kramer isn’t making quite $30,000… or it’s possible the numbers can be fudged around somehow, making the amount look a bit more or less, depending on how you view it.

Related: PJ Fleck, Gophers Have Turned in Multiple Rival Schools for Tampering

No matter, it’s clear Cole is making $10’s of thousands for sticking around town an extra month. If the amount were smaller and more insignificant… say $3,000, this would be interesting, but less of a story.

But it’s not. So, obvious questions and assumptions arise: if the Minnesota Gophers can pay Cole Kramer ~$30K to play in an exhibition game… then their NIL fund is either a) in better shape than we thought it was or b) EdenPrairieGopher is rightfully upset about where this program is spending the limited NIL funds it does have access to.

I’m hoping it’s the former, not the latter. If Fleck can throw $30K at Cole Kramer just to stay for the bowl game, and not hurt what they are trying to do for 2024, then we are in a better NIL position than I assumed. I’d feel pretty good about where the Gopher football program is heading in the age of NIL, if that’s the case.

Does Minnesota have a lot more NIL than they did a year ago? Yes, and you/other fans should be commended for that. Does Minnesota have a lot of NIL compared to, for example, Iowa or Nebraska? They do not.

Ryan Burns – GopherIllustrated.com

I can’t imagine a world where Fleck would give up say… 1/4 or 1/5 of next year’s NIL fund so Cole Kramer will stick around campus… right? If that’s the case, this is a huge mistake by PJ Fleck, who could have turned to Cole Kramer after the Purdue game, when he realized Kaliakmanis probably wasn’t the future.

Would Kramer have stayed for free, had PJ turned the team over to him sooner? Who knows… but he certainly would have felt more obliged to stay.

• Gophers’ Darius Taylor Wins B1G Freshman of the Week
• Gophers’ Darius Taylor Wins Big Ten Freshman of the Week Again
• Darius Taylor Wins B1G Freshman of the Week for 3rd-Straight Time

The only two weeks he didn’t win freshman of the week honors, he totaled just 17 carries. In the three games he took 20 or more carries, he rushed for 529 yards and four touchdowns.

Darius Taylor announces return to Minnesota Gophers

On Saturday afternoon, Taylor decided their was no reason to have fans panicking about his eventual departure, when it wasn’t going to happen. So, he made an announcement via Twitter, to put the Minnesota fanbase at ease.

Thanks to his partnership with the U of M collective, Dinkytown Athletes, Darius Taylor is returning to the Gophers for his sophomore season in 2024.

Thank you Gopher fans for supporting me during my time in Minnesota.Thank you to my TEAM who has made this a world class experience. After talking with my family and taking time to think I have decided to come back for another year with Dinkytown Athletes. Who's going to join me? pic.twitter.com/VZTOqXrsPX

— Darius Taylor💫 (@Dariustay1or) December 2, 2023

Obviously, Taylor’s biggest problem this season was staying healthy. . If he can stay on the field next year, it would go a long ways in erasing what happened to this program in 2023, the worst season of the PJ Fleck era in Minnesota.

Because magic happens when this kid gets the ball in his hands.

WATCH: Minnesota RB Darius Taylor (@Dariustay1or) reached a max speed of 20.5 mph on this 43-yard touchdown. #ReelSpeed

🎥: @BigTenNetwork

🔗 https://t.co/orrD059ykP pic.twitter.com/oTQKoDeTa1

— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) September 25, 2023

The Gophers head coach sent a stark warning that, if funding does not increase, the University of Minnesota football program will become a minor league club for other college teams more able/willing to throw money at the best high school and transfer portal talent in the country.

Dinkytown Athletes trying to save Gophers athletics

But there is one hope that has arisen from the NIL ashes that threaten to bury the Gopher football program. Dinkytown Athletes (DinkytownAthletes.com) was started by a group of Gophers alumni who have spent years jumping through hoop after hoop after hoop in order to become the official NIL collective of the U of M.

And in the last year or so, Dinkytown Athletes has been picking up serious momentum, partnering with dozens of businesses across the Twin Cities. But none of those partnerships rival their latest endeavor… into alcohol sales.

Dinkytown Athletes + Gray Duck = Gophers NIL Beer

On Wednesday, Dinkytown Athletes revealed a new deal they’ve signed with the hottest local alcohol brand in town, Gray Duck Spirits. According to the announcement, Gray Duck will release a light lager (4.5% ABV) on Thursday called “Duck Duck Beer”, along with four different seltzer flavors (5.0% ABV).

20% of all sales will go to Dinkytown Athletes, to help fund NIL initiatives. Both the beer and seltzers will be on sale at Top 10 Liquor and ValU Liquors near campus on Friday and quickly expand across the state from there.

🚨🔥👀〽️ Introducing Duck Duck Beer! 〽️👀🔥🚨

Official collaboration with @grayduckspirits

20% of profits go to Dinkytown Athletes

Distribution begins tomorrow & will quickly expand to liquor stores & bar/restaurants throughout metro & outstate MN.

Press Release tomorrow… pic.twitter.com/DnZzpqnI1y

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) September 28, 2023

Initial @grayduckspirits seltzer flavors:

– Bomba
– Tangerine
– Banana
– Kiwi Mango

Expect more flavors to be released over time. pic.twitter.com/qkbVKFCMwO

— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) September 28, 2023

This could be exactly what Minnesota Gophers fans have been waiting for. A way to support their favorite football program by doing nothing more than getting drunk. Now, to do your part, just choose Duck Duck Beer when you find yourself perusing your favorite liquor store.

Related: Minnesota Gophers football schedule 2023

The Iowa Hawkeye NIL collective has the same sort of agreement in place with their own local alcohol company and it is essentially paying for anything they need, from a Name, Image and Likeness standpoint, laying a realistic roadmap for how successful this new partnership can be.

So do your part, Minnesota Gophers fans. Go get drunk this weekend.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan