While the Perich news is disappointing, plenty of talent has remained loyal to sticking in Dinkytown. Among that group are edge rushers Anthony Smith and Karter Menz. They have a fellow edge rusher set to rejoin them as well.

Jaxon Howard returning to MN Gophers

Before Karter Menz broke out as a sophomore this season (6.5 sacks), the edge rushing tandem for the Minnesota Gophers was comprised of Anthony Smith and Jaxon Howard. Smith more than doubled his sack total from 2024 (6.0) and led the Big Ten with 12.5. Howard, an LSU transfer, is an integral part of the group too, and he will be back.

🔒 👇 Defense 🔒👇

🏈 〽️ @11JaxonHoward Will Be Back in 2026 〽️🏈@cubfoods is a proud sponsor of Gopher Athletics pic.twitter.com/A1Z6O5db7C

— DinkytownAthletes (@DTAthletes) January 3, 2026

Howard played in 13 games this season for the Gophers and recorded 4.0 sacks. He had 29 total tackles and 5.5 were for losses. A junior next year, and draft eligible, he’ll be looking to take another step forward.

P.J. Fleck will be turning over the rush ends position to a new coach as well. C.J. Robbins was working as the rush ends coach, but earned a promotion to take over the entire defensive line. Bobby April has been brought in to backfill his role.

With Menz, Smith, and Howard all returning for the Gophers, they are retaining their top-three sack producers from this season. Deven Eastern and Jalen Logan-Redding will need to be replaced on the defensive line, but Danny Collins has a good foundation to build on.

This was hardly a standout defensive season for the Minnesota Gophers as a whole. Collins will need to further find his footing in year two after replacing Miami’s Corey Hetherman. If the Gophers group can take a step forward defensively, it would help an offense that is returning plenty of playmakers with another year of experience.

BREAKING: Former LSU EDGE Jaxon Howard has Committed to Minnesota, he tells @on3sports

The 6’4 248 EDGE will have all 4 years of eligibility remaining

“I’m back 612”https://t.co/hwloZKoc0V pic.twitter.com/hzckOIDZIy

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) April 19, 2024

Jaxon should immediately compete for a starting job on the EDGE this fall. He may have been in danger of being buried on the LSU depth chart, but this isn’t Baton Rouge.

Immediately here in 2024, it’s easy to see Howard earning a role alongside rush end Danny Striggow. Minnesota doesn’t have much proven depth behind the senior from Orono, so Howard should be able to provide some snaps in tandem with Striggow for Minnesota this fall.

Ryan Burns – 247Sports

Minnesota Gophers land Jaxon Howard?

We do not know, for sure, how good Jaxon Howard is or will be. But there’s no doubting his talent. The son of Minnesota football legend Willie Howard, the former No. 1 overall recruit in the state of Minnesota (2023), a 94-Overall 4-Star monster who now stands 6’4″, 241 lb, according to the LSU Football website.

Over 1,000 D1 football players have entered the portal since last season ended. Howard rates as a 4-star (92-overall) transfer portal talent, according to 247Sports, which slots him in as the 10th best EDGE in the portal, nationally, and the 72nd-best overall transfer portal entrant in the entire country.

New QB, Max Brosmer is the only comparable talent the Gophers have landed out of the portal so far. He too is rated as a 4-star (90-overall), 118th best in the country. This commitment only adds to what I wrote about earlier this week, that PJ Fleck, the University of Minnesota and Dinkytown Athletes are on a recruiting/portal hot streak, of late…

• No. 1 Ranked 2025 In-State Football Recruit Commits to Gophers
• Gophers Land Commitment from Top 2025 Local Wide Receiver
• Gophers Land Coveted Four-Star QB Commit

But it might be more than that. Not only is DTA bringing in more and more cash every month, but the trust, cooperation and collaboration between the entities seems to be as aligned and efficient as any NIL collective + football program in the country. And clearly, it’s paying dividends.