We will keep up with all of the movement before, during and after each season, so you can know who is leaving your favorite college football team and who is staying in Dinkytown for good.

Related: Record Number of Minnesota Gophers Invited to NFL Scouting Combine

Minnesota’s regular season ended in 7-5 bowl victory. The Gophers could have accomplished more this season, with just a few different plays. Now, it’s time to prepare for the 2025 season.

Minnesota Gophers Football Transfer Portal Tracker (2025)

The transfer portal re-opened on April 16th and Minnesota has kept basically all of their mainstays from last year thus far. They’ve added a quarterback through the portal, like they did last year with Max Brosmer. This year, it’s former Georgia Tech QB Zach Pyron.

The biggest incoming name for the Gophers in 2025 is Marshall running back A.J. Turner. A highly anticipated addition, Turner is expected to bring versatility and speed to the backfield, potentially competing for significant playing time right away. Nebraska transfer wide receiver Malachi Coleman joins the team. Known for his size and athleticism, Coleman has the potential to become a go-to target in red-zone situations and could see immediate playing time given his capabilities.

Related: Gophers Football Hires New Familiar Position Coach

Players Transferring to Minnesota

Multiple Gophers have already announced or completed their transfer portal plans to leave Dinkytown after the 2025 season, including starting Tackle Phillip Daniels, and safety Coleman Bryson. However, overall, the exits to the portal have been the least of PJ Fleck’s worries so far this offseason. Even now almost into the spring, although the Gophers have lost some players, they did a great job at keeping the guys that actually play.

Related: Minnesota QB Max Brosmer Gets THE Invite

Players Transferring Out of Minnesota

In fact, and this could change at any moment, but the Gophers have only lost one starter to the portal so far. That is way below average. We still do not know the circumstances surrounding why starting QB Athan Kaliakmanis is entering the portal, but it’s not uncommon, given what we are seeing across the country.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Football Transfer Portal Tracker 2023

But Fleck and his staff made it clear they were serious about bringing in, if nothing else, competition for QB1. Less than 24 hours later, Athan announced his plans to transfer. The QB they offered, top FCS arm Max Brosmer, has shown he belongs in the FBS.

Transfer Portal Watchlist:

New Hampshire QB Max Brosmer

🥇Led FCS is Passing YPG
🏈6 Games over 325 yards
🎟️146.2 Passer Rating

What school should go after @maxtbro

Story ➡️: https://t.co/yIQsCHVXUR#CollegeFootball #TransferPortal #UNH pic.twitter.com/Q1OpsMl3KN

— Return of the Mac Blog (@NoSznOff) November 28, 2023

Why aren’t the Minnesota Gophers in on all the power-5 quarterbacks in the portal?

Still, many Minnesota fans and media members are wondering out loud why a power-5 school has to drop down to the FCS level in order to find a transfer portal quarterback, when dozens of FBS arms are available.

The answer to that question is a complicated one. to a degree. Obviously, PJ Fleck has set himself up for failure in the portal with the way he has run his offense since taking over as Minnesota head coach. This program has a ‘run-first and foremost’ identity that is not working to their advantage when trolling the portal for bites from top quarterbacks.

Had the Gophers staff (mostly PJ) entrusted Kaliakmanis to throw the ball 40 times per game this season, and he responded with 35 interceptions and 30 touchdowns, they’d be in a lot better shape shopping the QB market.

Even if they had finished 3-9, instead of 5-7, transfer portal QBs would have a lot more interest in enrolling at the University of Minnesota if Fleck had shown any type of commitment to the air attack, even if he didn’t trust Athan or any other quarterbacks on roster.

But PJ Fleck’s biggest problem is… NIL

But offensive philosophy is far from the Gophers’ biggest problem. It’s been widely reported, at this point, how behind the University of Minnesota is in the Name, Image and Likeness game. Dinkytown Athletes, the U of M NIL collective, is gaining steam and making smart deals that will surely pay off in the future.

Related: PJ Fleck Pleads Gophers Fans and Boosters for More NIL Money

It’s impossible to know exactly how much NIL money each school has at its disposal, when going after high school or transfer portal talent, given most collectives do not make any of their contract numbers public, either on the player/school side or the advertising/fundraising side.

What we are pretty sure of, though, is that the Gophers sit in the bottom half of the Big Ten, when it comes to Name Image and Likeness money at their disposal. And given the NIL contract rumors floating around, when it comes to top quarterbacks in the transfer portal, the math on why Minnesota offered who they did, starts to make more sense.

How much NIL money does Gopher football have available?

Well, let’s ask Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com (247Sports). Why are we asking him? Because he is 247 Sports’ lead Minnesota recruiting analyst and a Gopher football beat writer. Not only that but Ryan’s first cousin and regular Gopher Gridiron podcast guest, Derek Burns, co-founded and operates Dinkytown Athletics.

Related: PJ Fleck Must Find Quarterback He Can Trust in Offseason

In his other weekly podcast, Pair and a Spare, with Justin Gaard (KFAN) and Chip Scoggins (Star Tribune), Ryan Burns said that the Gophers, if they had a top QB who was interested in transferring here could probably round up $100,000 in NIL. If they needed $1 million… no chance.

Ryan Burns: “It’s a Big Ten opportunity, where if you’re a kid from, say, New Hampshire…”

Chip Scoggins: “Well yeah, I mean, if you shoot higher than FCS, and I don’t know that they can because… oh the other drawback, the big one, is NIL.”

Burns: “And if you want six figures in NIL, you ain’t gonna be coming here and that’s just the reality of it.”

Justin Gaard: “No matter what? No matter who you are? What if Arch Manning wanted to come? If Arch Manning wanted to transfer, could we find him a million [in NIL]? Could we find him $100 grand?”

Burns: “I think you could find him $100 grand, I don’t think you could find him a $million.”

Pair and a Spare Podcast

There you have it. If stretched, PJ Fleck & Co could round up maybe $100,000 for one player in NIL contracts. But if there’s a quarterback or another player wanting more than that, there’s not much of a chance for the maroon and gold.

Which obviously begs the question, how much does a top QB cost? If Arch Manning or one of the best transfer portal QBs available was interested in coming to Minnesota, how much would Dinkytown Athletes have to find? Would a million be enough? Probably not

Related: Minnesota Running Back Zach Evans Entering Transfer Portal

How much NIL does a good but not great college quarterback cost?

Let’s start with what Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said earlier this week. He told media members that an elite transfer quarterback definitely costs… wait for it… over $1 million per season. Rhule said that some teams have players making as much as $6-7 million in NIL contracts.

Matt Rhule on how much a portal QB actually costs

pic.twitter.com/HYCICilXzy

— Barstool ‘Skers (@BarstoolHusker) November 29, 2023

“Make no mistake: a good quarterback in the portal costs $1 million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now. So just so we’re on the same page, right? Let’s make sure we all understand what’s happening. There are some teams that have $6-7 million players playing for them.”

Matt Rhule (via Max Olson – The Athletic)

Out of all the schools in the Big Ten, even after the four PAC-12 schools join, Nebraska has to have a top-5 NIL budget. Most Husker fans live for Saturday in the fall. It wouldn’t surprise me if most churches near Lincoln hold two collections during Sunday mass or service. One for the church and one for Nebraska football.

If any coach in the Big Ten West knows how much a top QB costs, and I can guarantee they all do, it’s Rhule. Wanna aim a bit lower? Maybe you can’t afford the 5-star redshirt freshman from [place favorite top SEC or Big Ten East school here] or that under-the-radar Heisman candidate from a lower tier power-5 program…

Related: Minnesota Gophers Bowl Projections 2023

But what if we “Rhule out” (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) the top tier QBs? What does it cost to bring in a solid proven power-5 quarterback? For that answer, we turn back to Ryan Burns, who told Justin Gaard that it’s at least $250,000 to find that type of QB, which is far more than what Minnesota can offer.

Gaard: “And what are what are good transfer quarterbacks going for in the market right now, according to your 247 sources?”

Burns: “At least a quarter-million.”

Scoggins: “And that’s… are those power 5 quarterbacks?”

Burns: “Proven power five guys.”

Pair and a Spare Podcast

Hometown Jamison Battle Transfers to Ohio State because NIL

Surprised that a hometown kid would make such an in-conference move? You shouldn’t be. There’s one major reason why he, or any right-minded human being, would do what Jamison Battle did. Money.

Battle will make a lot more money playing at Ohio State than he did or would have at Minnesota. This, according to Darren Wolfson (SKOR North, KSTP), who reported the move as NIL driven on his appearance Thursday with Mackey and Judd.

“I texted [Jamison Battle] saying ‘hey, is it Ohio State’? So the buzz started to gather on Tuesday night. And yeah, NIL. He is going to make money. I don’t know what the exact deal is but, you know, there is going to be a financial gain with him heading to Columbus.”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd

NIL rules Transfer Portal

Doogie says there are other factors in Battle’s decision. He says there is “stuff going on in Jamison’s personal life so leaving town makes sense” but Wolfson continually comes back to Name, Image and Likeness as the main reason why Battle is leaving Dinkytown, saying, “they have so much more to do, in terms of NIL, on campus.”

Remember, it was reported just weeks ago that men’s and women’s basketball boosters were pooling together millions of dollars over the next few years, to help NIL funds going forward. But right now, Battle’s transfer to an in-conference rival shows how behind the University of Minnesota is in the NIL game.

Here is the full episode of Wolfson’s appearance on Mackey & Judd today. Battle’s transfer is discussed at the 20:25 mark.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

How good is Mike Mitchell Jr?

Mitchell Jr was the 27th ranked transfer in the portal and carried a 4-star value, according to 247Sports.com. He visited Dinkytown over the weekend and carried interest from a bunch of other power five schools, including Clemson, Oregon State and Utah. UNLV and San Diego State also showed interest.

NEWS: Pepperdine transfer Mike Mitchell Jr. tells me he’s committed to Minnesota.

The sophomore guard averaged 11.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and five assists this season. Shot 43.3% from the field and 44% from three.

Story: https://t.co/rWhLtHSRmZ pic.twitter.com/Gtst4kSRSA

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 29, 2023

Mitchell Jr’s numbers at Pepperdine pop out in a few areas. He started every game he wore a Waves jersey. That’s 32 starts as a Freshman, 31 starts as a Sophomore and over 33 minutes per game in both seasons. In his final season with Pepperdine, Mike averaged 11.4 points on 43% shooting, including 44% from the 3 pt line. He can dish the ball too, averaging 5 assists per game.

I watched parts of a few games Mike Mitchell Jr played in last season and it doesn’t take long to see what Ben Johnson liked when he turned on Mitchell’s tape. He loves to push pace up the floor and he’s very good at creating his own shot off the dribble or creating offense for others off the pick and roll. Mike’s size limits him in the lane but he isn’t afraid of going there and can finish near the rim if given a little bit of space.

Mike Mitchell Jr flaws

Mike Mitchell Jr is far from a perfect basketball player. He doesn’t get to the free throw line very often and his turnovers can be a problem. He only averaged 2.9 turnovers per game but did have some nights where he racked up as many as 7.

That will happen when you’re the main ball-handler and Mike was definitely that for the Waves. But tape doesn’t lie and it’s clear Mitchell can struggle with on-ball pressure, at times, and will at times make questionable passing decisions when trying to push the ball up the floor.

He can be had off the dribble by quicker ball-handlers and tends to get lost sometimes off the ball. Both of those things will have to improve if he is going to get major minutes with the Gophers. It’s important to remember that Pepperdine went 16-47 in Mitchell’s two years there, which certainly played into the type of player he and others became while there.

Ben Johnson looking for more transfer portal talent

With Ta’Lon Cooper transferring to South Carolina and Jamison Battle possibly on his way to Indiana, Ben Johnson had to find another scoring option who can handle a lot of time with the ball in his hands. He absolutely gets that with Mike Mitchell Jr. He could be a huge get if he can take his game to the next level in a more structured system vs better competition.

The Minnesota Gophers are far from done with the portal. According to Ryan James (247Sports.com), Ben Johnson is still seeking two backcourt players in the portal who can contribute immediately. This is a win or die season for the 3rd-year head coach.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Dawson Garcia has Committed to Minnesota today while on campus visiting with his family.

Garcia is from Prior Lake (MN) and is a transfer from North Carolina pic.twitter.com/eIPmU7tE5j

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) April 18, 2022

Dawson Garcia is from Prior Lake, MN and comes with 1.5 years of experience on the power-5 stage. He committed to Marquette (class of 2020) as a nationally top-50 ranked (5-star) prospect out of high school, becoming yet another missed in-state recruiting opportunity for Richard Pitino.

After a quality individual season as a Freshman (13 PTS, 6.6 REB), his coach was fired at Marquette so Garcia entered the transfer portal. From there, he committed to North Carolina, but his sophomore 2021-22 campaign lasted just a half season (9 PTS, 5.5 REB). He left Chapel Hill after 16 games, citing multiple family tragedies that were taking place back home in Prior Lake.

Hometown Option Likely From Start

When Garcia started thinking about basketball again, the University of Minnesota was the most logical choice. He wants to be closer to home and his family. And if he wants to play college basketball anywhere outside of UNC in 2022-23, Dawson Garcia will need a hardship transfer waiver approved by the NCAA, since this isn’t his first ride in the portal.

All of that led experts around college basketball to pinpoint Dinkytown as his likely destination, even before he hit the portal last week. But, nothing is a guarantee in the State of Minnesota Misery until it’s signed, sealed and delivered. So today, we celebrate. This is a huge step forward for Ben Johnson’s program.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Minnesota Gophers forward, Brandon Johnson, has entered the transfer portal. The first reports of Brandon’s entry came out last night but there are more dropping Monday morning. He has one year left of eligibility and most thought he’d use it in Minnesota if he decided to stay in school. Apparently not.

Johnson played one season as a Gopher and averaged 8.9 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game. Minnesota was a much better team when he was on the floor in 2021. Brandon is a great team “glue” guy and he’ll play that role well wherever he ends up.

Minnesota F Brandon Johnson (RS SR) has entered the transfer portal. Grad transfer. https://t.co/dO4gEvaoM7

— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) May 3, 2021

Brandon Johnson makes for an even TEN transfer portal departures for Minnesota since the start of 2020-21. That means we’ll have a brand new team to go along with our new coach when the 2021-22 season tips off. Ben Johnson still has a lot of work to do. Here’s his current roster, per Marcus Fuller (Start Tribune). He tweeted this out last week and the absence of Brandon makes his departure pretty obvious in hindsight.

#Gophers 2021-22 roster now has nine players:
Returning:
Both Gach
Isaiah Ihnen

Transfers:
Jamison Battle
Luke Loewe
E.J. Stephens
Sean Sutherlin
Parker Fox
Payton Willis

2021 HS class:
Treyton Thompson @GopherMBB @StribSports

— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) April 28, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Does the name, “Payton Willis”, ring a bell, Minnesota Gopher basketball fans? It should because Willis isn’t even 365 days removed from leaving the U of M campus. But after one year at the College of Charleston, Willis is coming back the same way he left, via the transfer portal.

Payton Willis is returning to Minnesota. He is the latest Gopher commit

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) April 16, 2021

Last Chapter 〽️❕ pic.twitter.com/UZwPqv5ChM

— ????️ (@UnlimitedRange0) April 16, 2021

Willis started his career at Vanderbilt, averaging just over 5 PPG in during both of his freshman and sophomore seasons. He then transferred to Minnesota, where he started 25 of 28 games, averaging 8.6 points and 36% from deep. Clearly, he had a falling out with Richard Pitino so he transferred to the College of Charleston. While there, bumped his 3PT shooting percentage to 40% and averaged 13.4 PPG.

The Minnesota Gophers roster now consists of 5 transfer portal commitments (Loewe, Battle, Sutherlin, Fox and Willis) and 3 players from the 2021 roster (Ihnen, Johnson, Gach), though Brandon Johnson has entered the NBA Draft process to see what his NBA chances are if he enters.

If Payton Willis can stroke nearly 40% from 3PT as a Gopher in 2021 then he’ll be a huge asset to Ben Johnson’s new squad.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Ben Johnson and the Minnesota Gophers need help at every position,. They’ve lost nine players to the transfer portal who were on roster when the 2020 season started. Ben has had some success out of the transfer portal, however, specifically at the wing position. That success continued on Sunday evening when they got a commitment from New Brighton, MN native and New Hampshire grad-transfer, Sean Sutherlin.

I’m coming home!!! 〽️???????????? pic.twitter.com/Gie4yQfW8i

— Sean (@sean_sutherlin) April 11, 2021

Sutherlin is a graduate transfer with one season of eligibility remaining. He spent his first two years at Sheridan College, where he helped capture two conference titles. Then, he transferred to the University of New Hampshire for his Junior year (2019-20).

During his only year at UNH, Sean Sutherlin nearly averaged a double-double, posting 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. That was during 2019-20 because Sean spent 2020-21 injured and never played a minute.

Here are some highlights:

check me out ????????????????‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/7q6BdGIytz

— Sean (@sean_sutherlin) March 21, 2020

This is a bit of a stretch because it was so long ago and we have no idea if the two even have a relationship anymore. But let’s at least note that, according to Ryan James of GopherIllustrated.com, Sutherlin played on the same AAU team (Minnesota Heat) as Parker Fox. Fox dominated the DII scene last season and is being courted HEAVILY by power-5 schools across the nation… the Minnesota Gophers being one of them.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Gabe Kalscheur stayed home. In 2018, three Twin Cities’ kids; Gabe, Daniel Oturu and Jarvis Omersa, bucked the trend of leaving Minneapolis to pursue their basketball dreams elsewhere. They wanted to prove that those hoops dreams could be reached with the Minnesota Gophers.

Daniel Oturu saw those dreams realized in maroon and gold, when he was drafted #33 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. But for the other two, their basketball dreams in Minnesota have ended in disappointment. Omersa left the team earlier this season and now, Kalscheur is transferring to Iowa State.

Minnesota transfer Gabe Kalscheur has committed to Iowa State.

Kalscheur – an All Big Ten level defender who scored 11.6 points per game as a sophomore, 9.2 last year – will transfer and play for new Cyclones coach T.J. Otzelberger pic.twitter.com/Wv0sGzyuXT

— Ryan James (@RyanJamesMN) April 10, 2021

Gabe came into Dinkytown as a freshman sharpshooter who had a passion for defense. But after his lights-out freshman season, the DeLaSalle graduate lost his shooting stroke and it’s now been missing for the better part of two seasons. Many hoped, myself included, that new Gophers head coach Ben Johnson and Gabe’s former high school coach, Dave Thorson, could steer Kalscheur back to his sharpshooting ways. But they won’t get that opportunity.

Gabe Kalscheur was always the first player in the gym and the last person to leave. He amazed Richard Pitino with his commitment and his absence is really going to hurt this program if Johnson can’t find a suitable replacement..

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

News on NCAA transfer waivers (to play immediately in 2020) have been trickling through for weeks now. Many Minnesota Gophers media and fans thought we would have heard back from the NCAA on the waivers for two of our most important newcomers, Liam Robbins (Drake) and Both Gach (Utah). Now, we have an update on the status of our new transfer duo…

Waiver process for Drake transfer Liam Robbins is in the Gophers' hands currently to give the NCAA a bit more information to make a decision. The U is currently working on that to give back I was told today. Utah transfer Both Gach waiver hasn't been sent yet. @StribSports

— Marcus R. Fuller (@Marcus_R_Fuller) August 14, 2020

Wait…. what?

According to Marcus Fuller of the Star Tribune, the transfer committee needs more information from Richard Pitino and the Gopher basketball program before they are comfortable making a decision on the waiver for Liam Robbins. WTF could the University of Minnesota have forgotten to send the NCAA… or could this be a situation where the NCAA is being unreasonable? What a strange tweet.

On top of that, Both Gach’ waiver hasn’t even been sent in yet. Supposedly, Pitino and Co. believe it’s a better idea to have the NCAA concentrate on one Minnesota waiver request at a time. After seeing this, you can’t blame him. If you are getting nervous though, you aren’t the only one.

Ha! #Gophers remain confident, although it's getting weird on the Robbins front. Those close to him were strongly led to believe that they'd find out last week. Now, as we approach the end of this work week, it's odd that we haven't officially heard.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 7, 2020

Again, this whole thing is really starting to get weird. If you believe this is the NCAA just trying to stab Minnesota because it’s fun, I can’t say you’re wrong. It’d be the least-shocking news I’ve come to terms with over the last few months… but could that be it?

Remember the Carr Waiver?

If we rewind back to the Marcus Carr waiver decision from a couple of years ago, it played out this same way. Pitino told media multiple times that he was confident about the Carr waiver. There was a weirdly long waiting period after that… before the request was denied. Meanwhile, waivers are getting approved across the NCAA for everyone else.

This isn’t a blog where I claim to have all the answers (like usual). I don’t know what is happening behind this curtain or how this will finish. Hopefully, Pitino just forgot to include a copy of his insurance card or Robbins’ birth certificate in the paperwork? The situation is worth keeping an eye on. Then, we’ll have to do this same thing with Both Gach. Fun.

Not to mention, Liam Robbins could be the difference in having a front court that can compete in the Big Ten this season. Comparing him to Marcus Carr is legitimate because it could be just as devastating.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan