Here are his comments on all 25 players:
• Blaise Andries - All state 1st team, #1 recruit in MN. We want to keep our players here, period. 4.0 student. I've never had a student tell me, since 7th grade I wanted to be a blank….he said an actuary. You should have seen me…what the heck is an actuary. I didn't even know what that was, he's way smarter than me. Smart men make better linemen. We're going to recruit 3 sport athletes. We want multi-sport athletes, I want to see them compete in many sports. He's an incredible athlete. We're going to build the biggest walls you've ever seen, and we're going to pay for them (laughing).
• Kyle Sassack - We brought over from WMU that was committed there, 2nd OT in MI, extremely smart, long. He holds his weight really well, will grow his weight until about 310. He's got 2 brothers. Turned down SEC and Big 10 offers. He's a phenomenal 3 sport athletes, I love 3 sport athletes, Notre Dame prep, smart kid. His Dad is a phenomenal golfer. His sister is a big time volleyball player.
• John Michael Schmitz - We knew this kid right out the gate, #1 center in the Midwest. He's one of the toughest football players you'll even be around. Tougher football players I've been around in 4 years. His Mom is a pet rescuer. Nasty grungy guys…when you bump into him, you've got to scrub your arm with bleach, in the best way possible. He's blue collar.
• Nathan Bursch - #1 TE in MN, doing everything we can to get the top prospects out of MN. Plays O and D, part of keeping the best talent inside the state of MN. RTB - RUN THE BALL! 45th Tight end in the nation.
• Jake Paulson - he's fearless, absolutely fearless. State champ. This guy is one of the highly sought after TE's, we had a way better chance of getting him here than WMU. Comes from retired Navy, serving and giving, that's the type of household. We love recruiting military families, they know what it is to fight, to be different, etc.
• Nate Umlor - 2 way player, 6 TD, 8.5 sacks, 107th recruit in the Midwest. He came to camp, set the record for unofficial visits for an institution ever. He's a "how" competitor". One of the nicest people you'll ever meet, but one of the toughest people on the football field. Turned down SEC offers, he committed to the Gophers and never saw it. That's loyalty.
• We have 2 elite RB's in Rodney and Shannnon
• Mohammed Ibrahim - ties in the DC area for a long time, watch this kid's highlight tape, he's explosive. He's a mix of Barry Sanders and Christian Okoye. One of the more impressive running backs I've watched. His Dad is an Elite soccer player. Top 35 running back.
• Dominic London - Extremely productive back, and an incredible human being. 1st team all state as a Junior. #1 RB in MN, Keeping. Minnesota. Kids. Here. Period.
• Chris Autman-Bell: He came to camp, we knew he was going to be elite, and lit it up. He has hands that I've never even seen. Similar body control, freaky athleticism. He tore a ligament in his finger…so I could hide him for 12 weeks. Gym rate.
• Demetrius Douglas - His father is Omar Douglas, set the Big 10 record with 5 TD's. He's Mr. Everything. WR. One of the 1st trips we made was a long trip to Oregon. We talked about why he should be a Gopher, we didn't talk football one time. Why he should come here, surround himself with 3.5million, the clubs, the alums…when Omar thought about is, it was his memories. Look forward to bit things.
• Harry Van Dyne - he had a ton of attention late. His Dad played WR at Michigan, and did a tremendous job, he's a freak athlete, high GPA, top 10 GPA in the state of Kansas. 6/7/8 hour radius is our targeted area, so people can drive here, bring friends, family, etc…so the Bank sells out year after year, after year, and you have to be put on the damn waiting list!
• QB's - losing a senior QB, I can't sit there and say the answer is one of these, because I haven't worked with any specifically that was a true QB at MN. It's one of the open competitions in the country.
• Ray Estes - 14-0 championship team, he's in a phone booth with speed. He's 4.4 type talent, good student, 1st one to go to college in his family, starting point guard, his sister is in the national guard. His Mom dyed her hair maroon, that's how dedicated he is. That's committed!
• Neil McLaurin -
• Tanner Morgan - 36 hour window - anytime you leave a school, it's hard. You have people that loved you, that now hate you, and vice versa. You've got recruits that want to come, and don't want to come. I got interviewed Weds., but took it at 1am on Friday, and you take the job and call everyone, but it's 1:30am. I hit the ground running. One of those 1st calls was to Tanner Morgan. If you're going to take a QB, take someone you know a lot about. He's a leader, a champion, he is pure culture through and through. He's from Kentucky, his Dad also coached him, his team finished 12-1. #1 QB in the midwest. He is an incredible decisive decision maker, he's a gym rat, a leader, and makes everyone else around him better.
• D-Line was a need. We don't have a redshirt freshman, fresh, soph, and there's 1 jr at D-tackle. For 18, we're going to take 6 lineman. 1st of all you have to play with 2, and you need back-ups. Hardest position to find, let alone, in 2.5 weeks. We don't have any tackles. You play with 2 - so you need 5.
• Noah Hilcox - He's full of passion. Scout had him as 7th D-end in the state. 3.6 GPA. Dad passed away of cancer in September. The word that comes to mind when you think of him is "response".
• I haven't talked about stars yet. I was a minus 2 star, and found a way to play in the NFL.
• Big O - from Ben Davis HS, Ezezi Otomewo - #1 D-end in Indiana. Just wait until he's 275lbs, high ceiling, only played FB for 3 years. You will not miss him. When you see him, it doesn't look like he's eaten in 3 years.
• Boye Mafe - from Hopkins. 78 tackles, the key to an elite D, is Elite pass rushers. He was an all star team. This one was a slug fest until the end, looks easy on the screen. He high jumps 6'5". #1 D End in Mn.
• Malcolm Robinson - instant connection of energy and passion, he was always captain, so glad to have him.
• Sleeper of the class - you talk about starts, I'm not a big star guy, Austin Schirck, 273 lbs, and arms that go down and touch his ankles. All state 1st team, he's special, that's all I have to say. He went to 2 camps, he didn't get invited to any other camp, I don't know how he got out of that state. From what I've seen and heard…this kid is a very very special young man. He couldn't wait to play in the Big 10. He's going to be living a dream. He committed to Northern Iowa…I don't know how they got out of there. 20th player in Iowa, 3.8 GPA. He's one of those "buy low" things. Buy the stock!
• Royal Silver - Run stopper, he's a pass rusher at the same time. We need D tackles. You're not going to see me recruiting 20 JUCOs in one class, if you have 1 in the program, you need someone with experience. I am a high school recruiter and develop them from the ground up, from the moment they come, to the moment they leave, and 40 years after.
• Who knows how many D-Backs we'll have? We had to hit needs. We got 3 D-Backs and I don't think we missed on any of them. There's 4 that play. We had to recruit a lot of defensive backs. There's issues we have to fix. Everyone has issues. I'm not saying it's going to be fixed this year. You're only allowed to take 25 players a year.
• Adam Beck - You can tell why their state champions. All district honors. Won the Texas State championship. He was the #7 safety in the state of Texas.
• Justus Harris: 1st team region honors, he has a 43 inch vertical at 5'10" so he plays 6'3". Explosive play maker, Mighty Mouse with buttery hips.
• Ken Handy-Holly: 72 tackles, 32 solos, and went to the state semi finals. #1 safety in the state of Alabama, happy we didn't have to worry about him. His nickname is Candy Handy - we've got a campaign ready to hand out candy when he makes hits. Blessed to have him in our culture. How did you pull the #1 safety out of Alabama? Showed him what the depth chart looked like.
• Linebackers - we love where we're at linebacker. Talk about pure leadership already, I thought the staff before me did a tremendous job. I love our linebackers!
• Trenton Guthrie - He already put 10 lbs on him. He's a "how-fer" he brings culture to the U of MN. We're not changing all these things, we're connecting people.
One of my favorite players - Grant Ryerse - 4 year starter at kicker and punter. #4 kicker in the country, 4.31 GPA. He's an elite smart kicker. We have the best kicker in the entire country, he's coming right here. (technically the 4th). What is our program about serving and giving, that's what he's about. You can't have enough kickers.
