Recruiting thoughts: Gophers are on the verge of a great 2026 class

The Gophers coaching staff is busy on the 2026 recruiting trail with 10 verbal commitments and official visits scheduled with more than 40 prospects. With Early National Signing Day still seven months away, we're still very early in the cycle, but Minnesota could be on the verge of a great class.

Since P.J. Fleck took over the Gophers program in 2017, he has raised the floor of their recruiting. The transfer portal has greatly impacted how important high school recruiting is to overall team building, but it still matters a lot for the health of a program.

Excluding 2017, Minnesota's high school recruiting class has ranked between 37th and 53rd in the country according to 247Sports. If they want to take the next step, they need high-end recruits, and the 2026 cycle might be their time to do just that.

According to 247Sports, Minnesota signed six four-star recruits the 2021 and four in 2024, and those are two of Fleck's best classes with the Gophers. Verbal in-state commitments, Howie Johnson and Andrew Trout, already give them two four-stars in 2026, and CB Justin Hopkins is right on the fringe of being a third.

Minnesota's biggest high school recruiting weekend is right around the corner with their annual Summer Splash event kicking off the final weekend of May and then another weekend in early June. It will give the Gophers an opportunity to seal the deal with some of their top targets.

Jackson, Minnesota's Roman Voss, is the biggest x-factor in this whole discussion. He is a consensus four-star recruit and ranked in the top 200 according to 247Sports. It isn't often that the Gophers are able to land a talent of his caliber. If he opts to stay home over heading to Alabama, he would be a class-changing prospect for the Gophers.

Illinois safety Messiah Tilson is the only other four-star recruit they're hosting, according to 247Sports, but Minnesota LB/TE Pierce Petersohn, Iowa safety Jayden McGregory, Baltimore RB Damon Ferguson, Iowa edge defender Julian Manson and Texas running backs Aaron Estrada and Ashton Rowden are six other players who are considered four-star recruits by other major services.

Related: 5 most important recruiting targets for Gophers football in 2026 cycle

If Minnesota is able to add a commitment from Voss and at least two of the other four-star recruits scheduled to visit, they'd be able to flirt with the six four-stars they added in 2021.

There are still so many dominoes to fall between now and December, and you never want to get too far ahead of yourself in the modern college football recruiting world, but Minnesota has set itself up for a potentially huge late spring and early summer for its 2026 recruiting cycle.

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