Gophers star safety Koi Perich’s role on offense more than ‘a gadget’

The Gophers are turning Koi Perich into a two-way heck a three-way contestant and they are stitching it all together this spring Let s start with the true sophomore s practice jersey which is half maroon like all defensive players wear and half white like the offensive guys The Esko native s No is split vertically down the middle Next have been the brief glimpses of the U safety taking an offensive snap here and there during two open-to-media practices over the last two weeks the Gophers don t dig deep into its playbook during these sessions but they have been cool with showing that He s too good of a football member not to be on the field somehow someway throughout the entire challenge not just on one side head coach P J Fleck disclosed Tuesday I think offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh has done a really good job of giving him what he can handle but whatever we give him we want him to be really good at As a true freshman Perich primarily played safety returned punts and kickoffs and cameo d on offense but didn t record a carry or a catch That will change in This isn t just a gadget thing Fleck clarified We re not looking at him to be a gadget He s going to be an athlete on this football group and make plays on every side of the ball plus the return competition He s done a really good job of handling all of it The practice jersey is an indication of their commitment It spawned from quarterback Drake Lindsey saying it was hard to see Perich when he was running routes over the middle of the field P J Fleck came up with the idea Perich commented and equipment manager Brady Gagnon made it happen Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy playing both cornerback and wide receiver at Colorado last season At this point it s way too much to compare Perich to Hunter a projected top NFL draft pick later this month but the game-changing ability resides in Perich Perich s five interceptions last season was tied for fourth in the nation two of them sealed wins against Southern California and UCLA It led to him being named all-Big Ten first crew On special teams he averaged yards per punt return including a -yarder in the comeback attempt at Michigan and put up yards per kickoff return It means a lot Perich commented about also playing on offense But that obviously comes with more work Every opportunity is not given it s earned So with that you just gotta keep putting in more work and more work That s what comes with it Perich s offensive role this spring has been catching a periodic pass in the two open practices one spotted in each session How much and where offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh will use Perich will start to be reveled in season opener against Buffalo on Aug or more likely at California on Sept and the Big Ten opener versus Rutgers on Sept Harbaugh of syllabus wasn t willing to detail what Perich s offensive role will be He s a pretty good member so I will work with him he deadpanned For Perich in it isn t just the grandiose idea of playing everywhere it s the granular details in being a safety Fleck revealed a point of emphasis for Perich will be a higher attention within fundamentals I think when you play as a true freshman you re kind of thrown in the fire and you re just making plays and you re running around Fleck disclosed in March at the start of spring practices Yes you re within the scheme Yes you re doing your assignment You re doing it right but are you doing it as efficiently as you possibly can Perich who is listed at -foot- and pounds has his own list of things he wants to improve his man-to-man coverage skills and working on his releases from the line of scrimmage as a wide receiver On Tuesday Fleck noticed how Perich could improve his positioning and hand placement when taking on blocks and popped over to tell him how he should improve it These finer points can be more easily addressed in spring practices something Perich didn t do as he finished up his senior year in northeastern Minnesota a year ago Isn t that hard to believe the kid got here in June Fleck explained On top of defense and special teams at Esko Perich played running back and reciever You just develop those ball skills he mentioned And I think those carry over for anything you re doing And his role also appears to be growing on defense with new defensive coordinator Danny Collins putting Perich in at nickel back I just try to come in and put in more work each day and hopefully everybody can see that Perich mentioned about becoming a club leader And they can build off what I m doing either if it s in the weight room or on the field and just work off my resource That s what I try to do each and every day Related Articles Gophers football New defensive coordinator Danny Collins wants HAVOC Charley Walters Vikings backup definitely won t be Rodgers Gophers football nets commitment from lineman Gavin Meier over Badgers others What Niko Medved and P J Fleck talked about during hiring process Gophers football Quarterback Drake 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