P.J. Fleck praises Drake Lindsey, eyes growth heading into 2026
Arguably, the biggest storyline of the 2025 season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football program was that of first-year starting quarterback, redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey.
The former three-star prospect out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, took over the reins of the offense and program after sitting behind Max Brosmer for a full season in 2024. In his first 12 games as a starting quarterback, Lindsey showed plenty of promise, completing 63.2% of his passes for 2,235 yards and 16 touchdowns against just six interceptions.
Earlier this week, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck discussed Lindsey’s first year as a starter and the build toward the 2026 season.
“I think what he did is pretty remarkable,” Fleck said of Lindsey.
“I think when you are talking about a young quarterback — a rookie quarterback, a freshman quarterback, an inexperienced quarterback — there is a process,” he continued. “I said this at the beginning of the year: you can’t skip steps.”
“I’m really proud of our offensive staff, I’m really proud of Drake,” Fleck said. “We didn’t skip steps. There are things that we have to go through.”
“When you look at where we’re at, I know we have really high expectations. We’re always going to have that. But every year is gonna create its own version of what success is.”
From game one through bowl-season practices, Fleck has seen growth in Lindsey’s game both on the field and as a leader in the locker room. For Minnesota, it was all part of the plan. As Fleck said since the early days of fall camp, the Gophers were going to give Lindsey everything he could handle — and more.
“We never held back,” Fleck said, looking back on the regular season. “This is like drinking out of a fire hose — from our shifts, motions, play calls, huddle, and leadership — and you’ve got one year to watch Max and then, bang, you’re thrown into it.”
Last week, Lindsey announced his intentions to return for the 2026 season, a major roster retention win for the Gophers.
Lindsey’s return for the 2026 season is also a testament to the program, its culture, and its ability to develop players, Fleck said.
“I think it speaks to the culture,” he said. “I think he put out a really amazing statement that I think speaks volumes about the type of program we have here, about development. If you’re gonna be a developmental program, your players better feel like they’re being developed.”
“And I think that was a pretty powerful statement from our quarterback,” he continued.
In the new age of college football and the transfer portal, Fleck knows that having those testimonials from the Gophers’ homegrown players will be extremely important.
“Every year is gonna be its own entity,” he explained. “You’re always gonna handle it that way. These guys are technically on one-year contracts when you kinda look at it. With free agency every single year, if you compare it to the NFL. So you wanna make sure that the experience is everything.”
“I think Drake has had an elite experience to start his freshman year,” he continued. “But just because you’ve done something one year doesn’t promise you the next. He’s going to have to earn everything he gets to take that next step.”
For many players, the first jump, as Fleck explains, is the hardest. While the ensuing jumps may be smaller, they require even harder work.
“The jump between where the bottom was and that first step is usually the biggest jump,” he said. “Now those jumps get smaller, and I think that’s where he’s going to have to work extra hard.”
“You’ve got to work harder to make the next step, and the step is even smaller. So that’s going to be really fun for our offensive staff and him — to be able to create it where it’s his team. And I think that’s going to be a lot of fun to build.”
