Koi Perich on offense? P.J. Fleck Makes Brutally Honest Admission on Team Offense and Player

Koi Perich is still finding his footing with the University of Minnesota football team, but he is having an impressive season on defense.

In Saturday’s win against Maryland, Perich recorded his fifth interception of the season and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. He returned the interception 45 yards, which helped set up a field goal, and also returned three punts for a total of 31 yards.

Whenever he gets the ball, Gophers fans are on the edge of their seats, anticipating big plays. This Saturday, he even lined up in the backfield for an offensive snap, raising speculation about future possibilities.

Coach P.J. Fleck mentioned on his FOX 9 TV show on Tuesday that fans shouldn’t be surprised if Perich gets 8-10 offensive snaps at some point this season. “Most people thought he just sneaked onto the field without knowing we were on offense; he lined up in the backfield,” Fleck said. “We want to experiment with that a bit. I don’t want to overload him, but what we’ve given him so far, he’s handled well. He’s a tough competitor and a natural athlete; if we can find a way to get him 8-10 snaps doing different things, we’ll definitely explore that. He’s one of our best playmakers with the ball in hand, even though he primarily plays defense.”

What this means is that the Gophers may be planning to use him in trick plays or gadget plays to leverage one of their top young talents. Perich remained committed to Minnesota despite a late recruiting push from Ohio State before Signing Day. He is only two interceptions away from matching the program’s single-season record of seven and is one of nine Gophers to achieve at least five interceptions in a season.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how many offensive snaps Perich receives in Saturday’s game against Illinois. Just the sight of him in an offensive formation will add another layer of strategy for the Illini to consider.