Gophers’ DB Koi Perich named to Big Ten Preseason Honors list

Gophers in Las Vegas for Big Ten Media Days

The Gophers football team is in Las Vegas for Big Ten Media Days, and Wednesday will be full for P.J. Fleck, Koi Perich, Darius Taylor, Anthony Smith and Drake Lindsey. FOX 9's Pierre Noujaim is there, and will sit down with the head coach for the first P.J. Fleck Show of the 2025 season.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Koi Perich is one of four University of Minnesota football players in Las Vegas, Nev., this week for Big Ten Media Days.

On Tuesday, Perich was one of 15 players named to the Big Ten’s Preseason Honors list. He’s the only Gophers’ player to make the list. Teammates Drake Lindsey, Darius Taylor and Anthony Smith, along with coach P.J. Fleck, will take their turns at media day on Wednesday.

Koi Perich’s freshman season

What we know:

Perich played in all 13 games last season as a freshman, starting three of them on defense. Towards the end of the season, he got offensive snaps at wide receiver. Perich was also the primary kick and punt returner.

He finished the season with 46 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and was one of the top defensive backs in the league with five interceptions. He finished fourth for the Gophers with 565 all-purpose yards. He’s the only freshman in FBS play since 1976 to record more than 100 punt return yards, 100 kick return yards and five interceptions in one season.

He was named First-Team All-Big Ten, and a Second-Team All-American.