Max Brosmer has helped Minnesota make a sharp turn into a pass-first team in his only Big Ten season

Published Nov. 6, 2024 8:38 p.m. ET

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Max Brosmer went looking for a new challenge to complete his college career, a first glance at Minnesota hardly suggested a fit.

The Gophers have unapologetically been a grind-it-out team for years, and here was the leading passer in the FCS who threw the ball more than 40 times per game for New Hampshire seeking a power conference team he could lead for his final season.

Taking a chance on each other sure led to a strong partnership.

The ball has been in the air for Minnesota this year more than it's stayed on the ground, the first time since 2007 when that 1-11 team finished with a minus-125 scoring differential.

Over the first seven seasons under coach P.J. Fleck, the Gophers called runs on 62% of their plays. This season, they've passed 55% of the time.

“We knew we were going to have to be able to close that gap,” Fleck said.

Enter Brosmer, who in his conversations while in the transfer portal didn't shy away from stating his goal of having full control of the offense despite playing for a program that's essentially two levels below Minnesota. He hit it off with Fleck and his staff, particularly co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Greg Harbaugh.

Gophers coaches, with no experienced options on the roster remaining after last season, realized they needed Brosmer as much as he needed them.

“That was part of the open, early, honest communication. Throughout recruiting, one of the things that I had told them was, ’Hey, I want to be able to run the offense,'” Brosmer said. “A lot of teams do the ‘check-with-me’ system where you’re looking to the sideline and the OC is calling the play.”

This vision was born out of confidence and ambition, not bravado, but Brosmer's leadership desire would be left unfulfilled were it not for his keen ability to quickly unite the locker room around the common cause of improving on a disappointing 6-7 finish in 2023.

“That’s what excited me about this place, that they were willing to try new things, especially when I got here in January,” Brosmer said.

The improved and modernized passing attack would hardly matter if the Gophers (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) weren't playing well, but they are on a four-game winning streak entering their game Saturday at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights, ironically, are quarterbacked by Athan Kaliakmanis, the starter at Minnesota last season whose transfer created the opening for this one-year-only blast with Brosmer.

Brosmer, who got his degree in biomedical science from New Hampshire, is also a hobby guitarist who recorded his own country song. For all his abilities, Harbaugh has called leadership his superpower.

Despite no prior relationships with his new teammates, Brosmer held offseason gatherings at his childhood home in Georgia and applied the work-ethic example he learned from his parents toward immersing himself in not only Minnesota’s playbook but the culture too.

“That’s why we’re winning: Guys are working their tails off,” he said.

Brosmer, who regularly plays online chess to exercise his mind and take a brief football break, has wowed the Gophers with his meticulous approach to the weekly preparation for each game.

“Getting into the office at the same exact time every single day,” Brosmer said, “because I have a set amount of minutes that I want to do each thing.”

His ability to process the game plan and the opposing defense have given the coaching staff an increasing amount of confidence he can handle whatever it is they're trying to do.

“You can utilize the entire playbook,” Harbaugh said. "You can utilize every area of the field.”

Brosmer has 13 touchdown passes and just four interceptions, plus four rushing scores. He's seventh in the Big Ten with a completion percentage (68.2) that's on pace to break the program record.

“He processes at such a high level because he prepares at such a high level,” Fleck said. “He’s really smart, and I’ve seen a lot of smart people who can’t process and function that quickly.”

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