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Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

Minnesota Golden Gophers football
2017 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
Minnesota Golden Gophers logo.svg
First season 1882
Athletic director Mark Coyle
Head coach P.J. Fleck
1st year, 0–0 (–)
Stadium TCF Bank Stadium
Location Minneapolis, Minnesota
NCAA division Division I FBS
Conference Big Ten
Division West
All-time record 666–500–42 (.569)
Bowl record 7–12 (.368)
Claimed nat'l titles 7 (1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1960)
Conference titles 18
Heisman winners 1
Consensus All-Americans 33
Colors Maroon and Gold
         
Fight song Minnesota Rouser
Mascot Goldy Gopher
Marching band Minnesota Marching Band
Outfitter Nike
Rivals Iowa Hawkeyes
Wisconsin Badgers
Michigan Wolverines
Penn State Nittany Lions
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Website gophersports.com
Golden Gophers in the NFL
NFL Draft selections
Total selected: 333
1st Round: 17
NFL achievements
Total Players: 215
Hall of Famers: 6

The Minnesota Golden Gophers football program represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Founded in 1882, the program is one of the oldest in college football. Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its inception in 1896 as the Western Conference. The Golden Gophers claim seven national championships: 1904, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, and 1960. Since 2009, the Gophers have played all their home games at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In January 2017, the Gophers fired head coach Tracy Claeys and hired former Western Michigan head coach PJ Fleck as the new head coach.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team played its first game on September 29, 1882, a 4–0 victory over Hamline University. Eight years later in 1890, the Gophers played host to Wisconsin in a 63–0 victory. With the exception of 1906, the Gophers and Badgers have played each other every year since then. The 124 games played against each other is the most played rivalry in Division I-A college football.

The sport's beginnings were humble. Students began gathering to play the game recreationally and its popularity grew.

Once the sport had taken off, it was only a matter of time before a team was formed to play against other schools. Early teams were very loosely organized, not requiring all of the players to be students and not having designated coaches. The players on the team started to recruit faculty members who had played football at schools in the East to help organize the team. Some years, they played without a coach. Other years, they played with multiple coaches. In total, from 1882 through 1899, the team played 16 seasons of football and had 15 different coaches. As the years went by, the leadership structure started to become more formal. In 1900, the hiring of Dr. Henry L. Williams, the school’s first full-time salaried coach, signaled the end of the early, chaotic days.


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