The Minnesota Golden Gophers have made the state of California a recruiting priority recently.

The program currently hold three commitments from California athletes in their 2025 recruiting class in the form of quarterback Jackson Kollock, wide receiver Legend Lyons, and offensive linemen Daniel Shipp. In the 2026 recruiting cycle, the Gophers have extended offers to more prospects out of California than any other state.

It was an effort that already began well before Minnesota's recent success over two of the Big Ten's newest programs in USC and UCLA, but P.J. Fleck and the Gophers coaching staff hope that success will lead to more success on the recruiting trail.

"We beat USC, that's going to help, that opens up eyes and in California and all areas of it," Minnesota offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr said ahead of the Gophers' matchup against UCLA earlier this month.

"We're going to go where the best players are but obviously we know that the state of California has a lot of great prospects and we want to be able to utilize that and be able to get in there and get our footprint in there and continue to recruit those guys out there."

One of those prospects that the Gophers are in the midst of recruiting is tight end Colby Simpson. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Oaks Christian prospect made his first trip to Minneapolis this weekend and Gophers Nation caught up with the three-star prospect to discuss his 24-hours in 'The Land of 10,000 Lakes'.

"It was a very productive 24 hours," Simpson told Gophers Nation about his visit. "It was my first time in Minnesota, and I totally enjoyed the game day experience. Definitely felt very welcomed by the entire staff and spent quality time with (tight ends) Coach Eric Koehler and (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach) Coach Greg Harbaugh."

Simpson has nearly a dozen scholarship offers to his name including Arizona State, Cal, Colorado State, Minnesota, Oregon State, San Diego State, San Jose State, UNLV, and Washington State. Penn State has also shown interest in the Westlake Village native. Notably, Simpson's mom played volleyball for the Nittany Lions.

This trip was Simpson's first chance to take in the sights and sounds of Huntington Bank Stadium as well as the Minnesota campus and the Gophers' facilities.

"I loved the stadium and the homecoming energy of the fans," he said. "Had a memorable tour of the campus and the facilities with Joe Reddy after the game, which was fun since the campus was so lively after the landslide win over Maryland."

He was also impressed with the culture of the program.

"The culture of the team and staff seemed very organized, welcoming, and authentic. I appreciated how Coach Fleck spoke directly and sincerely about his expectations of the team as athletes and people," Simpson explained.

Of course, as a tight end, all his attention during the game and in conversations with the coaching staff was on the Gophers' usage of the position.

"Most important to me was seeing how the team utilizes the tight ends so much, and the way the tight end unit plays as a team," he said. "I was watching Geers and Kallerup closely and taking in the way the TEs interacted on the sidelines because I was sitting right behind them. I felt like I fit right in."

Over the past few months, the Gophers’ coaching staff has been able to build a strong relationship with Simpson early in his recruitment. The staff originally offered the 6-foot-5 tight end after an impressive performance at the Redlands Camp on June 10 in Southern California.

"Coach (James) Bain offered me after the Redlands camp, and we hit it off out of the gates since he is from SoCal as well," he said. "It was great to see him again and catch up."

The Gophers and Simpson also have plans to see each other again this upcoming offseason.

"Coach Koehler is going to come out to visit me this January, maybe catch a basketball game, and I plan to come back out to campus for a spring practice to experience the culture and vibe in the meeting rooms and on the practice field."

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