MINNEAPOLIS — Today’s landscape in college athletics is changing by the minute. From name, image and likeness to the growing transfer portal to conference realignment, things are evolving on a daily basis.
For Gophers Athletic Director Mark Coyle, there’s never a slow time of year these days.
“There’s no doubt college athletics is undergoing seismic shifts. Our goal is to make sure that our staff provides a first-class experience for our student-athletes,” said Coyle.
Part of that process is making sure Minnesota continues to stay up-to-date with name, image, and likeness and the ability for student-athletes to profit from their brand.
“Every conversation I have these days involves name, image and likeness,” said Coyle.
The University continues to promote and grow its collective, Dinkytown Athletes (https://dinkytownathletes.com/) in charge of helping raise funds that directly support and impact student-athletes at the University of Minnesota.
“We fully support that and we feel like being in the Twin Cities, we have a huge, huge advantage, because we have so many people here and incorporations here that can support our student-athletes,” said Coyle.
Coyle knows there’s still progress to be made in this area as the Gophers continue to try and keep pace with a rapidly evolving area of college athletics.
“We haven’t run a sprint, we’ve been very cautious, but I think we’ll win the race in the long haul because we’ve done it the right way. Doing it right in Minnesota matters. That’s incredibly important to me, our student-athletes, our coaches and our staff, and we’ll continue to be focused on that,” said Coyle.
Coyle also spoke about PJ Fleck, Ben Johnson, Dawn Plitzuweit, conference realignment, the transfer portal, and facilities upgrades in the video embedded.
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