Mark Coyle

You know, Boom May, when he got hired, said, "We need to set a championship standard." And, you know, Jess, I think was, you know, hesitant on that line.

It's like w- you know, we're right there, but I think, uh, you know, obviously the bar's been set by Mark Coyle with the position change at head coach, and, you know, they've got a great challenge ahead of them.

Sorry, I'm messing with your, your screen a little bit.

You seem a little low.

It's like he does not care about what other people say, you know, whatever.

He's like, "Mark Coyle, the athletic director, loves me for me.

My players love me for me."

Yeah.

I don't think he's the greatest human being in the world by any means.

And so he decides to pick up the cellphone, calls Mark Coyle, says, "Just wanna, just wanna let you know, Mark, Urban here.

I'm interested.

You got something special going." And PJ Fleck's a really good recruiter, I think.

He's a really good GM type, but I'm Urban Meyer.

What do you do if you're Mark Coyle? [upbeat music]

I hang up.

I hang up, um, respectfully.

I'll look.

But we're gonna be at a point where I don't think we're gonna be talking about how much can Dinky Town Athletes and Mark Coyle pay John Nestor to come back for a fifth year.

We're just gonna be talking about, "Oh, John Nestor's gonna go to the NFL" at that point, which that's a great thing for Minnesota's defense because that's part of why they're 4-1.

Uh, before I kick it to you, Derek, I'll also say this.

And, uh, not, I'm not saying wrongly.

Like, I'm still very close with Mark Coyle, the AD, and I'm still very appreciative of the people of Minnesota, but I think it, that's a tough job.

I just do.

Mm-hmm.

So I think when you have that alignment, that, that's less storms and current that you have to row through and it makes it smoother.

Uh, you know, Mark Coyle, I think, is one of the greatest athletic directors in the country.

He's continued to commit to Minnesota, which has made me wanna commit to Minnesota.

And the people are in alignment.

So he has done such a great job of changing the standard, changing the narrative of what Minnesota football is.

And you know, There's reports of wherever we're funded, who cares, right? Mark Coyle has a quote where, you know, ranked 14th or 15th out of the Big Ten and what we can spend athletically as a whole.

And Mark Coyle says, we're going to continually, no matter what, like outkick what we're given.

You know, in Minneapolis, we've done a great job, I think, from the athletic department of raising awareness, raising funds, doing the best with what we have.

But Coach P.J. Fleck has done that.

And the Gopher women coming off of a Sweet 16 with big-time transfers coming in, that's going to be exciting as well.

Were you a basketball player too? I wasn't very good at basketball.

I grew up in Kentucky, which Mark Coyle has roots with the Wildcats.

Roy created that course, you know, for those that don't know who Roy Griak was, he was a legendary coach here at the university, one of the greatest humans you'll ever meet.

And so for his sake, you know, he created that course, like I said, and so to not be able to run it anymore for his namesake, but it was really important to us, the university, Mark Coyle, that the meat just didn't go away.

And that was really important to all of us because of Roy that, and because it's just such a great celebration of cross country in the state.

that we didn't lose the meet completely.

... at 6:00 PM, that kickoff time.

A year ago last July, Mark Coyle told the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents that the Gophers athletics department was forecasting a nearly $9 million budget deficit-

Ooh

... for fiscal year 2026, and Coyle has now confirmed another approximately $9 million deficit projected for fiscal year 2027.