Last season, Minnesota's secondary and cornerback room had a bit of a letdown season. While the end of the year numbers were solid, there were multiple poor efforts from the secondary throughout the season including allowing 400 yards to both North Carolina and Northwestern while allowing Illinois and Purdue to both throw for over 250 yards as well.

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Entering this fall, the Gophers cornerback room has been under the microscope and is a position group that may ultimately make or break the program's success on the defensive side of the ball.

So with 10 days from the Gophers' season opener against the North Carolina Tar Heels, how does Gophers' head coach P.J. Fleck's feelings about his cornerback room?

Here's what he had to say on Monday when meeting with the media.

"Tremendous growth," Fleck said about his room. "I was just having a discussion with one of our coaches about that. You know, you have (Justin) Walley and you have Ethan (Robinson), both of those guys have played a ton of football. But you start to look at like Zaquan Bryan's development, you're really pleased with what he's been able to do especially for such a young kid. He had a chance to play in the bowl game, that has helped him exponentially get to where he is right now."

Bryan was a three-star prospect as part of the Gophers 2023 recruiting class. The former Benedictine Military School (GA) standout committed to the Gophers in the cycle over seven other offers. Since arriving on campus, Bryan has been an underclassmen consistently gaining praise from the staff.

Last season, he played in the Gophers last two games against Wisconsin and in the Quick Lane Bowl against Bowling Green. He finished the season with two tackles and one pass breakup.

This fall, Bryan will have the opportunity to earn more playing time as a member of the Gophers two deep at cornerback. That being said, Bryan wasn't the only young Gopher defensive back that Fleck singled out on Monday.

"We have a lot of other guys in at that mix at that corner position. Rhyland Kelly has had a really good camp. He's big, long, strong. He's gained a bunch of weight," he said.

The redshirt sophomore from Canada played in seven games in 2023 as a redshirt freshman mostly on special teams but will also have the opportunity this fall to earn more playing time on defense as a member of the Gophers two-deep.

Overall, Fleck likes the versatility that his cornerback room and secondary overall has heading into this fall.

"We have a bunch of guys that can play a lot of different positions, whether they slide down inside, stay outside. That's a pretty deep room and they're aggressive," he said.

"They've done a really good job at getting better. I think Coach (Nick) Monroe has done a great job coaching them. Gotta keep getting better but I like where we are there and you mix that with the safeties and the nickels. There's more guys that will be playing in the secondary than we've had in the past."

The Gophers secondary will have their first opportunity to show their improvement from last season on August 29 when they host the North Carolina Tar Heels at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Last season, the Tar Heels threw for 299.2 yards per game but did say goodbye to star quarterback Drake Maye this offseason as he was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots in the NFL Draft.

With 10 days remaining until the season opener,. the Tar Heels have been mum on who their starting quarterback will be but it does appear likely that Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson will get the nod come August 29.

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