Minnesota quarterback Max Brosmer knows not to take any of this for granted. He heads to work out every day at a $166 million practice facility. When the weather is bad, the team practices at an indoor facility. He drives by the Mayo Clinic downtown, one of the best medical complexes in the world.
For five years, Brosmer played at the University of New Hampshire, an FCS school that averaged 8,700 fans per home game. There was a water fountain in the weight room at UNH that didn't work for years. If a player forgot to bring water to a lift, they just didn't get water. At Minnesota? Not so much.
"It's just a fact, the resources are different," Brosmer told CBS Sports. "It teaches you to love the game of football. That's my job here is to provide perspective."
Brosmer's perspective comes from getting left behind. Despite growing up in Roswell, Georgia, the middle of SEC country, Brosmer failed to earn a single FBS offer. Even local FCS programs ultimately passed, thinking he was either too small or that he didn't have a strong enough arm. He earned a preferred walk-on offer from Georgia, which would ironically turn to walk-on Stetson Bennett one season later. However, Brosmer wanted to reward his parents' investment with a fully funded education.
At New Hampshire, the program that produced Ohio State coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, Brosmer became the first quarterback to ever start as a true freshman. He went on to lead the FCS with 3,464 yards passing, earn All-American honors and finish as a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. In his lone game against an FBS opponent as a senior, Brosmer diced Central Michigan to the tune of 493 yards and four touchdowns.
"I was always an inch too short, 10 pounds too light, maybe five yards too short when throwing," Brosmer said. "There was always something someone could write against me and say. Sometimes I look back and think, that was probably a fair evaluation, but what they couldn't evaluate was my passion and work ethic for football."
Brosmer finished his five-year career playing in 36 career games, missing the entire 2021 season with an injury, with 8,713 career passing yards and 70 touchdowns.
On Thursday, he will start his first FBS game against North Carolina. Last season, 3.5 million people watched the Gophers open their season in that slot. It's a perfect culmination of a career for a quarterback who is always planning one step ahead.
"We have a chess board in our room because he's an avid chess player," Minnesota offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. told CBS Sports. "He loves to play chess because the move you're on will set up the next move. That's how he looks at quarterback."
Finding a fit at Minnesota
When Brosmer entered the transfer portal, fit was at the top of his mind. He had a pathway to the NFL by staying at New Hampshire. Landing in a rough situation could devastate his future plans, both on and off the field.
"It wasn't ever about money with him, it was all about culture," Harbaugh said. "I think that was the number one thing that drew him to us. We needed what he could give us, and that's what he was looking for. He was looking for, 'where can I take my ability to lead and be a great quarterback?' That's what he was looking for."
The Golden Gophers have quietly been one of the most consistent programs in the Big Ten under coach P.J. Fleck. Outside of the pandemic season, Fleck posted three straight years of nine wins or better, before falling below .500 in 2023. The loss of veteran quarterback Tanner Morgan played a pivotal role.
During Morgan's five-year career with the Gophers, he ranked top-half of the Big Ten in passer rating every season. His best year by far came in 2019, when Minnesota put together a historic 11-win season and won its first division title in program history. Last year, the Gophers posted the 11th-best passer rating in the Big Ten, with a 6.0 yards per attempt mark that led only Iowa's disastrous passing unit.
Incumbent starter Athan Kaliakmanis transferred to Rutgers after the season and Cole Kramer graduated, leaving zero returning pass attempts on the roster. Walk-on Max Shikenjanski was the only returning quarterback in the room. That left a gaping hole in the quarterback room. Quickly, Brosmer -- ranked as the No. 19 portal QB by 247Sports -- emerged as the perfect transfer quarterback to fill it.
"It's fun because you can do pretty much anything with him," Harbaugh said. "He's fun to coach because you're coaching him, but also having conversations with him… it's unique, it's a different relationship than I've ever had with a player. The last guy who I had it with was Skyy Moore who I could really sit there and talk to and have conversations about the film."
At New Hampshire, Brosmer leaned on his decision-making and consistency. His 74.3% adjusted completion ranked top 15 nationally in FCS. Despite throwing 458 pass attempts, Brosmer turned the ball only five times. The other six quarterbacks who hit 400 pass attempts combined to turn it over 67 times.
"We put a lot on his plate from a game-planning perspective in terms of giving him multiple plays at the line of scrimmage, which is more of a pro-style approach," New Hampshire coach Rick Santos told CBS Sports. "A lot of times, we would tailor some of the calls in the game to what he was seeing in real time. You don't give a quarterback that autonomy unless you truly have the utmost trust and faith in him."
By the way, Brosmer developed into an All-American quarterback at New Hampshire while also earning his degree in biomedical sciences with a 3.88 GPA.
"I think his goals are to play for as long as he can in the NFL, if he's blessed to have that opportunity, and his fallback plan is to be a doctor," Santos said. "That's how special he is."
History of FCS-to-FBS transfers
Harbaugh said that Brosmer's status as an FCS quarterback didn't play much role in his evaluation to Minnesota. Instead, his processing ability and traits jumped off the page and made him a strong candidate for the job. However, scouting quarterbacks is an inexact science, even more so when projecting from the lower levels.
- Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco (Delaware) and former All-Pro Carson Wentz (North Dakota State) both hailed from the FCS ranks.
- Bailey Zappe (Houston Christian) transitioned to the FBS level at Western Kentucky and broke numerous passing records.
Overall, the track record is inconsistent. Over the past decade, at least eight FCS starting quarterbacks have transferred to the power conference level. Two multi-year successes stand out.
- Washington State's Cam Ward (Incarnate Word) and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State) both moved up alongside members of their FCS coaching staff and wasted no time getting acclimated.
Out of the other four, only one started the majority of his team's games:
- Oregon's Vernon Adams (Eastern Washington) was the star Oregon expected him to be, leading the nation in passing efficiency.
- The Ducks tried the same thing one year later with Montana State's Dakota Prukop, but a freshman named Justin Herbert pushed him out.
- NC State's Jack Chambers (Charleston Southern) made three starts.
- Virginia's Tony Muskett (Monmouth) dealt with injuries and went 2-4 as a starter. He lost his job to Anthony Colandrea in 2024.
Natural gifts play a part. After gaining more than 20 pounds since high school and developing physically, Brosmer better fits the profile of an FBS-caliber quarterback. It will also take time to adjust to the pace of the game, especially in a defense-first Big Ten. None of the FCS transfers in the College Football Playoff era played in the Big Ten.
Brosmer struggled at times in spring camp. He expected more of himself, to be prepared for every hurdle, to be perfect. Before too long, it just became football practice again. Perspective.
"It's more about timing, anticipation," Brosmer said. "Windows are opening at different times, not necessarily slower or faster, but just the way players play. At this point, you're learning to practice against new players. Ultimately, I know that I'm good enough to play at this level. The transition period was only going to last a certain amount of time."
On Thursday, Minnesota opens its season by hosting North Carolina in a nationally televised game. For Brosmer's former coaches at New Hampshire, seeing him debut will be bittersweet. Santos is confident that the NFL would find Brosmer if he stuck at UNH. But after watching Brosmer grow from true freshman starter to Walter Payton Award finalist, Santos is excited to see one of the best competitors he's ever coached get his shot at Big Ten football.
"We want the guys that have a chip on their shoulder and play with that edge and take receipts in the recruiting process and go on and prove it," Santos said. "I take my ego out of it and swallow my pride and wish him the best. It was a really tough conversation when it happened but I told him that I'd love him no matter what.
"I told him to look himself in the mirror and make a selfish decision because he's one of the most humble, selfless guys I've ever been around."
