Three stories to know about Twin Cities freshman star Koi Perich

After Danny Collins watched Koi Perich do just about everything for Esko High School in a 2022 game, the Gophers safeties coach was driving south on Interstate 35. He had one dominant thought.

“That is The guy,” Collins recalled. The next day, he told head coach PJ Fleck exactly that. And Minnesota set about heavily recruiting the four-star prospect early in his junior year.

Two years later, Perich is playing for the Gophers. He was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on October 12 after a two-interception performance in a 21-17 win over UCLA. He is the first U player to receive this award since Tyrone Carter in 1996; Carter won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive player in 1999 and enjoyed an 11-year NFL career.

As Collins continued to drive north to Esko—a small town of about 2,200 people near Duluth—he set out to impress not only Perich and his family, but also the Bad Moms Club.

Danielle Perich, Koi's mother, was among a group of 12 mothers who rallied around Brooke Pfister after her son Jackson Pfister, a football player at Esko, collapsed in a field in Aitkin in 2019. Jackson, 15, died; he had heart disease.

“It probably happened to help us heal, deal with grief and overcome this unimaginable grief,” Pfister told the Pioneer Press this week. “These moms came together and we became the Bad Moms.”

Beyond supporting Pfister, the ad hoc club would come together to make locker decorations or posters for soccer players at school or do some other type of “gimmick,” Danielle said. “We also like to embarrass the kids a little,” she added. “That’s our job as parents, right?”

At one meeting, a mother referenced the 2016 film “Bad Moms,” starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. The name stuck.

One time when Collins was traveling 130 miles north, Koi was busy playing basketball, so Collins texted Danielle. Lunch? Danielle was there and texted the Bad Moms too. The answers poured in. “Where do we take Danny for lunch?” We're in! We’ll be there.”

“And so we got to know him very casually and as a normal guy,” Danielle said.

Last year, Fleck accompanied Collins on a trip north for a large home visit to the Periches. It was around the same time that Ohio State was also keen on Koi, who was considered one of the top recruits in the country. During the Gophers' visit there was dinner at Carmen's Bar and Grill in Cloquet. The Bad Moms Club was part of a welcome party.

The club even has a logo that resembles the famous World War II image of a woman wearing a red polka dot headscarf and extending her arm under the words “We can do it!” The Bad Moms have plastered a version of this image – which may have a heart tattoo with Koi's name in the center – on things like visors and mugs.

When the Bad Moms welcomed Fleck to the Northland that day, they gave him a poster. Fleck keeps it next to his desk at the Larson Football Performance Center.

Fleck has referenced the Bad Moms Club a few times as Koi's influence became more apparent this season. “That all played a part in bringing him to Minnesota,” Fleck said. “Koi is his own person, period. But Koi also surrounds himself with people who really love him.”

Perich said the development of the Gophers' safeties moving up to the NFL – Antoine Winfield Jr., Jordan Howden and Tyler Nubin – was a key factor in his decision to stay in Minnesota. Collins also regularly emphasizes the opportunity for him to become a legend in his home state. That became clear in part when fans lifted him off the field at Huntington Bank Stadium after he beat then-No. 11 Southern California on Oct. 5.

But Collins also added, “I think at the end of the day I had to win Bad Moms.”

The Bad Moms Club is still going strong. While members are spread out supporting their college-age boys, one group still meets for Gopher games at Huntington Bank Stadium.

“Homecoming game!” Pfister said of Saturday’s matchup against Maryland. “I will be there in the white Koi jersey.”

childhood

Koi's first sport was wrestling. He was good at it from the first time he stepped on the mat, and his near-perfect record reflects that.

Physicality was deeply rooted. brother Mason, two years older; Cousin Carter Zezulka, a year older, and Koi found ways to beat each other. Danielle says they have videos to prove it.

“They wear boxing gloves and their soccer pads and throw things at each other,” she said. “They competed against each other on the trampoline. And they just rode each other.

“If someone were to get up slowly, they would just flatten him,” she continued. “It really increased the competitive spirit; That’s deep at the core of all three.”

Mason is now a receiver at Division II Minnesota State Mankato. He had 18 receptions for 300 yards and four touchdowns last year but was sidelined this fall with a broken collarbone. Zezulka is a receiver at Division III Wisconsin-Stout. He has 13 receptions for 207 yards and two touchdowns.

Koi played soccer, basketball, baseball and ran track. He holds school records with more than 2,000 points scored in basketball and runs the 4×100-meter relay with his brother, cousin and a close friend.

Father George didn't say there was any particular highlight play that stood out. Koi has made them in every sport, including Pop Warner football. “There’s just a lot of them,” he said.

When Perich made his first college interception against Rhode Island in September, he regretted that he couldn't return it for a touchdown.

“It became clear that he was quite confident. It's true. He has a ton of confidence,” said George, who played football at Valley City (N.D.) State. “Even when he was little, he wanted to have the ball. He wanted to be the guy who had the last shot or a chance to win the game at the end. He always had a pretty strong belief in himself. That’s been since he started playing sports.”

The Periches aren't surprised that Koi found success early in his Gophers career. Danielle recalled that in his first year on the high school varsity team, Koi scored a touchdown as a sophomore.

“Well, damn it, nobody has any chance of catching him,” said Danielle, a basketball player and track athlete at Valley City State.

Danielle said Koi's performance in the All-American Bowl, a showcase of the best high school football players in the country, in January showed her he was ready for the next level. Koi — the top-ranked player in Minnesota and one of the top five safeties in the country in the 2024 class — had one interception, two pass breakups and one tackle for lost yards. He also blocked and recovered a punt.

“He made it down there,” Danielle said of the All-Star Game in San Antonio. “And I thought, 'Okay, he's got this.' Yes, he will do well.”

But Danielle said it still surprised her to see him on the Gophers' kickoff coverage team for the first game of the season against North Carolina in late August. “Apart from the fact that I almost had a heart attack the first time?” she said. “I'm like, 'Oh my God, here we go!' ”

Perich was recently nicknamed the “Koi Wonder” and has been on the rise ever since. He had a 60-yard kickoff return at Michigan, the game-winning interception against USC and two more picks against UCLA, including a great read and diving snag that helped the Gophers get back into the game at Rose Bowl Stadium. His playing time on defense has increased over the last two weeks, including at free safety, nickleback and in the box as a pseudo-linebacker.

coupling

Fleck believes in the sports concept of having a “clutch gene.” It's part of the way the U recruits and evaluates players.

“Can you have consistency, attention to detail within the rationale, integration into the scheme, reputation (and performance) under the pressure of the situation?” Fleck asked.

There are two precedents with true newbies. In 2018, receiver Rashod Bateman showed it with four catches for 108 yards and a touchdown in a win over Indiana in late October. In 2021, cornerback Justin Walley showed it with a big interception and five tackles against Wisconsin in late November.

“I always bring Rashod back to the Indiana game and catch that post to win the game,” Fleck said. “It was a big performance in his career. And I think that gave him the confidence, the antidote, to be able to reach a really high level and maintain that throughout his career.”

Perich's four interceptions set a new Gophers freshman record with five games remaining in the regular season.

“It means a lot to me to top that with all the NFL safeties that have come through here, that's pretty cool,” he said from Los Angeles.

Fleck said evidence is important. “We all need that moment of 'I can.' I belong to it. And that’s what I’m going to do from now on,” he said. “We all need that. And I think Rashad and Koi did that at very similar times.

“In four years, in eight years,” Fleck added to Perich. “We’re going to bring it back to the USC game.”