WESTMINSTER, S.C. – Max Brosmer surveys the landscape, considers the task at hand and, like the quarterback he is, starts calling signals for some Gophers football teammates.
He's cooking breakfast for roughly 15 people, so he sends a trio of tight ends from the great room to the deck at his parents' lake home, where an outdoor griddle awaits for them to fry eggs.
In the kitchen, he enlists two wide receivers to remove ready-to-bake biscuits from their pressurized canisters and line them up on cookie sheets.
All the while, Brosmer meticulously tends to the Sunday breakfast headliner, the homemade sausage gravy that has just enough kick to deliver a delicious start to the morning. Attention to detail, accuracy and organization — traits Brosmer has used to become a standout quarterback — shine through again as he earns compliments for his work.
Brosmer, a graduate transfer from New Hampshire entrusted by Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck for the all-important role of starting quarterback, has gathered 12 teammates for a week of workouts and bonding. With Brosmer's family as hosts, the players will spend two days on Lake Hartwell on the Georgia-South Carolina border, then shift to the Brosmers' home in Roswell, Ga., a suburb north of Atlanta, for training sessions and opportunities to soak in the local culture.
"I'm the new guy in the group," says the 23-year-old Brosmer. "This year is the first year and only year I'm playing football with them. You have to make up for lost time a little bit."
Brosmer is making up for lost time by making sure time is not lost. He's planned this excursion for weeks and used a color-coded spreadsheet to keep things on point.
"He's very much a time manager," his mother, Jayna, says. "He cannot stand to be late, so he has everything planned."
Those qualities certainly caught the attention of Fleck as he sought a solution for what ails the Gophers passing game. After a 5-7 regular season in 2023 with a Minnesota passing offense that ranked 126th among the 133 FBS teams, Fleck turned to the transfer portal. He went looking for an experienced quarterback who would immediately seize the team's offensive reins, set a leadership tone and infuse the position with talent needed to compete in the expanding Big Ten.
Enter Brosmer, the player who Fleck and offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. honed in on quickly after a senior season at New Hampshire in which he passed for 3,464 yards and 29 touchdowns. He was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, the Football Championship Subdivision's version of the Heisman Trophy.
After a whirlwind courtship, Brosmer hit the Dinkytown ground sprinting, joining the Gophers in their preparation for the Quick Lane Bowl and quickly being named 2024 captain by a vote of his teammates. Though Fleck won't officially name his starting quarterback until training camp, Brosmer is the clear No. 1.
As a graduate transfer, Brosmer has only one season to get it right with the Gophers. To that end, he organized this voluntary trip, gathering three other quarterbacks, one running back, five receivers and three tight ends for the excursion to Lake Hartwell and the Atlanta area.
This isn't Brosmer's first rodeo in team building. He ushered a group of his New Hampshire teammates to the lake home in 2023, and he took a handful of Gophers to Georgia during spring break.
"The more time you spend with people, obviously, the better chemistry you build," Brosmer says between bites of biscuits and gravy, "and ultimately, the better football you play with them."
Max Brosmer knows team-building happens both on and on the field. At his family's lake home, he put his attention to detail, leadership and organizational skills — traits he has used to become a standout quarterback — to work to coordinate a Sunday breakfast with his teammates.
The haven on the lake
As the sun burns through the thin layer of clouds, players bide their time for the afternoon pontoon ride and jet-ski excursion on Lake Hartwell. They are joined by a constant companion — Henry, the Brosmers' 18-month-old golden retriever. Sporting a Gophers collar, he quickly becomes the center of attention, eager to help as a few players try their hand at fishing off the dock.
The lake home is a haven for the Brosmer family, and the Gophers trip happens to fall on Mother's Day weekend. Having both Max and his brother, Fish, 20, at the lake home is special for Jayna, who recently recovered from breast cancer surgery.
"I thank the other mothers for letting their kids come over here for the week," Max says. "Having my mom around is unbelievable. She's a trouper. She's a true warrior."
It's at the lake where Max also dabbles in his musical side. Jayna mentions that he plays guitar, but Max downplays his abilities before admitting that he's recorded a song that can be found online. A fan of "old-time country music," Max has recorded "Old Jack Daniels," a song with a bit of a Jerry Jeff Walker feel to it.
And it was at the lake, during a late fall weekend retreat, when Brosmer decided to use his final season of eligibility at a Football Bowl Subdivision program rather than return to New Hampshire, where he was a three-year starter and essentially an extension of the coaching staff. His aim is to land in the NFL, and a move up in classification offers the challenge he wants.
"He thought long and hard about what he wanted to do," Max's father, Colin, says, mentioning Wake Forest and Miami (Fla.) as other teams that heavily pursued Max. "We just sat here some nights going over the pros and cons."
Max was ready for the challenge.
"I got to a point where I wanted to branch out and put myself in a position get uncomfortable for a bit because it felt like I was getting too comfortable," he says. "And that's what makes people grow."
This isn't Max Brosmer's first rodeo in team-building. He ushered a group of his New Hampshire teammates to his family's lake home in 2023, and he took a handful of Gophers to Georgia during spring break. But on this trip, time is of the essence to build relationships that will translate to a strong season with the Gophers — his first and final.
First fun, then work
After two days of fun on the lake, the Gophers crew travels to Roswell, where they will stay at Brosmer's parents' home. Colin is president of Metra North America, an aluminum extrusion company, and Jayna is a nurse for the Fulton County School District.
Their son's itinerary is set. Along with weightlifting, yoga and visualization sessions, Brosmer brings his teammates to his alma mater, Centennial High School, for passing and route-running drills.
On this overcast day, the players assemble on the artificial turf, and Brosmer takes on the role of player/coach. He consults his cellphone, then puts his wide receivers and tight ends through a variety of routes. The pace is brisk, and Brosmer's approach is take-charge.
"Good grab, Jamo!" he commends tight end Jameson Geers after a tough catch.
"Two hands, 'Meke. Need two hands," he advises receiver Le'Meke Brockington after a one-handed drop.
"There ya go," he yells to receiver Daniel Jackson after a sharp route.
Players are enjoying themselves while putting in the sweat equity. "Gotta work off the sins of the weekend," one of them chimes in.
Brosmer is impressed with the buy-in.
"Stressing the business part didn't take a lot of effort," he says. "The guys understood why they're coming down here."
Jackson flew to Atlanta on Sunday night, missing the lake activities, but he had a good excuse for arriving late: He went through graduation ceremonies earlier that weekend. On Monday, he was back on the field after sitting out most of spring practice to recover from an injury. He praised the leadership that Brosmer displayed.
"The camaraderie that we get to have here, that's how it's gonna be on the field," says Jackson, an All-Big Ten selection last year. "That's what you love to see — the quarterback coming in and establishing himself and really taking it to a new level, a better level. I really appreciate Max for coming here and allowing us to do that."
Adds Tyler Williams, a transfer receiver from Georgia who joined the team after spring practice: "How [Brosmer] commanded us today, that's a positive. That's what you want from your quarterback."
Brosmer's development into a quarterback who passed for 314.9 yards per game and completed 64.1% of his throws for New Hampshire last year didn't happen overnight but rather through years of hard work and extra effort.
His parents lined him up with a quarterback trainer in seventh grade, and Quincy Avery of Atlanta-based Quarterback Takeover has been a confidante ever since. Avery's clients have included NFL players Jalen Hurts, Trey Lance, Jordan Love and Deshaun Watson. He sees Brosmer as someone with NFL potential.
"The things he's able to do above the neck, X's- and O's-wise, is because he's dialed in in terms of his preparation," says Avery, who grew up in Minneapolis and whose father, Wendell, played quarterback for the Gophers from 1977-79. "… His ability to get guys to be all on one accord and working on the same mission is something you don't see at every school."
After a couple of days of fun on the lake, Max Brosmer put his new teammates to work, taking them to his alma mater, Centennial High School in his hometown of Roswell, Ga., for passing and route-running drills. Tyler Williams, a transfer receiver from Georgia, said, "How [Brosmer] commanded us today, that's a positive. That's what you want from your quarterback."
Take me out to the ball game
The highlight for Tuesday — and possibly the entire trip — comes when Brosmer takes teammates to the Atlanta Braves game against the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park. The QB originally intends for the game to be a surprise, but word leaks that the ballpark is their destination.
What doesn't leak, however, was the surprise Brosmer pulls off: Each player receives a personalized Braves jersey with their last name and Gophers number on the back, which they will wear on the field to watch pregame batting practice.
"That was pretty sweet," receiver Kenric Lanier, a Decatur, Ga., native, says of the jersey presentation. "We were blown away in his crib when he brought them out."
Adds Brockington, of Moultrie, Ga.: "Having my last name on it, that's nice. I'll have to get it framed up."
Players mingle with other fans and take selfies in the fenced-off VIP section as the Cubs take their swings in the cage. Once batting practice concludes, the Gophers crew commences its walking tour of Truist Park. They have standing-room tickets, opting to roam the ballpark to check out the sights and sounds as the Braves roll to a 7-0 victory.
"This whole trip was about connecting with each other and building those relationships," says tight end Nick Kallerup, a sixth-year senior.
The week isn't yet done, and Brosmer has more plans. Wednesday is a day of checking out Atlanta's various neighborhoods, plus visiting the Georgia Aquarium. Thursday is their final day of workouts, along with some coaching of the Centennial High team. Friday brings the return flight to Minnesota.
Through it all, Brosmer is in his element — on his home turf, leading his newest band of brothers and aiming to form the chemistry that will lead to success this fall in his one season as a Gopher. When asked if the week has been all that he had hoped it would be, Brosmer replies immediately.
"It's been all that and more," he says. "We've had an absolute blast … but once we were on the field, it was all business."
Though Max Brosmer has plenty more activities planned for his team-building trip, the highlight came Tuesday: an Atlanta Braves game and a surprise of customized Braves jerseys complete with his teammates' last names and Gophers numbers. "This whole trip was about connecting with each other and building those relationships," said tight end Nick Kallerup.