Minnesota Football Countdown to Kickoff: #99 Theorin Randle
The countdown is officially on.
Today marks just 99 days until Minnesota football returns to the field for its 2026 season on September 3 at Huntington Bank Stadium against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
As we do every year, Gophers Nation will count down to kickoff every day with our Minnesota football countdown to kickoff series.
Each day, we will highlight a current Gopher who wears the number of days remaining till kickoff. For today, that player is redshirt junior defensive tackle Theorin Randle. If no player wears that number, Gophers Nation will highlight a player from the past.
Let’s dive into today’s player profile in Theorin Randle.
Recruitment Rewind
Randle was a three-star prospect out of Shadow Creek High School in Pearland, Texas, as part of Minnesota’s 2023 recruiting class. He chose the Golden Gophers late in the cycle after taking an official visit to the Twin Cities on November 12. He also took official visits in his recruitment to Washington State and Tulane.
Other programs that were involved with Randle included Air Force, Arkansas State, Army, Memphis, Navy, Western Kentucky, and Wyoming.
Randle’s career at Minnesota
Randle redshirted his true freshman season in 2023, playing in one game, the Gophers’ bowl game that season against Bowling Green.
In 2024, he played in three games after missing the first five of the season due to injury, but did not record any stats.
Heading into the 2025 season, Randle was expected to compete for playing time within Minnesota’s two-deep. However, he suffered an injury during fall camp, which sidelined him throughout the 2025 season and into the offseason.
2026 Outlook
Now, Randle returns in 2026, hoping to be fully healthy for fall camp and get back to where he was a year ago, competing for playing time within the program’s two-deep. The Gophers notably increased their depth at defensive tackle in the portal, adding Marshall transfers Naquan Crowder and Sid Kaba, as well as FIU transfer Xion Chapman, to their roster.
If healthy, Randle should see the field in 2026, but his exact role remains unclear.
