MINNEAPOLIS — This wasn’t the plan.

Quarterback Tanner Morgan famously had to turn his Western Michigan-themed cake upside down after agreeing to follow coach P.J. Fleck to Minnesota during Morgan’s high school graduation party.

Likewise, receiver Chris Autman-Bell thought his ticket out of rough-and-tumble Kankakee, Illinois, would take him through Kalamazoo.

Guard Conner Olson was planning on being in or close to medical residence — if not the NFL — by this point in his career.

Tackle Daniel Faalele probably figured he’d be in a professional training camp this fall.

Looking ahead to 2021, linebacker Mariano Sori Marin might have seen an entry-level finance position on his docket.

Instead, thanks to a confluence of circumstances that includes a pandemic, Fleck’s 5th year at the helm features a vastly experienced group that not only has played a ton of football together but has an augmented opportunity to cement the Golden Gophers as an operation on the rise.

“When you talk to them, you’re at a ‘500’ or ‘600’ level coaching and teaching,” Fleck said.

Most FBS teams have an unexpected wealth of returning experience thanks to the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility. But because the Gophers were so young — especially on defense — and have developed a number of athletes with central roles since their sophomore seasons, there’s a level of connection and familiarity you don’t often see in college football locker rooms.

“I think this team is the most connected team I’ve been around for a long time,” Fleck said.

Usually, Year 5 is a pivot point in a college coach’s career. If he’s made it this far, it’s now officially “his team.” Players recruited by the former regime are almost all gone, and a staff is fully immersed in its own schemes and philosophies while watching players come and go.

That’s all true for Minnesota, too. But to run it back for another year with guys who committed to Fleck at Western Michigan then took him up on an offer to come to the Twin Cities, like Morgan and Autman-Bell, the reigning Big Ten running back of the year in Mohamed Ibrahim, and your entire offensive line?

That’s a unique opportunity. Especially when you’re trying to solidify an organizational culture.

Minnesota’s 10 “super seniors” have an opportunity to be the first class to account for double-digit wins 2 times in 3 years since 1903-05. According to Saturday Tradition research, the modern 4-year mark for victories by a senior group is 32, set by both the 2016 and 2002 freshman classes.

The Gophers likely won’t get there thanks to a shortened 2020 COVID season. But 30 total victories is a possibility.

And that hasn’t happened around here all that often.

The players know it.

“I want to be able to be representative of the Minnesota teams that we had and the teams that we played for,” Morgan said at Big Ten Media Days. “What they did on the field, but also what we meant to the state and to the community. I think that goes a long way.”

It starts Thursday night with No. 4 Ohio State. The Gophers are a 2-touchdown underdog.

But then things can go one of two ways. Minnesota could be in the mix for a West Division title. Or it could meander to a close-to-.500 record.

The greatest question facing this program is this: Was an 11-win run in 2019 a blip on the radar? Or a harbinger of sustainable success?

This seasoned bunch will provide the answer. The Gophers aren’t quite a championship program — yet.

But there’s a lot to be said for being part of the group that laid the foundation for even bigger and better things in the future.

“People got a chance to see what can happen here,” Fleck said. “And the longer that culture is sustained over a long period of time, the more chances you give yourself to be in that type of season. It doesn’t mean it’s always going to happen, but we are exactly where we are.”

It’s all part of what Fleck’s trying to build here.

When the Gophers wrapped up fall camp and transitioned into game prep for the Buckeyes, the rambunctious coach asked his leaders to get up in front of the team and share a few words about how they felt about their teammates and chances this year.

“I haven’t had a team talk about a team like that as individuals and as players on that team like this team did,” Fleck said. “They’re a very connected team, and they’re very together.”