They were led by fifth-year head coach Jerry Kill, who resigned on October 28, 2015 for health reasons.

Tracy Claeys[1] replaced Kill on an interim basis and was named head coach two weeks later on November 11.

Despite finishing below .500, the Gophers were invited to the Quick Lane Bowl versus Central Michigan due to there not being enough bowl eligible teams and Minnesota's high Academic Performance Rating.

Sources: Minnesota faced all six Big Ten West Division opponents: Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, and Wisconsin.

The Gophers also faced Big Ten East Division opponents Michigan and Ohio State.