P.J. Fleck’s corner office at the Larson Football Performance Center has two gray cloth chairs facing his desk, and when the double doors are open, players can sit there to chat with the Gophers head coach.

Mo Ibrahim was such a regular visitor during his six seasons at the U that his routine became known as “Mo Mondays.” Tyler Nubin has dropped in so often over his five seasons that Fleck jokes Nubin should wear an “assistant head coach” name tag.

Chris Autman-Bell and Brevyn Spann-Ford have also nestled into those armchairs during seven- and six-year careers at the U. With Fleck, they have — of course — talked football and how each of those two players has had senior seasons that have fallen short of personal and team goals.

But conversation topics veer elsewhere, too. Spann-Ford mentioned conversations about the stock market, and Autman-Bell referenced the importance of international travel.

“When you go to other places, other countries, you see how small you are,” Autman-Bell said he has learned. “You see how everything doesn’t revolve around you. You are a no one there.”

A trip to Japan is now atop his bucket list.

But those specific office visits are coming to an end. Nubin, Spann-Ford and Autman-Bell headline Senior Day when the Gophers (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) play Wisconsin (6-5, 4-4) for Paul Bunyan’s Axe at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Fleck doesn’t have an assistant stationed at the desk outside his office, so there is no calendar for players to get onto. At times, Fleck will call certain players into his office, but doesn’t want there to be a quota to meet with him every few weeks or something. “If it’s (set up for) this particular time, you feel like you are going to see the doctor,” he said.

While some veteran visitors won’t be peaking their head in Fleck’s office much longer, other players are picking up the practice, including linebacker Cody Lindenberg and running back Darius Taylor.

For Autman-Bell, it’s the end of an era. While Ibrahim, John Michael Schmitz and Tanner Morgan were done playing last year, Autman-Bell is the last vestige of a recruiting class that flipped from Western Michigan to Minnesota when Fleck was hired in January 2017.

Last year was supposed to be Autman-Bell’s swan song, but the Illinois native tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee in September 2022. He was able to use a medical redshirt. He came back this year, but his knee and a hamstring injury have limited him to five receptions for 81 yards across eight games.

Given what he’s gone through this season, Autman-Bell said his one touchdown this year, at Purdue on Nov. 11, stands above other on-field moments. He places it over his catch in the back of the end zone at Fresno State or his tunnel-screen TD against Penn State, both in 2019.

“My favorite memory right now is an inner one for my myself. We lost the game at Purdue, but the touchdown .. was an inner healing to prove to myself I can still do it and I can bounce back,” Autman-Bell said.

Fleck said, “I don’t know if there is a guy I’m more proud of than Chris because I don’t think people understand the depth and the seriousness of his injury, what he dealt with in the offseason, what he dealt with in training camp, what he dealt with when he came back. The struggle he had mentally and emotionally to overcome that and to perform the way that he did has come full circle.”

When the Gophers beat Iowa 12-10 in October, team videographers captured Autman-Bell reveling in the moment at Kinnick Stadium, emotions stirring inside him.

“It took seven years to beat Iowa, so it was awesome,” Autman-Bell reflected. “I was kind of feeling feelings for all the guys I played with. Ty (Johnson), Tanner (Morgan) and the defensive guys I enjoyed playing with. Rodney (Smith). Guys who never seen it.”

Spann-Ford contributed to the Floyd of Rosedale win, but hasn’t had the senior season he wanted. He entered the year with buzz about being the best tight end in the Big Ten, but dealt with drops and inconsistent play. He has 23 receptions for 226 yards and two touchdowns in all 11 games.

“We came back to win,” Spann-Ford said about his friendship with Autman-Bell. “But no matter how the season went, I was just happy to be back here with him. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

When asked about Spann-Ford, offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh, the former tight end coach at the U, needed six seconds to compose himself.

“He had an opportunity to sit out the (Pinstripe Bowl last December),” Harbaugh said. “When he told me the reason why he wanted to be on the field: When Mo broke the career rushing record. That tells you everything you need to know about Brevyn Spann-Ford. He could have went to the NFL (after the 2022 season), but he came back. He’s actually going to be better because of the experiences he’s had this year and the things he’s gone through. I love him.”

Outside of Fleck’s office, Autman-Bell and Spann Ford have had their own conversations and deepened their bond since the pandemic in 2020.

“We spent like two seasons not really talking to each other, just in the locker room, but to get close to him and his family … His mom is amazing. His dad is amazing. His brother is amazing. Little nephews are amazing,” Autman-Bell said before he spent Thanksgiving with Spann-Ford and family in St. Cloud. “I just love Brev, man. His entire family. I kind of want to put a ‘Spann-Ford’ with another hyphen on the back of my jersey. That is my boy back there.”

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