Gophers new defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman 'eats, breathes and sleeps football'

Fleck and Minnesota had familiarity with Hetherman.

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Minnesota lost longtime defensive coordinator Joe Rossi this offseason as he made a lateral move to be the DC under new head coach Jonathan Smith at Michigan State. P.J. Fleck and the Gophers decided to go a familiar route and hire former Rutgers linebackers coach Corey Hetherman as his replacement.

Fleck has a long-standing relationship with current Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano, who he learned under at multiple stops in his coaching career. Rossi and former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca both had experience under Schiano before arriving at Minnesota, with Hetherman working under him for two seasons with the Scarlett Knights.

"We kept that hire within the family, Corey was an instant fit though," Fleck said. "You talk about a football coach, I mean this guy eats, breaths and sleeps football. Really intelligent, our players really fell in love with him the minute he got in there and he was all ball and he's done a great job so far."

The Gophers are coming off a season in which their defense struggled, allowing 26.7 points per game, which ranked 70th-best in the country. They not only have to replace Rossi, but they also have to replace All-American safety Tyler Nubin.

Hetherman has been a defensive coordinator at Maine and James Madison at the FCS level, but this season will be his first at the FBS level. He brings 20 years of coaching experience to Minnesota. At Big Ten Media Days Thursday, Fleck mentioned how the program also hired a new special team's coordinator, Bob Ligashesky.

"We hired two new coordinators in the offseason, I'd go through all our new coaching hires, but everybody is a coach now," Fleck quipped.

Hetherman will turn 44 years old in November and the Gophers will need him to coach like a seasoned veteran in the FBS if they want to reach their full defensive potential in 2024.