Category: P.J. FLECK

With the Quick Lane Bowl and National Signing Day behind him, Golden Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck is focused on hiring a new defensive coordinator in the next few weeks.  It’s one of the most important decisions since he arrived in Minneapolis in 2017.

The departed Joe Rossi is among the top defensive coordinators in the nation and was the most valued of all assistants on the Minnesota staff.  Fleck’s personnel and conservative offenses haven’t been built to win shoot-outs, and winning depended on the defense doing more than its share.

With the Gophers coming off a disappointing 6-7 season and going into an expanded and more competitive Big Ten in 2024, the defense needs to recover from an off year when injuries, blown assignments and results were troublesome.  Scheme wasn’t the issue and it’s likely whoever Fleck hires will continue with a basic four-man defensive front and won’t be exotic in alignments, play-calling or personality.

If Fleck’s preference were to hire from his existing staff, that likely would have happened by now.  Safeties coach Danny Collins called plays in the bowl win but has never been a college defensive coordinator.  However, Fleck likes Collins’ coaching, and he was instrumental in recruiting Koi Perich, the safety from Esko and the prize of the 2024 incoming freshman class.

Collins could end up with the job of defensive coordinator, if the external search process doesn’t deliver.  That seems unlikely, though, because the position is attractive to many candidates who would be able to join a Big Ten program and earn a salary expected to pay between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

The candidates list could certainly include coaches from the Power Five, Group of Five, FCS and even the NFL where the Carolina Panthers are among the most dysfunctional franchises in the league, and a probable coaching staff shakeup after the season might have Tem Lukabu interested in the Gophers.

He joined the Panthers as outside linebackers coach this year after three seasons at Boston College as defensive coordinator.  The 2022 BC defense ranked in the top-50 nationally in several categories.

Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa, Lukabu played linebacker at Colgate and his coaching stops include Rutgers where he was an assistant with Fleck more than 10 years ago.  Fleck will want the right chemistry with whomever he hires, and having worked with someone in the past could provide a candidate with an edge in the selection process.

The Panthers inside linebackers coach, Peter Hansen, might be of interest, too.  He was the defensive coordinator at UNLV prior to joining the Panthers this year.  His resume includes two stints at Stanford where he was part of Pac-12 defenses among the most dominant in the league. Hansen has five years of NFL experience and has worked for coaching gurus Jim Harbaugh and Vic Fangio (serving both with the 49ers and Stanford).

The FCS level is a major drop from the big money and player talent found in the NFL, but great coaches can be found there.  About a year ago Northwestern hired North Dakota State’s defensive coordinator David Braun.  When chaos hit the Wildcats last summer, Braun was named interim head coach.  All he did in that role was earn Big Ten Coach of the Year recognition and have the interim tag removed from his title as a surprising Northwestern team went 8-5 including a stunning 37-34 overtime win over the Gophers.

FCS Villanova has an impressive defensive coordinator in Ross Pennypacker who has the attention of those in the know.  Pennypacker has worked at the Division III, Division II and FCS levels and Daniel House from the authoritative Gophersguru.com website wrote that he is an “ascending coach.”

House has studied Villanova film and wrote that the Wildcats’ “fundamentals, physicality and details instantly jumped out.”  House has Pennypacker on his list of candidates for the Gopher opening. Pennypacker’s resume includes coaching defensive lines and special teams. He would likely be an inexpensive hire for Minnesota.

Earlier this month USC hired North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz to coach its linebackers.  About a year ago Colorado hired Kent State head coach Sean Lewis as its offensive coordinator.  Better pay and opportunity at the FCS level makes it a reality that head coaches from the FCS (Entz) or Group of Five (Lewis) are willing to become assistants.

With that in mind, does Fleck interview Buffalo head coach Maurice Linguist?  He was an assistant on Fleck’s 2017 staff coaching defensive backs and he is known for his recruiting chops. His resume includes stops in the NFL and college coaching. After three challenging seasons at Buffalo, including 3-9 this fall, could Linguist be interested in moving on?

Buffalo plays in the Mid-American Conference where Ohio defensive coordinator Spence Nowinksy turned heads this season.  His defense was No. 1 ranked among Group of Five teams.  He has coached at seven college programs starting in 1999 with a grad assistant role at Wisconsin and along the way developed a reputation for success in pressuring quarterbacks. He played football at Minnesota State, Mankato and later coached at his alma mater.

Kansas State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, who reportedly earns $825,000, is nationally known for his success with the Wildcats.  It might take at least $1.2 million to make him come back to the area he grew up—Hammond, Wisconsin which is less than an hour drive to Minneapolis.  He’s in his fifth season at Kansas State where his 2022 defense helped carry the Wildcats to a Big 12 Championship as they ranked in the top 30 nationally in five categories.

His background includes coaching stops at North Dakota State and at his alma mater Minnesota State.  He has 12 years of experience as a defensive coordinator, five at Kansas State and seven at Minnesota State.

Rutgers linebackers coach Corey Hetherman never coached under Fleck but his boss, defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak, did.  Fleck coaxed Harasymiak away from his head job at Maine in late 2018 and his titles at Minnesota included co-defensive coordinator before he left for Rutgers in January of 2022. Hetherman also worked for Harasymiak at Maine.  Before that Hetherman was defensive coordinator for demanding head coach Curt Cignetti at James Madison from 2019-2021.  His defenses in all three seasons were among the best in FCS and in 2021 he was the AFCA FCS Assistant Coach of the Year.

Hiring Hetherman could be small retribution for the Gophers who in recent years have seen key coaches and players go to Rutgers. Included in the trek to New Jersey have been coaching talents Kirk Ciarrocca and Hetherman, and safety Flip Dixon who made Big Ten honorable mention in 2023.

So who ultimately gets the Gopher job?  Well, the question could be dismissed with a “wait and see” reply, but in the meantime here is a final four to contemplate: Hetherman, Nowinsky, Pennypacker and Lukabu. Klanderman would be a “home run hire,” but probably won’t leave Kansas State where his ties to head coach Chris Klienman are deep.  If so, here’s a “vote” for Hetherman.

What to know after Minnesota’s 30-24 Quick Lane Bowl win over Bowling Green yesterday in Detroit:

No Darius Taylor, no seventh straight bowl win for the Golden Gophers.

And guess what? No Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) earnings, no Darius.

Taylor ran 35 times for 208 yards, including a fourth quarter TD that proved to be the winning margin.  The true freshman, who was limited to six games this year because of injury, carried the load for an offense that totaled 281 yards.

Coach P.J. Fleck said after the game “we put the team on his shoulders.”  Quarterback Cole Kramer, also talking on the KFAN Radio postgame show, said of Taylor: “…He’s a beast. He can be someone that you can count on, and I am very proud of him.”

Gopher fans in the know might say: keep Phil Knight away from the phenom who is the Quick Lane Bowl MVP.  Knight, the Nike founder, is a generous benefactor of Oregon athletics and NIL in Eugene.

Remember 2021 Gopher freshman running back Bucky Irving who left Dinkytown after one season? He reportedly received a sweet NIL deal at Oregon and was a star for the Ducks the last two seasons.

A lot of Gophers fans still haven’t bought into NIL but it’s a reality. Without the efforts of local collective Dinkytown Athletes, Minnesota wouldn’t be retaining its better players starting with Taylor who likely tops the money list.  The Gophers and their collective can’t match the money of many Power Five teams but there’s substantial progress being made by DA which launched less than 18 months ago.

In the uncertain environment of college football roster stability is more difficult than ever to maintain.  Who is on board can change week to week during the periods when the transfer portal is open, but for now the Gophers can be thankful that Taylor has remained loyal to Minnesota.

Taylor, who humbly praised his teammates after yesterday’s performance, will be option No. 1 for the offense next season.  Fleck even used him in the Wildcat offense for the first time in the bowl game.  The Gophers practiced with Taylor throwing the ball, although he didn’t toss it yesterday.

A key question next season will be how to find balance between too many and too few carries per game for Taylor who excels with niftiness, strength and speed.  Fleck’s offenses love to run the ball, go on long scoring drives, and eat up game time.  When games are close in the fourth quarter, the tendency is to run the star tailback (see Mo Ibrahim film) over and over.

The Gophers will invite a high risk of Taylor becoming injured if they choose to duplicate his 35 carries yesterday in all 12 games next season.  Ohio transfer Sieh Bangura, a preseason choice for All-MAC and 2022 MAC Freshman of the Year, presumably will receive a dozen or so carries per game.

Fleck will protect Taylor in the offseason including during spring football and preseason training camp.  The Detroit native missed seven games but still led the team in rushing yards with 808 and average per game at 133.17. He was selected Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times.

Gophers Notes

Taylor’s returns will help sell tickets for next season as will one of the more attractive home schedules in recent memory.  Iowa, North Carolina, Penn State and USC come to Minneapolis.

The Gophers trailed 10-9 at halftime but got much better production from the offensive line in the second half.  All the unit’s starters are back next season except for center Nathan Boe.

Left tackle Aireontae Ersery is one of the nation’s highest graded run blockers.  He was second team All-Big Ten in 2023 and should be an All-American candidate in 2024.

True freshman guard Greg Johnson, from Prior Lake, played a lot of minutes off the bench and is a future star.

Fleck is 5-0 in bowl games at Minnesota.  He has a strategy and philosophy on how to approach those games but doesn’t offer details to the media.

Fleck’s attention now will be the interviewing process to hire a new defensive coordinator.  It’s likely some candidates are with bowl teams.  A new hire could be announced by around January 10.