Minnesota Gophers Losing Another Defensive Coordinator

The New Year signifies the beginning of the offseason for the Minnesota Gophers football team. After PJ Fleck maintained his flawless bowl game record with a victory against Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the attention now turns to fortifying the team and enhancing the coaching staff for the 2025 season.

Just a week after concluding their regular season, the Gophers extended their defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman’s contract and gave him a raise. Fast forward to the present, and Miami has offered him the same position there, attempting to lure him away, and it seems all but a formality now.

The Miami Hurricanes steal DC Corey Hetherman from the Minnesota Gophers

Out of nowhere today, a college football insider for 247Sports reported that Corey Hetherman has emerged as Miami’s top candidate for their defensive coordinator job. With everything falling into place, it’s now looking like it’s almost a done deal.

This current expectation is that this is going to get done and that Miami will hire Minnesota’s Corey Hetherman as its new defensive coordinator, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Hetherman led the way this season as Minnesota ranked fifth nationally in total defense.… https://t.co/hE1iRUXWIf pic.twitter.com/7UKJ1KKEOq

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 11, 2025

Related: Gophers Land OSU Linebacker Out of Transfer Portal

Back in December, the Minnesota Gophers handed Hetherman a two-year contract extension along with a raise. Which bumped his salary to over a million dollars. However, that wasn’t enough to compete with a program like the Hurricanes, and now the Gophers will have to search for another new defensive coordinator.

Under Hetherman’s leadership, the Gophers defense ranked among the top in the nation. They held opponents to just 17.5 points per game and 4.7 yards per play during the regular season. They finished fourth in the country in scoring defense. Allowing only 16.9 points per game, and fifth in total defense, giving up an average of 285 yards per game.

What will the Gophers do?

This marks the second straight offseason where the Minnesota Gophers have seen their defensive coordinator leave for a bigger paycheck. First it was Joe Rossi, who headed to Michigan State, and now Hetherman to Miami. If Minnesota doesn’t find a way to match these offers, they’ll struggle to keep up with the top teams.

View: University of Minnesota leadership, primarily the Board of Regents, needs to ante up in order to compete in big-time college football. The U had lowest assistant coaches salary pool in Big Ten and it’s hurting #Gophers chances to develop talent and compete at highest level.

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) January 11, 2025

This is another tough setback for P.J. Fleck and his coaching staff. However, reports are already surfacing that the Gophers will be hiring from within the program. And there may already be a front-runner to replace Hetherman: Danny Collins. Currently the Safeties coach and pass game coordinator, Collins seems to be the favorite in the clubhouse for the role.

If Fleck elects to replace from within, I'd keep a close eye on Danny Collins

— Ryan Burns (@RyanBurnsMN) January 11, 2025

Sources: Minnesota plans to promote internally to replace Corey Hetherman at defensive coordinator. There’s no plans to open up the search and bring in someone from the outside. Minnesota finished this season with the country’s No. 9 scoring defense.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 11, 2025

Related: What We Learned About the Minnesota Gophers in Yet Another PJ Fleck Bowl Game Victory