The Gophers on Thursday completed the restructuring of their defensive coaching staff, promoting safeties coach Danny Collins to defensive coordinator and hiring former Purdue defensive coordinator Kevin Kane as nickels/outside linebackers coach, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Gophers promote Danny Collins to defensive coordinator, replacing Corey Hetherman
Minnesota also added former Purdue defensive coordinator Kevin Kane as an assistant.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 23, 2025 at 4:00PM
Collins replaces Corey Hetherman, who left the Gophers to take the defensive coordinator job at Miami (Fla.) less than a month after agreeing to a contract extension with Minnesota.
In addition to the Collins and Kane moves, the Gophers promoted former Minnesota linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin to linebackers coach and Dennis Dottin-Carter to rush ends coach.
Collins, 32, has been with the Gophers since coach P.J. Fleck took over as head coach in 2017 and spent two years with Fleck as a graduate assistant at Western Michigan.
At Minnesota, Collins moved up the ranks from quality control assistant to graduate assistant to interim defensive backs coach for the 2018 Quick Lane Bowl. After being a quality control assistant in 2019 and interim defensive line coach for the Outback Bowl, he was senior defensive analyst from 2020-21, then was promoted to safeties coach in 2022.
He added the title of defensive pass game coordinator in 2023 and served as interim defensive coordinator for the 2023 Quick Lane Bowl after Joe Rossi left for Michigan State.
Collins’ work with Minnesota’s safeties has drawn praise. Tyler Nubin earned second-team All-America honors in 2023 and became a second-round draft pick of the New York Giants after setting the Gophers’ career record with 13 interceptions. Jordan Howden became a fifth-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2023.
Minnesota’s 2024 team finished 8-5 with a win over Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and featured a safety group full of young talent. Collins was essential in the recruiting of true freshman phenom Koi Perich, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after leading the conference and tying for fourth nationally with five interceptions. In addition, redshirt freshman Kerry Brown ranked third on the team with 63 tackles and had two interceptions and four pass breakups.
Kane, 41, spent the past two seasons as Purdue’s defensive coordinator under coach Ryan Walters after two years as associate head coach and outside linebackers coach under Bret Bielema at Illinois. Kane also was defensive coordinator at SMU (2018-20) and Northern Illinois (2016-17). A former linebacker at Kansas, Kane began his coaching career as a student assistant with the Jayhawks in 2006 and spent three years on the staff at Wisconsin.
10 high school boys basketball players in Minnesota have formed arguably the deepest recruiting class in the state, with some boasting offers from the Gophers, Iowa and Arizona State.
