Gophers adjust defensive identity under new coordinator Corey Hetherman

When Gophers defensive coordinator Joe Rossi left Minnesota in December to take the same position at Michigan State, coach P.J. Fleck knew right away what he wanted in a replacement.

• The new coordinator will run a scheme focused on stopping the run, a staple of Fleck’s complementary football plan in which the defense and offense feed off each other.

• The new coordinator will have an aggressive approach, with players arriving at the ball carrier with bad intentions. They’ll be “the one who knocks,” in the vein of Walter White from “Breaking Bad.”

• The new coordinator will be someone familiar for a transition as seamless as possible.

Those traits sound like Rossi, but they also describe the guy Fleck hired: Corey Hetherman.

Hetherman, 40, will make his Gophers debut against North Carolina in the season opener on Thursday night at Huntington Bank Stadium. He spent the past two years as linebackers coach at Rutgers, working under Fleck’s mentor, head coach Greg Schiano, and a Fleck protégé, defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak.

“We weren’t going ... outside of the family, of what we really want as a defense and what we core believe in,” Fleck said of choosing Hetherman.

Hetherman is taking over a defense that slumped last year amid injuries at linebacker that forced Rossi to play inexperienced youngsters. The Gophers, who ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense in 2022 (13.8 points allowed per game) and ninth in 2021 (17.3), fell to 69th (26.7) on their way to a 6-7 record.

Moreover, Minnesota was getting pushed around, too. After ranking eighth nationally in fewest rushing yards allowed in 2021 (97.5) and 16th in 2022 (109.0), the Gophers gave up 149.1 per game last year, falling to 64th.

“We want to stop the run. We want to stop the run,” Hetherman emphasized. “We want to try to make them one-dimensional.”

To that end, Hetherman and his staff have instilled an “ESV” defensive attitude: excitement, swarming and violence.

“Every day we talk about ESV,” he said. “We want our guys to fly around. We want excitement. We want our guys to love the game of football. We want to walk in the building every day and embrace the new challenge. And then we want to swarm. We want 11 hats to the ball. We want relentless defense on every single snap.”

Said Fleck, “We’re swarming to the ball more and better than we ever have, and then you have to bring that violence, that contact, that willingness to be really physical.”

Like Rossi, who starred as a defensive end at Allegheny (Pa.) College, Hetherman played and cut his coaching teeth at the Division III level. The Oxford, Mass., native was a three-year starting quarterback at Fitchburg (Mass.) State and began his coaching career as quarterbacks coach for is alma mater. Stops at King’s College and Springfield College followed before Hetherman switched to the defensive side of the ball, coaching outside linebackers at Northeastern in 2009 and ‘10.

“It helped me tremendously as a coach, and I think it’s the best thing I ever did,” said Hetherman, who coordinated successful defenses at Pace, Maine and James Madison before landing at Rutgers.

Said Fleck, “You can tell the players just absorb so much for him because he takes his job incredibly seriously. And that’s what it takes to succeed at this level.”

Much of the Gophers’ defensive struggles last year can be traced to the absence of linebacker Cody Lindenberg, who was limited to four games because of injuries. He’s a vocal leader on defense, and without him, the Gophers were forced to give extensive minutes to freshman Maverick Baranowski and sophomore Devon Williams. And when Baranowski was lost to injury, the Gophers took another hit.

Hetherman is relying on Lindenberg’s return to put the linebacker corps back on solid footing.

“He’s one of the smarter football players I’ve been around – situational football, being able to handle checks, being able to handle different things and situations,” Hetherman said “He plays fast. He really sees the game well. Things are moving pretty slow for him right now. He’s a guy that we trust.”

Just how well the Hetherman/Lindenberg pair works out for the Gophers will go a long way in determining their success in 2024. Minnesota’s schedule is dotted with nine bowl teams from 2023, including the opener against North Carolina, which features running back Omarion Hampton, whose 1,504 rushing yards ranked fifth in FBS last year.

Lindenberg sees a smooth transition helping.

“We’re very tight, very close,” Lindenberg said of his relationship with Hetherman. “It’s been very easy, the way we’ve been able to connect. He has that presence about him that you feel comfortable enough to ask those questions.”

The Gophers can count on improved depth and talent along the defensive line, and that should help a defense that’s adjusting without star safety Tyler Nubin, now with the New York Giants. Fleck sees a team quickly adjusting to their new defensive leader.

“He’s a really good football coach,” Fleck said. “The players love playing for him, and you can see that and how they practice, their energy.”