Syracuse's Nick Monroe, a Minnesota native, will be cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator. Former Gopher Winston DeLattiboudere III will be defensive line coach.

By Randy Johnson

January 13, 2023 at 4:16AM

Former Gophers defensive end Winston DeLattiboudere III will coach the team’s defensive linemen. (Glenn Stubbe, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck on Thursday finished filling four assistant coaching positions on his staff, hiring a Minnesota native, a former Gophers player and two others who have been coaching in the Mid-American Conference, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Star Tribune.

The new assistant coaches are:

· The Minnesota native is Syracuse interim defensive coordinator Nick Monroe, who is from Mahtomedi and will be cornerbacks coach and co-defensive coordinator. A St. Cloud State graduate, Monroe replaces Paul Haynes, who left to become Wisconsin's cornerbacks coach. Monroe led the Syracuse defense in the Pinstripe Bowl against the Gophers, a game Minnesota won 28-20 on Dec. 29.

Monroe's father, Marty, worked as an assistant for the Gophers under coach Jim Wacker in 1994 and '95.

· The former Gophers player joining Fleck's staff is Winston DeLattiboudere III, who played defensive end for Minnesota from 2015-19. DeLattiboudere, the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at Akron in 2022, will be the Gophers defensive line coach. He replaces Brick Haley, who left for Purdue. DeLattiboudere also was a graduate assistant at Oregon in 2021 and Charlotte in 2020.

· Northern Illinois running backs coach Nic McKissic-Luke will be the Gophers running backs coach. He replaces Kenni Burns, who left to become Kent State's head coach. McKissic-Luke has been Northern Illinois' running back coach since 2020 and added run game coordinator and special teams coordinator duties over the past two seasons. Previously, he was running backs coach at both Youngstown State and South Dakota State, along with various duties at Benedictine.

· Kent State offensive coordinator Andrew Sowder will be Minnesota's tight ends coach. He replaces Greg Harbaugh Jr., who was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after the departure of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca to Rutgers. Sowder, who also served as Kent State's interim coach when Sean Lewis left after the 2022 season to become Colorado's offensive coordinator, spent the past five seasons as Golden Flashes offensive coordinator. He also was offensive coordinator at San Jose State.