Corey Hetherman is on the move, the Rutgers football linebackers coach appears headed to Big Ten rival Minnesota.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Hetherman is heading to Minnesota to become their defensive coordinator.
Hetherman, who just finished his second season with Rutgers, is a major reason why the program had its first winning season since 2014. He had a major impact with his ability to coach up and motivate a talented linebackers room.
Prior to his time at Rutgers, he was a defensive coordinator at James Madison for three years. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Maine.
He played collegiately at Fitchburg State where he was a quarterback.
Sources: Minnesota is set to hire Rutgers linebacker coach Corey Hetherman as the school’s new defensive coordinator. He’s the former defensive coordinator at James Madison and Maine.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 8, 2024
At Rutgers, Hetherman was known for his intensity as a coach and always pushing his players to hold a high level in practice and on gameday. While he was intense, he was also a coach who had an open-door policy and encouraged feedback from his players.
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Around Rutgers, he was highly regarded and seen as a personality and a coach who is likely going to be a Power Five head coach at some point in his career.
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Rutgers finished this season 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten), capturing the Pinstripe Bowl over Miami for their first postseason win since 2014.
Rutgers has certainly taken a number of talented coaches from Minnesota over the past few years including Kirk Ciarrocca (offensive coordinator) and Joe Harasymiak (defensive coordinator).
Rutgers has also landed Minnesota products Curtis Dunlap (guard), safety Flip Dixon (safety), quarterback Athan Kaliamkmanis (quarterback) and Dino Kaliakmanis (wide receiver) out of the transfer portal from Minnesota.