Tag: Corey Hetherman

Rutgers makes, Minnesota takes: Golden Gophers set to hire Corey Hetherman, per report

Corey Hetherman appears set to leave Rutgers for Minnesota.

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.

 

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.

Rutgers football linebackers coach C.J. Hetherman spotted on a recruiting trip in Tallahassee

Corey Hetherman was in Florida recruiting this weekend.

This weekend, Rutgers football is using their bye to hit the recruiting trail. Nearly the entire Rutgers coaching staff is out this weekend, making stops in the tri-state area and Florida.

One of those coaches is Corey Hetherman, who was spotted on Friday at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida.

Lincoln is where Rutgers football commit Samarian Robinson plays his high school football. Robinson is a three-star linebacker who was committed to UCF until re-opening his recruitment in June.

He took an official visit to Rutgers in June and committed to the Big Ten program shortly thereafter. Robinson is a member of a very solid 2024 recruiting class for Rutgers.

Hetherman is the Rutgers linebacker coach.

Robinson also held offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, UCF and Louisville among others.

In 2022 as a junior at Lincoln, he had 63 total tackles along with two fumble recoveries and a pass defended. This season in six games, he has 57 total tackles.

For Corey Hetherman, the spring showing from Tyreem Powell is seen in the speed of his play

Rutgers football linebackers coach Corey Hetherman praises the effort of Tyreem Poweel.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Last year saw, sophomore linebacker Tyreem Powell breakthrough with Rutgers football. It is an upward trend for the talented linebacker as he has continued that development this spring.

Last season, Powell took a massive step forward as a sophomore, registering 70 total tackles along with three sacks and four passes defended. He stepped forward into a big role last spring when starter Mohamed Toure went down with an injury, followed by four-star true freshman Moses Walker.

Now with last year’s experience, Powell factors into a two-deep at linebacker that is impressive. Linebackers coach Corey Hetherman, now in his second season with the program, believes that this spring has seen Powell take yet another step forward in his development.

“You know, I think our strength coaches have done a really good job in the weight room continuing to put more weight on him. Continue to get him a little bit bigger, get him bent a little bit better,” Hetherman said on Thursday.

“And then his confidence, you can see his confidence level, his leadership his communication. And then really being year two in coach Harasymiak’s defense (defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak)…you know, you can see that confidence and that trust have really taken the next step, and it’s elevated.

“And I think that’s been the number one thing with ‘Reem – he goes out, he takes the field – he’s more confident with his calls, his eyes are better, his pad levels are better. He’s playing a lot faster right now going into year two.”

Hetherman said that the experience picked up last year by Powell and fellow linebacker Deion Jennings (87 total tackles) is “huge” for his group as they look to build up in 2023.

“You go into a season where guys really weren’t playing a ton the year before. And now last year, they step up and they fill those roles. You know, early on in camp, there were a lot of situations they weren’t prepared for and they really didn’t handle very well and they started to learn and then build and they took those reps and they took it from the film room, they took it from the meeting room, and they put it in practice and as we went through the season, I thought those guys improved every single week,” Hetherman said.

“We took steps as we get to the games…those guys really ‘Chopped’ and really worked at it and I thought it showed on the field as they communicated much better. They put themselves in positions to really make those plays and help the defense.”

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