Pioneer Press: Gophers defensive staff reconfigures, Antoine Winfield Jr. returns

BleedGopher

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
Messages
60,577
Reaction score
15,656
Points
113
per Greder:

Donnell Greene put an element of his Gophers football career into perspective during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week. The left tackle pointed out he had three offensive line coaches in his three years at Minnesota.

Next year, Carter Coughlin will be able to say the same thing about his final three seasons as a defensive lineman at the U.

Rotations on the coaching carousel are a perpetual element in college football - the stability of previous head coach Jerry Kill’s staff was an anomaly -- but the U would benefit from increased stability in its defensive assistants.

The turnover during Greene’s tenure had a major impetus with a head-coaching change from Tracy Claeys to P.J. Fleck. But Coughlin, for example, will have had a new D-line coach each year, all under Fleck.

New defensive line coach Jim Panagos replaces Joe Rossi, along with pass-rush specialist coach Marcus West, from last year’s staff. They took over for Bryce Paup after the 2017 season.

This turnover was a domino effect when defensive coordinator Robb Smith was fired after Illinois scored 55 points and gashed the U for 646 total yards on Nov. 3. Rossi moved to interim DC and was promoted to the permanent position moments after the 37-15 victory over Wisconsin in Madison.

Rossi was then able to have input in the hiring process for the other defensive assistants. “I think everybody has come together and Joe kind of almost got a chance to start over with his own staff, which I think is really good, too,” Fleck said.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/s...taff-reconfigures-antoine-winfield-jr-returns

Go Gophers!!
 

The new coaching hires on paper, with perhaps the exception of West, all seem like upgrades. Really interested to see what it leads to.
 

The real nugget here is in the link...AWJr is confirmed to be coming back healthy! And, with 3 years of eligibility remaining!
 

The real nugget here is in the link...AWJr is confirmed to be coming back healthy! And, with 3 years of eligibility remaining!

Winfield might be the Jess Settles of Gopher Football. It seems like he will be here for ten years.
 

Fingers crossed for a healthy season for Winfield.
 


Fingers crossed for a healthy season for Winfield.

I'll also be curious to see if he is the same player. I thought I remember hearing that it is hard to fully come back from the foot surgery that he had. If he's lost some of his burst, it could be an issue. Albeit, he'd simply go from great to good.
 





Top Bottom