Breaking:Miami Hurricanes have just hired their new defensive coordinator…..

Breaking:Miami Hurricanes have just hired their new defensive coordinator. What to know

A new defensive coordinator has been appointed by Mario Cristobal. Corey Hetherman was officially appointed to the role by the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday. Lance Guidry, who Miami sacked in December after two seasons, is replaced by him.

Hetherman has wrapped off his first season as defensive coordinator for Minnesota, leading one of the best teams in the country. In terms of scoring defense (16.9 points per game, ninth), passing defense (176.1 yards per game, tied for ninth), and total defense (285.7 yards per game, fifth), the Golden Gophers were among the top 10 teams in the country. In addition, Minnesota allowed fewer than 20 points in eight of 13 games and kept opponents to a fourth-down success percentage of 41.2

368.4 yards allowed per game (ranked 56th nationally), 219.3 passing yards allowed per game (ranked 59th nationally), and 26.7 points allowed per game (tied for 69th nationally) were all significant gains over Minnesota’s output the season before he took over.

Last season, Minnesota also gave up touchdowns on 50% of drives that went into the red zone, which is the 16th-best percentage in the nation, and only 36 plays that went for at least 20 yards, which is the fourth-fewest in the nation.

Hetherman had agreed to a contract extension with Minnesota that would have earned him over $1 million annually, and Miami would cover his six-figure buyout, according to the Pioneer Press.

Hetherman worked under Greg Schiano as the linebackers coach at Rutgers for two seasons before joining Minnesota’s staff. It is important to note that Cristobal is also a member of the Schiano coaching family. He started his coaching career by spending three seasons at Rutgers from 2001 to 2003, which coincided with Schiano’s initial tenure as head coach of the Scarlett Knights.

Before moving to Minnesota, Hetherman previously coached at the FCS level for three seasons as defensive coordinator at Maine (2016–2018) and James Madison (2019–2021). In his last season at James Madison, he won FCS assistant coach of the year.

Hetherman will take over a defense that had a lot of change going into 2025 and was Miami’s weakest point during its 10-3 campaign.

In terms of scoring defense, the Hurricanes came in at number 68 in the country, giving up 25.3 points per game, which skyrocketed to 30.8 points per game in conference play. Miami only let up more than 40 points in a game once, compared to three times this season, during Guidry’s first season as defensive coordinator, when they gave up an average of 22.8 points per game.