Less than a year after leaving the program, former Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Mariano Sori-Marin has returned to the Golden Gophers as an intern.
Last Thursday, Sori-Marin, who was waived by the San Francisco 49ers in June after signing with the franchise as a UDFA, was spotted helping coach up Minnesota's defense prior to their season opener against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
During his time talking to the media on Thursday, Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi said the following about the Mokena, Illinois native returning to Dinkytown.
"He'll be invaluable for us because he knows the defense," Rossi said about Sori-Marin returning. "A lot of times, the interns that come in are unpaid volunteers; they don't know the defense, and I don't have time to teach that to them, but he does, and you know that from when he played," he added.
"So for him to be able to be there and help, he's not allowed to coach, but those eyes, for me, it's huge. I've already been on record about Mariano, and he wants to waste away his college education on being a college football coach; he's going to be one of the best, eventually."
During his career with Minnesota, Sori-Marin played in 58 games for the Golden Gophers, recording 274 total tackles, including 137 solo tackles. He also totaled 14.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks on top of one interception, three forced fumbles, and 10 pass deflections. He was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches in 2022 and an honorable mention by the media in both 2021 and 2022.
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