Next up in our fall camp position previews for Minnesota is the Golden Gophers linebacker room. The position group is under new leadership in 2024 as Corey Hetherman replaces Joe Rossi as both the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Last season was a rough year for the linebacker room that was hit by portal departures in the offense and then Cody Lindenberg was only able to play in four of 12 games. With the injuries and departures, the Gophers in 2023 had mostly an inexperienced linebacker room. The results would show that as well as the Gophers linebacker room struggled with tackling and consistency last season.
Now under Hetherman's direction, it will be intriguing to see how much of a step forward the Gophers linebacker room can take this fall. During his time at Rutgers, Hetherman oversaw the development of several key linebackers for the Scarlet Knights including Mohamed Toure and Deion Jennings.
The good news for the Gophers is that they only said goodbye to one key member of their linebacker unit from a year ago in Ryan Selig, meaning 84% of the Gophers total snaps taken at linebacker last season return this fall.
POSITION PREVIEWS: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | DL
In 2024, the Gophers will hope to find consistency both on the field and off the field when it comes to staying healthy.
