Fleck Announces Hirings, Promotions

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck has announced additions to his coaching and support staff.

Fleck promoted Defensive Line Coach Winston DeLattiboudere III to Assistant Head Coach and named Eric Koehler Tight Ends Coach.

DeLattiboudere, who played for the Gophers from 2015-19 and holds two degrees from Minnesota, will continue to lead the defensive line. He helped coach a defense last season that improved its sack totals from 19 in 2022 to 26 in 2023. The production by the defensive line was even more impressive, as that unit had 10.5 sacks in 2022, but then recorded 20 sacks in 2023 for an improvement of 9.5 sacks in DeLattiboudere’s first season on staff.

The defensive line was also disruptive with the ball, as it forced six fumbles, recovered three fumbles, broke up seven passes and made one interception.

Koehler, who was a Senior Offensive Analyst for Minnesota in 2023, has more than two decades of coaching experience. Prior to his time at Minnesota, he spent nine years on the offensive coaching staff at Miami (Ohio) and has also coached at Illinois State, Grand Valley State and Wartburg. At Miami, he was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the first seven years and then assumed the title of assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the 2021 and 2022 campaigns.

The Redhawks won their division twice with Koehler on staff and were Mid-American Conference champions in 2019. They also played in four bowl games, including a win in the 2021 Frisco Football Classic.

Fleck also announced the hiring of Bill Legg as Offensive Analyst and Brett Holinka as Defensive Analyst.

Legg has nearly 40 years of coaching experience on his resume and most recently served as the offensive line coach and associate head coach at Marshall. Holinka, who has extensive coaching experience in the upper Midwest, joins the Gophers from St. Thomas where he coached defensive backs in 2023. 

In addition, Fleck announced that Mariano Sori-Marin will serve as the Nickel Coach / Assistant Linebackers Coach and that Malik Hollings will be the Assistant Defensive Line Coach. Isaiah Walker will be the Assistant Wide Receiver Coach, while James Bain will fill the role of Assistant Offensive Line Coach. 

Sori-Marin, who played for the Gophers from 2018-22, was a Defensive Analyst for Minnesota last season. Walker was an Offensive Graduate Assistant, while Hollings was a Defensive Graduate Assistant for the Gophers in 2023. Bain came to Minnesota from UTEP where he was an assistant with the offensive line and special teams. All four will continue to pursue their graduate degrees at Minnesota during the 2024 season.

Emily Litwin, who has been a member of the staff since 2018, has been promoted to Assistant Director of Football Operations / Family Relations. She previously served as the Chief Administrative Officer / Family Liaison from 2020 to 2024. Prior to that she was an Assistant to Recruiting and Coaching Staff from 2018 to 2020.

Fleck also announced the hiring of Dane Kuhn, Nick Lee and Lauren Garlow. 

Kuhn was named Football Creative Director and has past experience doing work for the Seattle Sounds, Electronic Arts, Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Rokkr. 

Lee, who is a Minnesota graduate and former student equipment manager, was named Coordinator of Recruiting Operations. He spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as a Recruiting Assistant for the Gophers.

Garlow will serve as an Assistant Director of On-Campus Recruiting and comes to Minnesota from Miami (Ohio) where she worked as a recruiting assistant for the football team during her undergraduate career.