MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck has announced the addition of several new staff members, including the return of a recent Gopher great.
Former Minnesota linebacker Thomas Barber will be a defensive graduate assistant along with Christian Pawola, while Angel Matute and Nick Faus will work on the offensive side of the ball as graduate assistants.
Barber spent last season as linebackers coach at Augsburg University following a standout career at Minnesota. A four-year letterwinner with the Golden Gophers, Barber finished his career with 274 tackles (167 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and finished tied for second in school history with seven fumble recoveries.
He earned All-Big Ten Third Team honors in 2017 as sophomore, while as a senior he was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Barber was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and earned multiple team honors, including the 2019 R.T.B. Trust Award and the Neil Fredenburg Award (courage and love of the game) in both 2017 and 2018.
A native of Sycamore, Ill., Pawola was most recently the linebackers coach at Thiel College, a DIII program in Greenville, Pa., for the 2021 season. A 2020 graduate of Minnesota, Pawola served as a defensive student assistant coach with the Gophers for two seasons. Pawola reported directly to defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who was defensive coordinator at Thiel from 2003-06. Under Rossi's tutelage, Pawola worked with the Minnesota linebackers, provided opponent tendency and personnel information, and broke down game film.
Matute (muh-TOOT-ay) was a high school quarterback in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., but began his collegiate career at Golden West College as a tight end, catching 15 passes for 145 yards and two scores, averaging 9.7 yards per catch. He transferred to Mt. San Antonio College where he changed positions and earned First Team All-Conference honors as an offensive lineman. Matute then landed at Missouri where he appeared in one game in 2019 before taking a medical redshirt prior to the 2020 season, ending his career. He became a student assistant and graduated in 2021 to become the first in his family to earn a degree.
Faus comes to Minnesota from West Virginia where he spent last season as a special teams GA. Prior to that, he was at Western Michigan for four years. Faus joined the Broncos staff in July of 2017 and served as an offensive graduate assistant in 2020, working primarily with the team's skill positions. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Faus was primarily with the team's defensive units. Prior to his coaching career, Faus was a four-year quarterback (2013-16) at St. Joseph's College (Indiana). He received his bachelor's degree in exercise science from St. Joseph's in 2017.
In addition, Fleck also announced three quality control positions with the hiring of Ferras Isa (special teams), Andrew Bindelglass (defense) and Brian Sheehan (offense).
Isa spent last season as special teams intern where he assisted Rob Wenger with all position group related activities and recruiting duties. He also assisted with the scout special teams and generated weekly scouting reports on opponent special teams. Prior to that, Isa was at Eastern Michigan where he was a defensive analyst before being promoted to a GA with the linebackers.
Bindelglass joined the Minnesota football staff as a defensive graduate assistant in the summer of 2019 and now works in quality control on the defensive side of the ball. Bindelglass has also spent time at Bryant University and Holy Cross. After playing cornerback and serving as a student assistant while at Tufts, Bindelglass transitioned to a full-time coaching role upon graduation. He was part of the team that ended a 31-game losing streak and finished at 7-1 with a second place finish in the NESCAC in 2017. Bindelglass worked with the secondary during that stretch.
Sheehan comes to Minnesota from nearby Hamline University where he was the assistant head football coach and offensive coordinator since 2017. He was also the offensive line coach and punt team coordinator at Hamline from March 2016 – February 2017. Sheehan helped lead Hamline to two of its best seasons in the last 25 years (2016 and 2021), worked with a record-setting quarterback and coordinated a top red zone scoring offense.
Fleck also announced that Kramer Cook has been promoted to Director of Recruiting Operation and that the program has added two more staff members to the recruiting department. Drew Smith will be the assistant for personnel and recruiting, and Chandler Buning will be the assistant for recruiting and administration.
Smith is a 2015 graduate of Northwestern University. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree, he played linebacker for the Wildcats, starting 20 of the 50 games he played in with 144 career tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. After working for Frito-Lay for five years upon graduation, Smith got back into football last season at his alma mater as an operations intern. Among his duties, he coordinated travel for coaches during recruiting periods, planned recruiting strategies during official visits and tracked transfer portal entries. Smith also spent time this year at Eastern Michigan as recruiting and operations assistant.
A 2015 graduate of North Dakota, Buning comes to Minnesota from Hawaii where she spent the past two seasons as the assistant director of football operations and recruiting. In that role, she was the day-to-day administrative assistant for the head coach and director of football operations. Her responsibilities included coordinating schedules, events and meetings, as well as assisting the chief of staff with budgets, rules and regulations in regards to recruiting operations and all aspects of travel. Prior to Hawaii, Buning was the football marketing and recruiting assistant at Army West Point for three years.
Former Minnesota linebacker Thomas Barber will be a defensive graduate assistant along with Christian Pawola, while Angel Matute and Nick Faus will work on the offensive side of the ball as graduate assistants.
Barber spent last season as linebackers coach at Augsburg University following a standout career at Minnesota. A four-year letterwinner with the Golden Gophers, Barber finished his career with 274 tackles (167 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and finished tied for second in school history with seven fumble recoveries.
He earned All-Big Ten Third Team honors in 2017 as sophomore, while as a senior he was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Barber was a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and earned multiple team honors, including the 2019 R.T.B. Trust Award and the Neil Fredenburg Award (courage and love of the game) in both 2017 and 2018.
A native of Sycamore, Ill., Pawola was most recently the linebackers coach at Thiel College, a DIII program in Greenville, Pa., for the 2021 season. A 2020 graduate of Minnesota, Pawola served as a defensive student assistant coach with the Gophers for two seasons. Pawola reported directly to defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who was defensive coordinator at Thiel from 2003-06. Under Rossi's tutelage, Pawola worked with the Minnesota linebackers, provided opponent tendency and personnel information, and broke down game film.
Matute (muh-TOOT-ay) was a high school quarterback in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., but began his collegiate career at Golden West College as a tight end, catching 15 passes for 145 yards and two scores, averaging 9.7 yards per catch. He transferred to Mt. San Antonio College where he changed positions and earned First Team All-Conference honors as an offensive lineman. Matute then landed at Missouri where he appeared in one game in 2019 before taking a medical redshirt prior to the 2020 season, ending his career. He became a student assistant and graduated in 2021 to become the first in his family to earn a degree.
Faus comes to Minnesota from West Virginia where he spent last season as a special teams GA. Prior to that, he was at Western Michigan for four years. Faus joined the Broncos staff in July of 2017 and served as an offensive graduate assistant in 2020, working primarily with the team's skill positions. During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Faus was primarily with the team's defensive units. Prior to his coaching career, Faus was a four-year quarterback (2013-16) at St. Joseph's College (Indiana). He received his bachelor's degree in exercise science from St. Joseph's in 2017.
In addition, Fleck also announced three quality control positions with the hiring of Ferras Isa (special teams), Andrew Bindelglass (defense) and Brian Sheehan (offense).
Isa spent last season as special teams intern where he assisted Rob Wenger with all position group related activities and recruiting duties. He also assisted with the scout special teams and generated weekly scouting reports on opponent special teams. Prior to that, Isa was at Eastern Michigan where he was a defensive analyst before being promoted to a GA with the linebackers.
Bindelglass joined the Minnesota football staff as a defensive graduate assistant in the summer of 2019 and now works in quality control on the defensive side of the ball. Bindelglass has also spent time at Bryant University and Holy Cross. After playing cornerback and serving as a student assistant while at Tufts, Bindelglass transitioned to a full-time coaching role upon graduation. He was part of the team that ended a 31-game losing streak and finished at 7-1 with a second place finish in the NESCAC in 2017. Bindelglass worked with the secondary during that stretch.
Sheehan comes to Minnesota from nearby Hamline University where he was the assistant head football coach and offensive coordinator since 2017. He was also the offensive line coach and punt team coordinator at Hamline from March 2016 – February 2017. Sheehan helped lead Hamline to two of its best seasons in the last 25 years (2016 and 2021), worked with a record-setting quarterback and coordinated a top red zone scoring offense.
Fleck also announced that Kramer Cook has been promoted to Director of Recruiting Operation and that the program has added two more staff members to the recruiting department. Drew Smith will be the assistant for personnel and recruiting, and Chandler Buning will be the assistant for recruiting and administration.
Smith is a 2015 graduate of Northwestern University. An Academic All-Big Ten honoree, he played linebacker for the Wildcats, starting 20 of the 50 games he played in with 144 career tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. After working for Frito-Lay for five years upon graduation, Smith got back into football last season at his alma mater as an operations intern. Among his duties, he coordinated travel for coaches during recruiting periods, planned recruiting strategies during official visits and tracked transfer portal entries. Smith also spent time this year at Eastern Michigan as recruiting and operations assistant.
A 2015 graduate of North Dakota, Buning comes to Minnesota from Hawaii where she spent the past two seasons as the assistant director of football operations and recruiting. In that role, she was the day-to-day administrative assistant for the head coach and director of football operations. Her responsibilities included coordinating schedules, events and meetings, as well as assisting the chief of staff with budgets, rules and regulations in regards to recruiting operations and all aspects of travel. Prior to Hawaii, Buning was the football marketing and recruiting assistant at Army West Point for three years.
