Here are some things I've heard:
Here's a quick rundown of his assistants at Western Michigan:
7:30 UPDATE
As most probably expect, it's unlikely that just about all the position coaches stay. I would only expect one or two to stay, with Sherels being the most likely.
After hearing conflicting things about Sawvel the past 24 hours, I can say that there's a small chance he's retained. Sawvel has actually fielded a Power 5 defensive coordinator job recently, but it's not better than Minnesota and he either has turned it down or would prefer Minnesota if Fleck gives him the opportunity.
It's highly likely that some of the recruiting assistants are staying on. Nobody knows for sure as Fleck hasn't talked with any of the coaches yet that I'm aware, or at least one-on-one with any of the coaches.
1/8 AFTERNOON UPDATE
Gerrit Chernoff is coming to Minnesota, I'm assuming as the recruiting coordinator.
Also, from Alex's recap of Sid and Dave: "PJ hopes to have his whole coaching staff hired by Thursday, and he’s heading to the National Coaches Convention in the next few days, and hopes to have the whole staff here on campus by next Sunday. PJ said that he is going to do everything he can, and has heard the fans as to which coaches fans want to keep, and he’s going to do everything he can to give them a role with Gopher Football (I assume he is talking about Sherels, among a couple other coaches)."
1/11 UPDATE
A lot of this has been posted in other threads, but I'll put it here, along with the new stuff, just so there's one thread with everything.
Kirk Ciarrocca, the offensive coordinator under Fleck at Western Michigan, has been hired for the same position here.
Robb Smith, the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, has accepted the same position here. This was first reported by Adam Rittenberg and confirmed by Trey Biddy of our Arkansas site.
Ohio State offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ed Warinner will be the offensive line coach. I believe he may just coach the interior lineman, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
Western Michigan wide receivers coach Matt Simon will join the staff here in the same role. I'm told that Brian Callahan will be on the staff here, as well. I believe he'll be the tackles and tight ends coach.
WMU special teams coordinator Rob Wenger is likely to have the same job here.
I still believe there's a good chance that Mike Sherels will remain as linebackers coach.
There's been rumors of Melvin Rice joining the staff as the secondary coach. I haven't been able to confirm that, but he's an intriguing name. When Boddy-Calhoun was asked who taught him the most, he said Rice, not Sawvel. Rice was a grad assistant under Kill at Northern Illinois and then a defensive quality control assistant here before leaving a couple years ago to be the DB coach at Northern Illinois.
So, to recap, positions that have yet to be filled are QB coach (although there's a good chance Ciarrocca will fill that role), RB coach, DL coach, LB coach, and DB coach. The coaching convention wraps up today, so I'd expect to hear a couple names we haven't heard yet in the next 24-48 hours.
- There's interest in Louis Ayeni, a Woodbury native and former Northwestern running back. Ayeni was the running backs coach at Toledo under Matt Campbell and followed him to Iowa State. He was recently given the title of associate head coach, in addition to running backs coach. Ayeni was rumored to be a candidate to be the running backs coach at Texas under Herman. I've heard there may be some things not related to Fleck or football that would keep Ayeni from coming here, though.
- Western Michigan offensive line coach Brian Callahan has had some interest from Power 5 programs, and I hear he may have turned down the opportunity to interview at a lower-level P5 since he knew Fleck was likely Minnesota bound (and that he may take him with). This is what I heard from the person who was maybe my best source on all the Fleck news, but I can't confirm he's coming with Fleck yet.
Here's a quick rundown of his assistants at Western Michigan:
- Kirk Ciarrocca, OC/QB: a lot of experience at the FCS level, but was the co-OC at Rutgers from 2008-2010, which overlapped with Fleck's time at Rutgers for a season. His offenses at Rutgers finished No. 32, 100, and 103 in the S&P+ rankings. He's had a lot of success at Western Michigan, though, and the offense has improved each year under him.
- Ed Pinkham, DC: He was the DB coach for Minnesota in Gutey's last three years. Since then, he's been the defensive cooridnator at Holy Cross, Colgate, Rutgers, and Western Michigan. At Rutgers with Greg Schiano, his defenses finished No. 46 and 56 in the S&P+ rankings. At Western Michigan, his defenses has improved year: it finished No. 106, 90, 89, then 69 in the S&P+ rankings.
- Kenni Burns, RB: Burns was the wide receivers coach at NDSU during their run of three-straight national championships from 2011-2013. He was the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator in 2014 before coming to Western Michigan.
- Brian Callahan, OL: Experience at the FCS level as an offensive line coach before coming to Western Michigan. He's also been a grad assistant for Louisville, Oklahoma, and Pitt.
- David Duggan, LB: Duggan was the defensive coordinator for three seasons at Southern Miss before coming to Western Michigan this year. His defenses improved with each season and finished No. 103, 94, and 62 in the S&P+ rankings. He's also been an assistant at North Carolina and head coach in NFL Europe.
- Bill Kenney, TE/OT: Kinney was an assistant at Penn State for 23 years before coming to Western Michigan.
- Matt Simon, WR: Simon was an offensive quality control assistant for Jerry Kill in his last year at Northern Illinois, and was the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator for St. Thomas the next season. In 2013, he was the wide receivers coach for Rutgers and then became the Western Michigan receivers coach. He's had two All-MAC selections in each of his seasons with the Broncos.
- Rob Wenger, DB/ST: Wenger was a grad assistant before becoming the DB coach and special teams coordinator. He was at one point the defensive coordinator for St. Thomas Aquinas, which is one of the top high school football programs in the country.
7:30 UPDATE
As most probably expect, it's unlikely that just about all the position coaches stay. I would only expect one or two to stay, with Sherels being the most likely.
After hearing conflicting things about Sawvel the past 24 hours, I can say that there's a small chance he's retained. Sawvel has actually fielded a Power 5 defensive coordinator job recently, but it's not better than Minnesota and he either has turned it down or would prefer Minnesota if Fleck gives him the opportunity.
It's highly likely that some of the recruiting assistants are staying on. Nobody knows for sure as Fleck hasn't talked with any of the coaches yet that I'm aware, or at least one-on-one with any of the coaches.
1/8 AFTERNOON UPDATE
Gerrit Chernoff is coming to Minnesota, I'm assuming as the recruiting coordinator.
Also, from Alex's recap of Sid and Dave: "PJ hopes to have his whole coaching staff hired by Thursday, and he’s heading to the National Coaches Convention in the next few days, and hopes to have the whole staff here on campus by next Sunday. PJ said that he is going to do everything he can, and has heard the fans as to which coaches fans want to keep, and he’s going to do everything he can to give them a role with Gopher Football (I assume he is talking about Sherels, among a couple other coaches)."
1/11 UPDATE
A lot of this has been posted in other threads, but I'll put it here, along with the new stuff, just so there's one thread with everything.
Kirk Ciarrocca, the offensive coordinator under Fleck at Western Michigan, has been hired for the same position here.
Robb Smith, the defensive coordinator at Arkansas, has accepted the same position here. This was first reported by Adam Rittenberg and confirmed by Trey Biddy of our Arkansas site.
Ohio State offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Ed Warinner will be the offensive line coach. I believe he may just coach the interior lineman, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
Western Michigan wide receivers coach Matt Simon will join the staff here in the same role. I'm told that Brian Callahan will be on the staff here, as well. I believe he'll be the tackles and tight ends coach.
WMU special teams coordinator Rob Wenger is likely to have the same job here.
I still believe there's a good chance that Mike Sherels will remain as linebackers coach.
There's been rumors of Melvin Rice joining the staff as the secondary coach. I haven't been able to confirm that, but he's an intriguing name. When Boddy-Calhoun was asked who taught him the most, he said Rice, not Sawvel. Rice was a grad assistant under Kill at Northern Illinois and then a defensive quality control assistant here before leaving a couple years ago to be the DB coach at Northern Illinois.
So, to recap, positions that have yet to be filled are QB coach (although there's a good chance Ciarrocca will fill that role), RB coach, DL coach, LB coach, and DB coach. The coaching convention wraps up today, so I'd expect to hear a couple names we haven't heard yet in the next 24-48 hours.
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