Corey Hetherman comes to Miami after spending one season as the defensive coordinator at Minnesota. Hetherman is a fast riser having been the DC at then FCS JMU only a short time ago.
The Miami Hurricanes have their defensive coordinator and it’s Corey Hetherman. Hetherman comes to Miami from the University of Minnesota where he guided the Golden Gophers defense for one season in 2024.
While at Minny, Hetherman improved the Gophers defense from 31st in SP+ defense in 2023 to 10th in ‘24. Bill Connelly’s SP+ also predicted the Minnesota defense to finish 22nd in his pre-season metrics with Hetherman outperforming that as well.
The Gophers improved drastically from ‘23 to ‘24 moving from 63rd overall in SP+ to 26th. A ~40 point jump in SP+ offense didn’t hurt PJ Fleck’s squad this past season.
This season The Gophers defense allowed 16.9 PPG which was good for 9th of 134 teams in FBS. In ‘23, the PJ Fleck’s defense allowed 26.7 PPG which put them at 70th of 133 FBS programs.
Prior to Minnesota, Hetherman spent time as the linebacker coach at Rutgers under Greg Schiano and the defensive coordinator at JMU (they were still FCS) under Curt Cignetti. Hetherman is certainly parlaying off of his solid season with the Gophers as he only has one year of experience as a Power 4 DC.
Players when they’re told to be aggressive in defense this year https://t.co/edWRW4Vvgg pic.twitter.com/PKTzzBPEgv
— Call me Keir (@RUGBY_STR_COACH) January 14, 2025
And that’s the risk here- much like former ‘Canes DC Lance Guidry, Hetherman has limited experience in game planning against programs that have an extensive grouping of analysts breaking down every snap of film like Notre Dame and Clemson will have.
The potential here however is very high. He immediately improved the Gophers defense, was rewarded an extension from Fleck, and he is well regarded in coaching circles as a stand up guy and hard working coach.
The Film
We’re going to use the Penn State vs. Minnesota game from the 2024 season. PSU won the game 26-25, but holding a College Football Playoff caliber offense to 26 points is solid.
Hetherman’s defense held PSU to 1-of-11 on 3rd down but did give up 3-of-4 on 4th down. Minnesota did not register a turnover which will be tough down at Miami where the ‘Canes really need to increase their takeaways.
Hetherman loves to blitz, but the Gophers only got to QB Drew Allar twice, however they did pick up seven tackles for loss against a strong offensive line with two hard to bring down running backs. Only picking up one PBU vs. Allar leaves a lot to be desired as well.
Against Minny, Allar averaged 8.7 yards per throw with one touchdown pass. On the ground, Allar scored one TD while Nicholas Singleton scored the other. Singleton averaged 4.8 yards per carry while Kaytron Allen was held to 1.4 per rush.
Allar connected with five receivers vs. the Gophers with three coming at double-digit yards per reception.
Above– PSU lines up in 22 personnel (two backs, two tight ends) and Minny works into a five man front with three linebackers in the box.
Above– On a tough 3rd and inches against that look the Gophers stop PSU’s defense. This is how you hold a team to under 10% on 3rd down with solid fits, block destruction and finishing the tackle.
Above– QB Draw on 3rrd and 11 and Minny misses two tackles on Allar. Allar isn’t exactly Lamar Jackson or Tim Tebow but the Gophers struggled to finish him to the ground.
Above– On 4th down the Gophers got to Allar with the front four. Because they could drop seven the PSU receivers were covered and the 2nd effort rush got home.
Above– Look up top: two Gophers defenders are covering one motioning ‘threat.’ That will be exploited later in the game for a TD.
Above– And here it is- PSU gets “high school open” here from a simple “over” route. If you look to the top two defenders are in the same tube again for Minny and both are covering NO ONE.
Above– They motion their WR open again but this time Allar’s throw is very poor and Minnesota gets the stop.
Above– It’s a 4-3 look but Minnesota twists the DT and NT. It leaves the A-Gap wide open and Allar scrambles. All three linebackers drop but the MLB drops into a 45 instead of sitting and both the QB and the WR that crosses are open.
Above– TOSS! Another defense that can’t get to the perimeter? Great blocking from PSU on the outside and Minny’s defenders block themselves for the 1st down. Zero block destruction for the Gophers.
Above– The DL gets dominated before three missed tackles lead to a Penn State TD.
Above– On 3rd and 10 Minnesota plays man without a switch call and it works against Warren for a PBU. That’s a tough call and play for the DB’s there.
The Wrap
There are a lot of positives with the Hetherman hire at Miami. He’s young, a fast riser, and connected to Schiano and Cignetti as well as Fleck (take his act or leave it, he can coach ball). He’s played QB, and has coached LB and DL, while serving as an OC and a recruiting coordinator in the past.
The negatives are that he only has one year of experience calling a P4 defense. The ACC schools will get ahold of all the Minnesota film they can and start analyzing it ASAP. He’s going to have to get used to being uber-analyzed by his opponents and make adjustments, something Guidry failed to do at Miami.
Another negative I saw was poor tackling. They missed 20+ tackles against Omarion Hampton and UNC to start the season, and bounced off of Allar and Singleton as well. Miami can’t afford another DC that cannot teach proper tracking and tackling.
Prediction: Miami will improve from in the 40’s in SP+ defense. Will the ‘Canes climb to the teens? The jury is still out.