What Canes fans need to know about Miami’s newest staffer.
It’s official, the Miami Hurricanes have their man. Twelve days after parting ways with former defensive coordinator Lance Guidry, Head Coach Mario Cristobal named Corey Hetherman to the same role on Sunday after resigning from his position at Minnesota.
The newest member of the coaching staff was introduced to the media today and he talked about the style of defense he wants to see going forward.
“We’re going to be aggressive. We want to be an attacking style defense.” Hetherman claimed during his introductory press conference in Coral Gables.
After a year in which expectations were soaring for a defensive line that seemed to underperform in crucial moments throughout the season, those words could not have been spoken any sooner.
Cristobal spoke glowingly of his new DC declaring “Coach Hetherman embodies what you look for in a coach … he’s a guy that’s an elite teacher … a tremendous human being…”
Mike Cugno – CBS 4, Miami
Hetherman burst onto the scene, establishing himself as one of the nation’s top, young, defensive minds in his first season coordinating a defense in a power five conference, producing a unit that ranked fifth nationally in total defense with the Golden Gophers.
In 2023, the Minnesota defense allowed 368.8 yards per game, a number that dropped to 285.7 under Hetherman’s tutelage this past season. Ohio State, Indiana, Texas, and Northern Illinois were the only other defenses that allowed fewer yards than the Golden Gophers. Minnesota also yielded 16.9 points per game (9th in NCAA) which included back-to-back shutouts versus Rhode Island and Nevada. This proved to be a 10-point differential from 2023 when Minnesota allowed 26.6 points per contest.
Additionally, Hetherman’s Golden Gopher defense allowed 176.1 yards in the air tying them for ninth in the country while only giving up 109.6 rush yards per game.
His brief stint with Minnesota was not his first as a defensive coordinator. He coached linebackers and was the defensive coordinator at Pace University in 2014 before accepting a job at Maine in 2015 as the defensive line coach. The very next season saw Hetherman take the reins of the Black Bears defense as defensive coordinator, a position in which he held through 2018.
Hetherman’s career as a coordinator took a huge turn once he moved on from Maine to coach James Madison. The Dukes defense he inherited allowed under 15 points per game and the pressure was on him to sustain the same level of play. In a dual role as defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach, he was the brains of a defensive unit that allowed no more than 16.5 points per game throughout his tenure with at JMU.
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With ties to Mario Cristobal by way of Greg Schiano, Hetherman comes to Coral Gables with experience coaching linebackers as well. Prior to Hetherman’s stop in Minneapolis, he coached linebackers under Schiano at Rutgers from 2022 through 2023 and saw his linebacker crew be instrumental on a unit that ranked 16th in total defense in 2023.
In the Scarlet Knights’ 2023 matchup against Miami in the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl, Hetherman’s linebacking crew led the way for the Rutgers defense. Their top two tacklers were linebackers Deion Jennings and Mohamed Toure. Jennings was credited with nine total tackles and a tackle for loss as Toure brought down Miami ball carries on eight separate occasions, with two of them going for stops behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack of former Miami quarterback Jacurri Brown.
Then freshman linebacker Abram Wright recorded the game’s only interception on a third down pass attempt from Brown, returning it for three yards.
A key to Hetherman’s success in transforming Minnesota’s defense into one of the nation’s stingiest was his ability to make opposing offenses one-dimensional and stop the run. Hetherman believes that success on first downs is paramount and that creating explosives defensively by taking the ball away and changing the field is vital.
The Golden Gophers took heed to these philosophies by forcing 17 interceptions tying them for sixth in college football, and sacking the quarterback 28 times.
Safety Jack Henderson’s 25-yard pick-six against the Rhode Island Rams and cornerback Justin Walley’s 29-yard interception return vs Maryland accounted for each of Minnesota’s defensive touchdowns this season.
Hetherman’s achievements in Minnesota are particularly impressive considering the lack of consistent blue-chip players on his side of the ball. Since 2020, only nine four-star defensive prospects have signed with the program, today only five remain. Notably, two of these highly-rated recruits – safety Koi Perich and defensive lineman Riley Sunram – joined the program as part of the 2024 signing class but only Perich saw the field as a true freshman.
With Hetherman joining a talented defensive staff that boasts experienced coaches like Jason Taylor (defensive line) and Derek Nicholson (linebackers), it is unclear what specific area of the defense Hetherman will focus on primarily. Another situation to monitor would be the potential departure of Chevis Jackson to Wake Forest as their defensive backs coach.
If Jackson decides to part ways with Miami, Hetherman will have to decide on bringing in a secondary coach or handle those duties himself. A name to monitor would be cornerbacks coach Nick Monroe who coached under Hetherman at Minnesota.