Report: Minnesota hires Syracuse's Bob Ligashesky as special teams coordinator

It was revealed on Friday that Minnesota is set to make a fascinating hire for their special teams coordinator position.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Golden Gophers are adding Syracuse’s Bob Ligashesky to their staff, marking an impressing, experienced hire for P.J. Fleck’s staff.

“Source: Minnesota is set to hire Syracuse’s Bob Ligashesky as the school’s new special teams coordinator,” Thamel reported. “He’s a veteran coach who has coached special teams for six different NFL teams. He’s also coached at Bowling Green, Illinois and Pitt in college.”

As Thamel mentioned, Ligashesky will bring a wealth of experience to the Big Ten program. Before Syracuse, he’s coached in the NFL, and at Bowling Green, Illinois and Pitt, as Thamel mentioned, so he’ll have no shortage of dwellings to rely on.

Fran Brown describes his transition from Georgia to Syracuse

Meanwhile, Syracuse hired Fran Brown to be its next head coach on Nov. 28. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind. During Syracuse’s matchup against USF in the Boca Raton Bowl, Brown pulled back the curtain on his wild past few weeks.

“Everything’s moving. Everything’s fast,” Brown told ESPN from the sidelines. “Getting a chance to wrap things up down there in Georgia and then being able to come here and take over the team, it’s been fun. The fans of Syracuse and alumni and all of them, they’ve really embraced me. They make it pretty simple and easy to understand for my staff.”

Brown spent two seasons with Georgia, serving as the prestigious program’s defensive backs coach. While with the Bulldogs, Brown never suffered a loss. While the program’s success stole the spotlight, Brown produced no shortage of individual talent, including NFL defensive backs Kelee Ringo and Christopher Smith.

In the 2023 campaign, Georgia ranked No. 12 in pass defense, allowing just 176.5 yards per game through the air while pulling down 12 interceptions — both of these figures led the SEC. Brown intends to use what he learned while at Georgia to push Syracuse into a new era.

“We’re going to compete at everything we do,” Brown said. “Compete on the football field. Our guys are going to compete in the classroom. I just went and got a bunch of competitive kids that want to come to school, they want to play and they want to win championships. We’ve got guys that I know are winning. I’ve watched a lot of these guys win since little league football.”