Minnesota Football: Gophers to hire Chad Wilt as defensive line coach

Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel is reporting that the Minnesota Golden Gophers are close to finalizing a deal to make Chad Wilt their new defensive line coach. Wilt spent the past season coaching the Cincinnati Bearcats’ defensive line under head coach Luke Fickell.

The Bearcats’ defensive line was considered one of their biggest weaknesses entering the 2019 season, having lost three all-conference starters to graduation. But under Wilt, Cincinnati adopted an eight-man rotation on the defensive line and fielded a strong unit that helped set the tone for the rest of the defense. The Bearcats finished the season ranked 44th in rushing defense (allowing 138.6 rushing yards per game) and 60th in sacks (averaging 2.21 per game).

Wilt has been in the college coaching profession for nearly 20 years. He spent three seasons as a defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at Central Connecticut State from 2001-03, before taking a graduate assistant position at Virginia for a year. Wilt has climbed the coaching ladder since, with stops at Liberty, Virginia, Richmond, Ball State, Maryland, and Army.

If you want to read more about his career in detail, check out his bio on the Cincinnati website.