Gophers hiring Utah State's Mike Sanford Jr. as offensive coordinator, promoting Matt Simon
Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck during a Big Ten conference football game between the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 16, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa. (Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS - Interim offensive coordinator Matt Simon is getting a well-deserved promotion after the Gophers piled up 494 yards and 31 points in Wednesday’s Outback Bowl win over Auburn.
Simon, who did a majority of the play-calling for Minnesota after Kirk Ciarrocca departed for Penn State, will be promoted to co-offensive coordinator. Coach P.J. Fleck will also hire Utah State offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr.
Sanford has previous head coaching experience with Western Kentucky, and was an assistant coach with Notre Dame, Boise State and Stanford. Under Sanford this season, Utah State averaged 29 points and 431 yards in total offense per game.
Simon spent the season as the wide receivers coach before being named the interim offensive coordinator. He helped lead Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman each to 1,000-yard seasons, which has never been done in the history of the Gopher football program. Both were named First-Team All-Big Ten selections, and Bateman was named the Big Ten Receiver of the Year.
Johnson finished his Gophers career setting an Outback Bowl record with 12 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns. His first score came on a 1-handed catch tip-toeing the back end zone line, and it was featured as the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenters’ top 10. His second score went for 73 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the win.
Simon also called the Tanner Morgan pass to Bryce Witham on 4th-and-1 at the Auburn 41 that gave the Gophers a first down. They eventually ran out the clock to win the game.
Auburn came in with a top-20 rushing defense in the country. Minnesota ran for 215 yards in the game, including 140 from Mo Ibrahim.