The Gophers have hired former Temple assistant Jim Panagos as their defensive line coach, head coach P.J. Fleck announced Saturday.
Panagos, 47, spent the past two seasons as Temple's defensive line coach and the 2018 season as the Owls' assistant head coach. After head coach Geoff Collins left Temple to take the Georgia Tech job, Panagos was hired as the Yellow Jackets' defensive line coach on Jan. 3. But now, he'll be reunited with Gophers defensive coordinator Joe Rossi. Panagos was defensive line coach at Rutgers when Rossi was the Scarlet Knights' defensive coordinator in 2014 and '15.
"So fired up to join the family! #RTB," Panagos tweeted.
Panagos replaces Marcus West, who left Minnesota to become assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Charlotte.
An East Islip, N.Y., native, Panagos had assistant coaching stops at Maryland, Central Florida and Pittsburgh at the college level. He also spent 2002 through '05 with the Vikings, first as a quality control coach, then as assistant defensive line coach and assistant special teams coach.
At Temple, Panagos was part of a coaching staff that helped the Owls rank in the top three nationally in 2018 in defensive touchdowns (eight for first place), turnovers forced (31, tied for third) and fumble recoveries (13, tied for fifth). Temple finished second in total defense and second in pass defense in the American Athletic Conference in 2018.
In 2017, Panagos was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant coach. He also was Football Scoop's national defensive line coach of the year in 2009 while at Central Florida.
Panagos played defensive line at Maryland from 1989-92 and led the Terrapins with five sacks and 12 tackles for loss as a senior.
