Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck added a junior college head coach as an assistant Wednesday and made other staff changes, too.
Fleck hired Clay Patterson, head coach of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, as an on-field assistant coach in a role to be determined. Fleck also promoted quality control assistant Joe Rossi to defensive line coach, and announced that Bryce Paup, the defensive line coach in 2017, will be the team's pass rush specialist coach and that special teams coordinator Rob Wenger also will coach the outside linebackers.
Fleck also promoted David Parker from graduate assistant to quality control assistant, replacing Rossi, and added Donald Celiscar and Michael Priefer Jr. as graduate assistants. Celiscar, who played for Fleck at Western Michigan, will work with the defense. Priefer, the son of Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, will work with special teams.
Patterson was head coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for two seasons, leading the Norsemen to a 9-3 record and the Southwest Junior College Football Conference championship in 2017 after a 5-5 mark the year before.
Rossi joined the Gophers in 2017 after coaching at Rutgers from 2012 to '15, where he first was special teams coordinator and later defensive coordinator. Parker became a graduate assistant for the Gophers last March and worked under defensive coordinator Robb Smith.
Celiscar was a defensive back for Western Michigan from 2011 to '14, playing his final two seasons under Fleck. Priefer, a Mound Westonka High School graduate, played defensive back at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
RANDY JOHNSON
Ramler resigns
Kurt Ramler resigned as St. Scholastica's head football coach after four seasons. He had a 33-9 record with the Saints and won Upper Midwest Athletic Conference titles in 2014 and 2015. George Penree, St. Scholastica's associate head coach, was named the interim coach for the 2018 season.
