Ex-Gophers hired on new Penn State staff

The new Penn State coaching staff will seem a little familiar to Minnesota football fans.
John Butler, who coached Minnesota's special teams for all four seasons of Tim Brewster's tenure with the Gophers, has been hired by new Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Butler will join former Minnesota defensive coordinator Ted Roof, who was hired earlier this week.
Both Roof and Butler are coming back to the Big Ten from SEC programs. After losing his job along with the rest of Brewster's staff a year ago when Jerry Kill took over the program, Butler went to work at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier. Roof, who spent only the 2008 season at Minnesota, comes to Penn State from Auburn, where he served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for three seasons.