Nearly a month to the day after ridding himself of the old offensive coordinator, Tracy Claeys has officially found himself a new one.
Minnesota Wednesday confirmed that Claeys has hired Jay Johnson as his coordinator as well as quarterbacks coach. Johnson spent the past five seasons as the coordinator at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Johnson, a native of Lakeville, Minn., will replace Matt Limegrover, who was fired late last month.
“I am extremely excited,” said Johnson. “It’s a great opportunity to come home. I grew up there and have been a Gopher fan all my life, so to come back home and be closer to family and to be part of a great institution like Minnesota is certainly a very exciting opportunity for me.”
Johnson hasn’t coached at a Power Five program since being in charge of tight ends at Louisville. He’s also coached quarterbacks (1999-2001) and running backs (2001-03) at Kansas in a career that stretches back to the early nineties.
The school also announced the hiring of Bart Miller as offensive line coach. Miller had spent the past two seasons coaching the same unit at FAU.
Limegrover also coached the line in addition to his coordinating duties, triggering the need for two replacements.
“Jay and Bart are both tremendous people and will fit in naturally with our staff,” said Claeys. “These are two individuals we identified early in the process, and I am thrilled that they are headed to Minnesota. They are great coaches with proven track records and will help our student-athletes improve on and off the field.”