Robb Smith, defensive coordinator of the Gophers, sacked after 21 games – Twin Cities

Asked about his decision to take fourth place last week, P. J. Fleck said he should give the aggressive example of his Gophers program. On Sunday night, the Minnesota head coach fired his defense coordinator Robb Smith after 21 games.

Before his first season in 2017, Fleck hired Smith after the two men worked as assistants to Greg Schiano at Rutgers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But Fleck ended their partnership after the Gophers (4-5) allowed their Big Ten opponents to have an average of 43 points per game at a 1-5 start in the conference.

"These decisions are always difficult, especially when they involve a close friend and a colleague," Fleck said in a statement. "I want to thank Robb, Amy and their family for the time and energy spent on growing our program. Robb is an elite man and will always remain a dear friend. "

Fleck has named Joe Rossi Interim Defensive Coordinator for the remainder of the 2018 season. Like Smith and Fleck's relationship, Rossi also comes from Rutgers, where he was the defensive coordinator for two years from 2012 to 2015. Rossi is the coach of the defensive lineup of the Gophers this season after a season as a quality control assistant to the initial Fleck team. Smith has also served as coach of linebackers, and it is unclear who will fill that role later.

The last defensive performance supervised by Fleck and Smith ranked first, or almost, among the worst ever for the Gophers. Minnesota have allowed 430 yards rushing – the ninth in history – in Saturday's 55-31 loss to Illinois. After the beating, Fleck removed his brown tie as he sat in a chair behind the podium in the Memorial Stadium press conference room. He stood up and tried to assess what had happened.

"They kept fighting," said Fleck about his team, "but I think by the end of the match, I do not like to say it, but it seemed like we had been exhausted, and that was Is inexcusable. "

During the match, Fleck often observed with his hands on his lap that his defense gave up eight games of 20 yards or more, including touchdowns that covered 77, 72, 72, 67 and 30 yards. The Illini racked up 12.3 yards per race, not far from the NCAA record of 15.4 yards per race in 2010.

Subsequently, Fleck was asked about the defensive game plan. "Every defense we have is schematically valid," he said. "It's about whether you have the right people in the right place to play those pieces and adapt to the race to what they do."

But Minnesota's defense issues have been recurrent. Two weeks ago, the Gophers missed a record 18 tackles while Nebraska racked up 383 yards and a total of 659 yards when dismantling the U by 53-28 on Saturday. 646 yards in total.

These total distance marks are the fourth and seventh most authorized positions in the program history. The 2018 team joins the 1983 team as two Minnesota units with multiple entries in this top 10 list, and the 1983 team scored 1 to 10.

The defense fights in the Big Ten game this season are the main reason why this year's team is likely to regress after Fleck's record of 5 to 7 in his first season.