The University of Kentucky has officially announced the hiring of Rick Minter as the football programs new Co-Defensive Coordinator.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Here is an excerpt of the official UK release:
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the most respected defensive minds in football, Rick Minter has joined the Kentucky football staff as co-defensive coordinator, Coach Joker Phillips has announced.
“Rick is a tough, hard-nosed defensive coordinator who has put together outstanding defenses at numerous schools,” Phillips said. “When I worked with him at Cincinnati, Rick had great knowledge of both sides of the ball. He does a great job of communicating with players and putting them in position to make plays.”
The head coach with the most wins in Cincinnati football history and a highly effective defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, South Carolina, Ball State and Marshall, Minter comes to UK from Indiana State, where he spent one season as the linebackers coach. The Sycamores, who had a 2-54 record the five previous years before his arrival, improved to a 6-5 mark in 2010, as the ISU defensive unit led the conference in interceptions and ranked second in total takeaways.
Minter spent the 2008-09 seasons as the defensive coordinator at Marshall. The Thundering Herd defense doubled its turnover rate in Minter’s first season, taking the ball away 14 times after gathering only seven turnovers the year before. He was the interim head coach for his last game at Marshall, guiding the Thundering Herd to a 21-17 win over Ohio in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
Prior to leading the Marshall defensive unit, Minter spent the 2005-07 seasons as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame, a position he also held during the 1992-93 seasons. During his time as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Minter helped lead the Irish to a 43-17-1 record with four prestigious bowl games, including two Cotton Bowl berths in the ’92-93 seasons and appearances in the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls during his latter term. In 2005, he coached a unit that produced 24 turnovers while contributing to Notre Dame’s plus-10 turnover margin. The Irish defense limited opponents to only a 35 percent success rate on third downs while Notre Dame foes scored touchdowns on only 56 percent of red zone opportunities.
Minter made major improvements in the South Carolina defense in 2004 under legendary head coach Lou Holtz. The Gamecocks ranked 20th nationally in total defense and 15th nationally in pass defense. Among his pupils was freshman free safety Ko Simpson, who earned second-team All-America honors and ranked third nationally in interceptions.
As head coach at Cincinnati from 1994-2003, Minter won more games than any coach in UC history. He led the Bearcats to four postseason bowl games and was co-champion of Conference USA in 2002. His 1997 team finished 8-4 after a Humanitarian Bowl victory over Utah State, marking the first bowl appearance for Cincinnati in 47 seasons. Minter’s Bearcats went to three straight bowls in 2000-02. He was named C-USA Coach of the Year in 2001 by CollegeFootballNews.com.
In 2000, kicker Jonathan Ruffin became the program’s first consensus All-America selection, as Ruffin led the nation in field goals and won the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker in the country. During Minter’s 10 seasons in C-USA, the Bearcats produced 26 first-team all-league selections.
While at UC, Minter coached the top two offensive passers in school history and improved the program’s graduation rates.
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[URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121610aaa.html”]Complete Release[/URL]
[B]The Minter File[/B]
[I]Year School/Team Assignment [/I]
1977 Henderson State Graduate Assistant/Linebackers
1978 Arkansas Graduate Assistant/Linebackers/DBs
1979 Louisiana Tech Defensive Ends
1980-82 North Carolina State Outside Linebackers
1984 New Mexico State Linebackers
1985-91 Ball State Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
1992-93 Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
1994-2003 Cincinnati Head Coach
2004 South Carolina Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
2005-07 Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
2008-09 Marshall Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
2010 Indiana State Linebackers
