Penn State hires former Minnesota OC Matt Limegrover as OL coach

Penn State moved quickly to find the successor to Herb Hand.

Two days after Hand left for Auburn, PSU announced Wednesday that it has hired Matt Limegrover as offensive line coach. Limegrover, a native of Pittsburgh, spent the last five seasons as the offensive coordinator at Minnesota.

“We are really excited to have Matt join our staff,” Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin said. “He is another Pennsylvania guy, born and raised in Pittsburgh, so he is very familiar with Penn State and this region. He brings a wealth of knowledge and a ton of great experience, both as an offensive line coach and as an offensive coordinator. The numbers that his offenses have put up speak for themselves. As great of a coach as Matt is, he is an even better man; he cares about people, cares about education and cares about the community. We are looking forward to having Matt, his wife, Ann, and their children, Emma and T.J., join our Penn State Football family.”

In addition to his offensive coordinator duties, Limegrover coached Minnesota’s offensive line and also held the title of assistant head coach for the past two seasons.

“I am both humbled and honored to join Coach Franklin’s staff and coach at Penn State,” Limegrover said. “Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, I have been a Penn State fan my entire life and to now have the opportunity to coach there is overwhelming. I can’t wait to get there and start working on building an offensive line to help this program become a championship team.”

Limegrover coached under Jerry Kill for the last 16 seasons during his stops as head coach at Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota.

Kill retired during this season due to medical reasons and Gophers defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys was named head coach. After the season, Claeys decided to make coaching changes, which included the dismissal of Limegrover.

Limegrover also coached at Ferris State, Northwestern and the University of Chicago, his alma mater.

Penn State went 7-6 this season.

For more Penn State news, visit BlueWhiteIllustrated.com.

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