Gophers Football All-Time Great Lands Coaching Job at Kent State

New Kent State running backs coach Mohamed Ibrahim, former Minnesota Gophers running back
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

It will be eight months before the Minnesota Gophers football team takes the field again, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of news to follow regarding our favorite CFB team.

Just a few weeks after PJ Fleck’s fifth-straight bowl game victory, the Golden Gophers have added 15 players out of the transfer portal. In the six weeks between their final regular season game vs Wisconsin and their Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over Virginia Tech, Minnesota signed over 20 high schoolers for their 2025 recruiting class.

Then today, the Minnesota Gophers hired a new coach for their defensive staff, former Purdue and SMU defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. That wasn’t the only Gopher-related coaching news reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel tonight, though.

Mohamed Ibrahim hired by Kent State

New Kent State running backs coach Mohamed Ibrahim, former Minnesota Gophers running back
Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

According to PJ Fleck’s favorite insider, all-time great Gophers running back Mohamed Ibrahim is expected to be hired as the running backs coach at Kent State, where former Minnesota running backs coach Kenni Burns is going on his second season as head coach.

Mohamed Ibrahim, whose playing career in the NFL was very short-lived, spent one season as an assistant running backs coach at the University of Minnesota, before this opportunity to coach his own position group.

Mo Ibrahim’s illustrious Minnesota Gophers career

When I say that Mo Ibrahim is an all-time great, what I really mean is that he is THE all-time great running back, in a long history of prolific ball carriers. During parts of five seasons as the lead back in Dinkytown, Ibrahim ran for 4,668 yards and 53 touchdowns, both school records.

As a senior in 2022, Mo went off for 1,665 yards and an absolutely absurd 20 touchdowns, the former of which led the Big Ten and the latter of which led the entire nation. In his iconic Minnesota Gophers career, Mohamed Ibrahim played a total of 41 games, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and 113.9 yards per game.

Before turning to coaching, Mohamed Ibrahim went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, before signing with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent. He was injured that preseason, but returned and was activated for an October 22 regular season game vs the Baltimore Ravens.

Related: Minnesota Gophers Receive Commitment from Louisiana Mr. Football

In the 3rd quarter of that contest, Ibrahim was injured while taking a kick return, and carted off the field. That was the only NFL game he ever played in. The Minnesota Vikings signed Mo to the active roster for their final preseason game of 2024. He carried the football four times for a total of 16 yards. He was cut shortly after.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: