Minnesota LB coach Mike Sherels has unexpected surgery

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Minnesota linebackers coach Mike Sherels has been absent from fall practice for a health problem.

The university announced Wednesday that Sherels was admitted to an area hospital Tuesday for an unexpected surgery. The Gophers also said he underwent a medical procedure last week, prior to the start of fall practice. No details about his condition were disclosed. Coach Tracy Claeys issued a statement asking for privacy for Sherels and his family.

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''Mike is Minnesota football,'' Claeys said. ''There are few things that are more important to him than this university and this football program.''

Sherels was a graduate assistant in 2013 and took over the linebackers in 2014. He played that position for the Gophers from 2003-07, serving as a team captain in during his junior and senior years. He's the only player in program history who arrived as a walk-on and assumed the captaincy for two seasons. The native of Rochester, Minnesota, earned his master's degree from the university in 2014. His younger brother, Marcus Sherels, is a punt returner and cornerback in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings.

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