Former Purdue Defensive Coordinator Kevin Kane Lands Job with Big Ten Program
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Former Purdue defensive coordinator Kevin Kane has landed a new job in the Big Ten. Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Kane is headed to Minnesota for an on-field coaching role. Details regarding the job were not specified in the initial report.
Kane heads to Minnesota to join PJ Fleck's staff after spending the previous two seasons at Purdue, working under coach Ryan Walters. He's been on the college sidelines for nearly two decades.
Sources: Minnesota is hiring veteran defensive coordinator Kevin Kane in an on-field coaching role. Kane has been the defensive coordinator NIU, SMU and Purdue. He'll bring more experience to the Minnesota defensive staff. pic.twitter.com/UPYgjZqsJt
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 23, 2025
Although their paths never crossed in DeKalb, both Fleck and Kane have ties to Northern Illinois. Fleck was a wide receiver for the Huskies from 1999-2003 and returned as an assistant coach from 2007-09. Kane was an assistant at NIU from 2011-14 and returned as defensive coordinator from 2016 until 2017.
This will be Kane's third consecutive job at a Big Ten school. Prior to his time at Purdue, he also worked as the outside linebackers coach for Bret Bielema at Illinois from 2021-22.
A former Kansas linebacker (2002-05), Kane has also had coaching stops at Kansas (2006-07, 2015), Wisconsin (2008-10) and SMU (2018-20). He will join a Minnesota program that finished the 2024 season with an 8-5 record.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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