Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck has locked down his defensive coordinator for a few more seasons.

Joe Rossi, in his 3rd full season as the Gophers’ defensive coordinator, agreed to a contract extension that’ll keep him in Minneapolis through the 2023 season and into 2024. The program announced the news Monday morning. Rossi’s extension is pending approval from the UM Board of Regents.

According to The Star Tribune, Rossi is also getting a raise. He will have a base salary of $800,000 for both 2022 and 23, a raise of $150,000 annually.

Under Rossi’s leadership, the Gophers showed significant improvement on defense this season, proving 2020’s performance was more flukey than not. Minnesota ranked 27th nationally in yards per play allowed in 2019, yielding 5.1 per. In 2020, that number shot up to 6.9 (121st) as Minnesota dealt with COVID issues. But this year Minnesota allowed just 5.0 yards per play, the 20th-best mark in the country and the 5th-best among Big Ten teams.

Additionally, Minnesota’s 18.3 points allowed per game ranked 9th nationally and marked the fewest allowed by a Gopher defense in more than a decade.

The Gophers close out their season on Dec. 28 against West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix.