Bryan Nardo earned AFCA 35 Under 35 selection while coaching at NCAA Division II program Emporia State, and shortly thereafter he garnered the opportunity to coordinate defenses at the Power Conference level at Oklahoma State.
Following one year on Tim Albin’s inaugural Charlotte 49ers staff, Nardo is going back to Power Conference coaching, FootballScoop has learned.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Nardo is being hired onto the defensive staff in PJ Fleck’s Minnesota Golden Gophers program.
It’s a return to the Midwest, where Nardo traces his roots. He’s an Ohio native who also got his coaching start there at the Ohio University program from which he graduated.
Fleck’s Golden Gophers just capped their eight-win 2025 season with a win against New Mexico in their bowl game following a season-ending triumph against Wisconsin.
A year ago, Fleck lost defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman to the same role in Mario Cristobal’s Miami Hurricanes program.
No. 10 Miami has won its first two games in the College Football Playoff and eyes a spot in the CFP Championship game if it can topple No. 6 Ole Miss in the semifinals.
Fleck, meanwhile, has established a consistently winning, gritty program at Minnesota. His teams are unbeaten in bowl games since his arrival in Minneapolis and posted six winning seasons since 2019.
In position the program to add Nardo, Fleck readies to bring in a coach with defensive coordinator experience at the NCAA Division II, Football Championship and FBS Power Conference levels.
Nardo also has coaching versatility with work tutoring both the second and third levels of defenses.
Minnesota is set to open its 2026 season on Thursday, Sept. 3 against FCS program Illinois State.
Nine days later, the Golden Gophers have a rare intersectional, non-conference regular-season tilt against a Southeastern Conference program when they host Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State Bulldogs.