Golden Gopher Gridiron | University of Minnesota Football

Matt Limegrover is in his first season as the University of Minnesota's offensive coordinator.

Limegrover has been on head coach Jerry Kill's staff for the last 12 years. He began his coaching career in 1991 at the University of Chicago, where he coached the tight ends in 1991, the offensive line in 1992, became offensive coordinator in 1993 and interim head coach in 1994. Limegrover then moved on to a graduate assistant position at Northwestern for two seasons. He was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Ferris State in 1997 and 1998.

Limegrover then caught on with Kill as offensive line coach at Emporia State in 1999. He coached the offensive line and ran the offense when Kill took over the Southern Illinois program and maintained both of those responsibilities with NIU.

Limegrover was in charge of an offensive unit that ranks among the nation's best in 2010. The Huskies are currently No. 7 in the nation and No. 1 in the MAC in rushing offense (264.8 ypg). NIU also leads the MAC in scoring offense (37.9 ppg, No. 13 in the nation) and total offense (445.9 ypg, No. 21 in the nation).

In addition to the team rankings, Limegrover's offense produced the No. 1 rusher in the MAC for the past two seasons. Chad Spann currently averages just less than 100 yards per game and ranks No. 20 in the nation in rushing. Spann is a two-time first-team All-MAC selection and was chosen as the league's most valuable player in 2010.

Over the last three seasons, Limegrover's offensive linemen have earned All Mid-American Conference recognition seven times, including 2010 first-team selections Scott Wedige and Trevor Olson.

The Huskie line gave up only 15 quarterback sacks in 2009. NIU also led the MAC and ranked 19th nationally in rushing with 202.42 yards per game last year.

Limegrover spent seven seasons with Kill at Southern Illinois. With the Salukis, he coordinated a prolific offense that ranked in the top 10 in scoring for six straight years (2002-07).

During his tenure, SIU averaged 207.8 yards per game on the ground, and totaled more than 3,000 rushing yards in four different seasons. Four of the top five rushing seasons in school history came under the guidance of Limegrover. Limegrover's rushing offense gained more than 18,000 yards on the ground at SIU, and his passing attack produced better than a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Limegrover coached five FCS All-Americans at SIU, including two offensive linemen. Under Limegrover's direction, the Salukis' 2004 offense set school records for yards (502.7) and points (42.6) per game and touchdowns (67). In 2007, the Salukis produced 3,293 yards and scored 28 touchdowns through the air, also school records.

Both Claeys and Limegrover deserve credit for Northern Illinois' turnover margin of +0.77 per game in 2010, which ranks No. 2 in the MAC and No. 18 in the nation. The Huskie offense has turned the ball over just 14 times in 13 games this season to rank No. 8 in the nation. The NIU defense has 24 takeaways to rank No. 34.

Limegrover is a 1991 graduate of the University of Chicago. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native holds a master's degree from Northwestern, where he served as a graduate assistant coach and was a part of two Big Ten championship teams. He and his wife Ann have two children - Emma (7) and T.J. (5).