Golden Gopher Gridiron | University of Minnesota Football

Jeff Phelps is in his first year as an assistant coach with the Golden Gophers. He coaches the defensive line.

Phelps joined the Minnesota staff after spending five years coaching at Northern Illinois. For the past three seasons, he has coached the Huskies' entire defensive line. In his first two seasons at NIU, he was responsible for the defensive tackles. Phelps coached defensive end Larry English at NIU. English went on to be named the Mid-American Conference's Most Valuable Player twice and was the 2008 MAC Defensive Player of the Year. He was the 16th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, going to the San Diego Chargers.

Phelps began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ball State in 1999. He then spent three seasons at DePauw, where he coached the running backs for two seasons before going to the defensive side of the ball to coach the linebackers. He then spent three seasons at Hillsdale (Mich.) College, where he coached the defensive line from 2003-05 before joining the staff at NIU.

Phelps was a Second-Team All-MAC player at outside linebacker for Ball State following his senior season in 1997. He was also an Honorable Mention All-MAC selection as a junior. The Chicago native holds a bachelor's degree from Ball State.

Phelps is a graduate of Crete-Monee High School, where he was a three-sport standout, earning seven letters - football (2), wrestling (2), track and field (3).

He is married to the former Tyla Turner.