Bulldogs Defensive Coordinator Resigns

April 3, 2012

Northland Sports Online

Defensive Coordinator Todd Strop has resigned after two seasons with the University of Minnesota Duluth football program, citing personal reasons.

Fourth-year Bulldog Assistant Coach Tyler Yelk will take over immediately as the team’s interim defensive coordinator.

“I have lived away from my wife and kids for the past four years,” said Strop, whose wife, Chris, and two daughters (Kylie, 10, and Keyah, 6) reside in River Falls, Wis. “We have tried to make this long distance thing work. But, it is time that I make them the top priority in my life.

“I am extremely grateful for the coaching opportunity I have been given with the Bulldogs and want to thank everyone at UMD for what has been, without a doubt, the best two years of my professional life.”

Over the past two seasons, Strop has overseen one of the top defensive units in the country while helping produce five All-Americans and nine All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference first team selections. In 2010, his Bulldogs allowed the fewest points per game of any NCAA II club (12.7) on their way to securing the school’s second national championship in three years and last fall, they ranked seventh nationally in total defense (275.1 yards per game) and 11th in rushing defense (101.57).

Strop, 43, spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of South Dakota prior to joining the Bulldog staff on Feb. 18, 2010, and served as the Coyotes’ defensive coordinator in 2009.

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