Former Gophers football head coach Tracy Claeys was hired as Washington State’s defensive coordinator Monday, according to multiple reports.

He signed a two-year contract with the Cougars, according to the Star Tribune, after taking a year off coaching in the 2017 season.

At the end of the 2016 season, athletics director Mark Coyle fired Claeys following a player boycott. The boycott was in protest to the suspension of 10 Minnesota players for sexual assault allegations. Shortly after Claeys was fired, P.J. Fleck was named the new head coach.

Claeys was the defensive coordinator for the Gophers from 2011 to 2015 before becoming the interim head coach during the 2015 season, after former head coach Jerry Kill stepped down due to health problems. Claeys was then named head coach in the 2016 season, where he led the Gophers to a 9-5 record.

Claeys’ last game coaching was in the Holiday Bowl in Dec. 2016 against Washington State, where the Gophers won 17-12.

Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune was first with the report.