Who does PJ hire as DC?

If I'm the Gophers, I'm giving Dave Aranda, Brent Venables, and Don Brown a call.


I mean, that would be nice and all...but this made me laugh out loud. Wake up, wake up! You had me for awhile.

The reality is PJ should probably consult some mentors of his and get some advice. Who’s a turnaround artist? Who’s doing a lot with a little? We need a fundamentally sound, hard nosed defense. Not a BS artist.


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I know this was probably tongue in cheek, or maybe it was hopeful ..... but Claeys has absolutely zero tie to the state of Minnesota or the U. He came here because of Kill. Sure, we gave him his first chance to be HC ... but then our new AD ran him off on an excuse in order to sign his golden boy Fleck.

Literally zero chance Claeys would come back to the U, as DC, Head Coach, or anything else. He probably won't set foot in this state for the rest of his life, if he can help it.
 

Defensive S&P rankings currently: https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ncaadef

Looking at that, first non P5 team is northern Illinois, followed by San Diego state, then Temple, and Fresno State. I'd take a look at those teams, but that's just at a glance

Nothing wrong with your idea, so let's take a look:

NIU - Jeff Knowles - https://niuhuskies.com/coaches.aspx?rc=900&path=football - From ILL, played at small college there. Although it says he spent his first year at Mankato State, must've redshirted and then left after first year. Interesting history, says he didn't do any coaching from 2000 - 2008. Then coached at his alma mater 2008-13, then was a quality control coach at NC St, then has been at NIU for two years, DC this year. Other than the one year at Mankato, no ties to Minnesota area/programs.
SDSU - Zach Arnett - https://goaztecs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=328&path=football - Played for SDSU current HC, at New Mexico, where he is from. Has been at SDSU for several years as a D position coach, DC this year. No ties to Minnesota area/programs.
Temple - Andrew Thacker - https://owlsports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=1798&path=football - From the south and mostly has coached around there, except now 2 years at Temple, DC this year. No ties to Minnesota area/programs.
Fresno - Bert Watts - https://gobulldogs.com/coaches.aspx?rc=864&path=football - NJ native, played at Cal for Tedford. Coached all over, was DC at UC Davis (FCS/I-AA) for 2013-2016, came to Fresno with Tedford last year as LB coach, DC this year. No ties to Minnesota area/programs.


Interesting that all of these guys, it's their first year as DC at these programs. Obviously having success.


And of course, none of these guys are from the Schiano tree ... though Watts is from NJ and so might have been recruited as a player by Schiano.

Would doubt Fleck has much of a chance with any of them ... unless they're willing to take any P5 DC job for any reason. But that's not usually how it works in the coaching world, from my understanding. It's more about who you know, who you've worked for, who trusts you, etc.



EDIT: goofed on NIU
 
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Jeff Knowles, Northern Illinois DC and an Illinois native like Fleck.

Hmm ... NIU says that Kevin Kane is the DC.

This says that Knowles was brought in last season to be the LB coach, which Kane was doing in addition to being DC. https://niuhuskies.com/news/2017/2/16/jeff-knowles-added-to-huskie-football-coaching-staff.aspx

Illinois native Jeff Knowles, who spent the last three years on the football staff at N.C. State, has joined the Northern Illinois University football staff as an assistant coach. Knowles will coach the Huskie linebackers while defensive coordinator Kevin Kane will now mentor the NIU safeties.


Maybe a similar type of move to this needs to be done for Robb Smith!!! ?




EDIT: doh! The NIU 2018 wikipedia page was never updated, it still shows Kane as the DC. He left this year to be DC at SMU.
 
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Greg Schiano, hoping OSU let's him go and we can snap him up. Coaching staff really needs upgrade at linebacker coach and coordinator. Need some stability on defense.

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Terrance Newman.

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That's not a terrible throw-out name....

Here some others:

David Reeves - UAB (DC)
Bert Watts - Fresno St (DC)
Bryan Brown - App St (DC)
Tim Billings - Southern Miss (DC)
Marcus Freeman - Cincinnati (DC)
Zach Arnett - SDSU (DC)

..and maybe my sneaky favorite..

Seth Wallace - Iowa (LB/asst DC) Know's the B1G, success everywhere he's gone.
 

Greg Schiano, hoping OSU let's him go and we can snap him up. Coaching staff really needs upgrade at linebacker coach and coordinator. Need some stability on defense.

Would be great ... this one actually has a chance of being somone Fleck would say yes to, in a second. Not sure if Schiano would be interested ...
 

..and maybe my sneaky favorite..

Seth Wallace - Iowa (LB/asst DC) Know's the B1G, success everywhere he's gone.

Looks great on paper.

Strong Iowa roots (the state, not just the U of Iowa). Ferentz and the current DC have been at Iowa for 20 years. DC is 55 years old, Kirk is 63. I'm betting that Wallace will hang on at Iowa for a few more years and see if he can get the DC spot for himself.
 



TYRONE CARTER! MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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Bielema

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TYRONE CARTER! MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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He is too busy lecturing youth football referees and forfeiting games.

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Serious question - does PJs rah rah row the boat style keep certain coaches from wanting to work here? I imagine it would rub a lot of people the wrong way.

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Serious question - does PJs rah rah row the boat style keep certain coaches from wanting to work here? I imagine it would rub a lot of people the wrong way.

I imagine greebacks have a way of smoothing things over...
 





Serious question - does PJs rah rah row the boat style keep certain coaches from wanting to work here? I imagine it would rub a lot of people the wrong way.

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Absolutely!
 

+1

The question is, should PJ Fleck dismiss him early so he can get a head start before the rest of firings occur at the end of the season?

The answer is unequivocally YES, like now!
 

Fleck will not fire Coach Smith at the end of this year. You can take that to the bank.
 


Can someone provide examples where a new defensive coordinator turned things around?
I can think of plenty of examples where it just delayed the inevitable. Anyone remember Tim Rose?

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Can someone provide examples where a new defensive coordinator turned things around?
I can think of plenty of examples where it just delayed the inevitable. Anyone remember Tim Rose?

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Nick Holt at Purdue last year. Went from 38 ppg previous season to 20 last year with many of the same players.
 

Scottie Hazelton at Wyoming deserves a look. Nice resume and getting it done at Wyoming under Bohl.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottie_Hazelton

Perhaps the best and most helpful suggestion seen on GH for a while.


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Looks great on paper.

Strong Iowa roots (the state, not just the U of Iowa). Ferentz and the current DC have been at Iowa for 20 years. DC is 55 years old, Kirk is 63. I'm betting that Wallace will hang on at Iowa for a few more years and see if he can get the DC spot for himself.

He's from KY and recruited Amani Hooker from Park Center. Money talks.
 

Fleck will not fire Coach Smith at the end of this year. You can take that to the bank.

The one reason I can see why this might be true is that the incoming recruiting class is top loaded with defensive players so there may be some concern that these recruits will bolt if a new DC is brought in.
 


Yards:
#55 Wyoming 3416
#92 Minnesota 3815

Pts:
#39 Wyoming 23.4
#97 Minnesota 31.8

Wyoming has better numbers, but not remarkably so with the choices we have..

Wyoming's offense has been absolutely dreadful for most of this season, and the defense has definitely been bearing the brunt of it. Something to factor
into that.
 




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