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Coordinator Carousel: Big 12 Coaching Changes
By Drew Howard | May 17, 2008
While head coaches get most of the glory, a good coordinator can single -handedly morph a unit from sub par to successful given the right coaching strategies. Drew Howard and the guys at College Gridiron Boss begin their travels in the Big 12 conference.
Nebraska: Defensive Coordinator
Out: Kevin Cosgrove . About time.
In: Carl Pelini. Carl Pelini, who was a former coach under Frank Solich , comes back to Nebraska after a stint as defensive line coach with Ohio. Carl is the brother of new head coach Bo Pelini , and the Husker faithful can rest assured that Bo will keep his hands in the defense as much as possible. Carl more than likely wouldn’t be coaching this defense if it weren’t for the family relationship.
Oklahoma: Offensive Coordinator
Out: Kevin Sumlin . Sumlin takes over as head coach at Houston for the departed Art Briles .
In: Jay Norvell . Norvell comes back to the Big 12 after a short stint at UCLA. Before then he was the offensive coordinator for Bill Callahan at Nebraska. With the exception of his 2006 campaign in Lincoln, his 4 seasons as an offensive coordinator at Nebraska and UCLA have not been overly productive.
Oklahoma State: Offensive Coordinator
Out: Larry Fedora. Fedora was hired as the new head coach at Southern Miss.
In: Trooper Taylor… Taylor comes to Oklahoma State as the former Wide Receivers coach and recruiting machine from Tennessee. Recruiting was the primary reasoning behind T. Boone Pickens and Oklahoma State signing Taylor. He’’s also worked with several big name receivers and running backs while at Tennessee. He comes from a major program and can recruit, but can he run an offense? My guess is this will be a great hire.
Texas: Defensive Coordinator
Out: Larry MacDuff .
In: Will Muschamp. This is the the top coordinator hire of the entire offseason . Muschamp is highly regarded as one of the top defensive coordinators in all of college football. While at Auburn he had consistently some of the top defenses in the nation - see the fire he brings to the table on this YouTube clip.
Texas A&M
Offensive Coordinator
Out: Les Koenning . Was not retained by Mike Sherman, and is now the offensive coordinator at South Alabama.
In: Nolan Cromwell. Cromwell is one of Sherman’s guys, the past 9 seasons in the NFL as the wide receivers coach in Seattle. There’’s always question marks about how this will translate to the college game, but typically NFL coaches are very good.
Defensive Coordinator
Out: Gary Darnell retired.
In: Joe Kines. Kines was definitely not the Aggies first choice - Reggie Herring initially signed, but later jumped ship to coach for the Cowboys in the NFL. Kines didn’t coach last season, although he brings to the table an extensive resume that includes being head coach at Arkansas, defensive coordinator at Florida and Georgia, and most recently the defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2006. He’’s had a lot of success, however at 64 he isn’t getting any younger.
Baylor
Offensive Coordinator
Out: Lee Hays
Hays wasn’t retained after posting the nation’s 85th ranked offense last season.
In: Randy Clements and Phillip Montgomery
Clements and Montgomery made the move with new head coach Art Briles from Houston to take over the Baylor program.
Defensive Coordinator
Out: Larry Hoefer . Hoefer will be moved to linebackers coach.
In:Brian Norwood . Norwood comes to Baylor after being the safeties coach at Penn State last season. Norwood comes from a very strong defensive unit as well as having the luxury of having coached under Joe Paterno . He should be ready for the transition to coordinator.
Kansas: Defensive Coordinator
Out: Bill Young. Young got picked up by Miami (FL) this offseason .
In: Clint Bowen. Bowen has huge shoes to fill after Young’’s departure to the sunshine state but this should be a smooth transition for the Jayhawks . Bowen was very much involved with the defense last year as he was co-defensive coordinator and worked heavily with the special teams and safeties.
Kansas State: Offensive Coordinator
Out: James Franklin. Franklin moved to offensive coordinator for the Maryland Terrapins this season.
In: Dave Brock. Brock got the promotion from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator this offseason . While coaching the wide receivers his claim to fame was developing Jordy Nelson. He is also known to be a sound recruiter for the Jayhawks .
Topics: Big 12 |
