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Defensive Coordinator Coaching Search Thread - BRAD LAMBERT IS COMING HOME

This will be Clawson's 4th defensive coordinator hire while at Wake. A quick look at the last 3:

Mike Elko: was Clawson's defensive coordinator at Bowling Green and came with him to Wake. He was coordinator for 3 seasons before moving on to ND.
Jay Sawvel: was on Tracy Claeys staff at Minnesota that was let go after Claeys was fired in 2016. He was the D coordinator in 17 and 18, but was unceremoniously let go in the 18 season. He then went on to be Defensive Coordinator at Wyoming.
Lyle Hemphill: Was the defensive coordinator at Stony Brook from 2011 to 2106. In 2015 he was named Defensive Coordinator of the year from Footballscoop. He has been the D coordinator here for the past 4 seasons.

So, all 3 were Defensive Coordinators before coming to Wake. Elko and Hemphill had northeast connections. Hemphill and Sawvel both coached DB's before becoming coordinators (Elko was a LB coach). Elko and Hemphill both coached under current Assistant Coach Dave Cohen at Hofstra. None of the 3 had NFL coaching experience.

While I doubt there will be much movement from now until after the bowl game. There does seem to be some preference to guy's who are familiar with Cohen, and Clawson may seem to think Cohen has the D-line in a good place (as well as being Asst. Head Coach), so he may be looking for someone with LB/DB experience, who also previously has served as a defensive coordinator. (looking at the Hofstra coaching staff of 2009, I don't think there are any viable candidates there.
 
This will be Clawson's 4th defensive coordinator hire while at Wake. A quick look at the last 3:

Mike Elko was Clawson's defensive coordinator at Bowling Green and came with him to Wake. He was coordinator for 3 seasons before moving on to ND.
Jay Sawvel: was on Tracy Claeys staff at Minnesota that was let go after Claeys was fired in 2016. He was the D coordinator in 17 and 18, but was unceremoniously let go in the 18 season. He then went on to be Defensive Coordinator at Wyoming.
Lyle Hemphill: Was the defensive coordinator at Stony Brook from 2011 to 2106. In 2015 he was named Defensive Coordinator of the year from Footballscoop. He has been the D coordinator here for the past 4 seasons.

So, all 3 were Defensive Coordinators before coming to Wake. Elko and Hemphill had northeast connections. Hemphill and Sawvel both coached DB's before becoming coordinators (Elko was a LB coach). Elko and Hemphill both coached under current Assistant Coach Dave Cohen at Hofstra. None of the 3 had NFL coaching experience.

While I doubt there will be much movement from now until after the bowl game. There does seem to be some preference to guy's who are familiar with Cohen, and Clawson may seem to think Cohen has the D-line in a good place (as well as being Asst. Head Coach), so he may be looking for someone with LB/DB experience, who also previously has served as a defensive coordinator. (looking at the Hofstra coaching staff of 2009, I don't think there are any viable candidates there.

IMHO, I dont think the DC Coordinator is the root of our D woes. Clawson has had several DCs, none of who were great, but Elko being the best. I think the higher programs could see what he was able to do with what he had, and therefore, he was rewarded. A& M fans seemed to identify him as a scapegoat. Is Jimbo that great of a HC? He wasn't at FSU. Their OC seemed to have put up half the number of points per game as the team when we played them in Charlotte. Still, I guess the fans blamed the D for the losses they thought should have been easy wins or just wins, after the Alabama upset.

I think we simply need more size and then maybe, a little more ACC level talent. We never can absorb injuries like State or Carolina are able to with their depth. We have good overall speed but that doesnt always win against Power 5s with beomouths. When you see guys blow by us and through tackles, it us somewhat a size and weight issue.
 
We were in a similar situation under Grobe. Grobe started with Troy Calhoun as a successful OC. Then he moved on to the Broncos. The difference is Clawson is willing to fire coordinators who don’t do the job.
 
As someone who has spent a lot of time in West Lafayette, I can tell you that it is indeed a cool college town. It's also just over an hour from Indy which also isn't a bad place.

I haven't spent a lot of time there but my visits must have been to the wrong parts of town. I guess it's not much worse than South Bend, though.
 
IMHO, I dont think the DC Coordinator is the root of our D woes. Clawson has had several DCs, none of who were great, but Elko being the best. I think the higher programs could see what he was able to do with what he had, and therefore, he was rewarded. A& M fans seemed to identify him as a scapegoat. Is Jimbo that great of a HC? He wasn't at FSU. Their OC seemed to have put up half the number of points per game as the team when we played them in Charlotte. Still, I guess the fans blamed the D for the losses they thought should have been easy wins or just wins, after the Alabama upset.

I think we simply need more size and then maybe, a little more ACC level talent. We never can absorb injuries like State or Carolina are able to with their depth. We have good overall speed but that doesnt always win against Power 5s with beomouths. When you see guys blow by us and through tackles, it us somewhat a size and weight issue.

We need a bag man with this hire.
 
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I'm sure Clawson and Currie would love to stick it to Tenn with Jeremy Pruitt!
 
A “name” hire could also help open some recruiting doors for us.
 
I haven't spent a lot of time there but my visits must have been to the wrong parts of town. I guess it's not much worse than South Bend, though.

In fairness, A. my wife is a Boilermaker and B. the last time I was there I purchased three drinks for like $8, an win that is definitively an influencer
 
I like some of these D-III defenses, where they give up less than 15 touchdowns ALL YEAR:

Williams
Suny Cortland
Delaware Valley
Carnegie Mellon

I could see Clawson going Williams or Carnegie Mellon.

Or just take the D-Coordinator, Larry Harmon, from the National Champs, Mary Hardin-Baylor. Hell, they gave up 3 points, 7 points, 7 points in the Semis, and then gave up 24 in the National Championship game, which they won.

Their D-Coordinator, Larry Harmon, is a little old, but seems to be good at his job with "The Cru."
 
At that level, a team could have a dominating defense just getting the right transfers. We need a DC who can scheme around having less talent.
 
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