So much for Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini not being in a hurry to name a replacement for recently departed Husker defensive backs coach Corey Raymond.
Raymond, who replaced Marvin Sanders, left Lincoln after one season to join the LSU coaching staff Tuesday just one week after denying that he would even as much as interview for the position.
Three days later, after a lot of speculation pointed in such a direction, Pelini replaced Raymond with Terry Joseph. Oddly enough, Pelini said he was in no hurry to fill the position but he did so three days later. According to a Lincoln Journal Star report, Joseph told govols247.com on Friday that he has accepted an offer to become secondary coach at Nebraska, leaving Tennessee after two seasons and thus parting ways with Derek Dooley after a total of five years together following a stint at Louisiana Tech.
Joseph has worked with Pelini and current Nebraska defensive coordinator John Papuchis at LSU. Joseph, the recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach who would have earned $250,000 this year, was set to have slightly different role with the Vols moving forward thanks to the addition of another body in the secondary with new defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri dividing the responsibilities in the back end. Joseph was tabbed to handle the safeties, and recent hire Derrick Ansley was put in charge of cornerbacks.
The addition of Ansley appeared to complete the staff for Dooley heading into his third season at the helm, but that didn’t even last a full month for a program that has undergone dramatic changes since the end of a 5-7 campaign last November.
Joesph, who is the cousin of former Husker quarterback Mickey Joseph, becomes the seventh coach on Dooley’s staff to vacate.
Nebraska’s staff has also undergone its share of turnover as well. Linebackers coach Ross Els is the only defensive coach returning to the same position he held throughout last season. Papuchis, who was the defensive line coach, was elevated to defensive coordinator after Carl Pelini (Bo’s brother) took the Florida Atlantic job. Pelini then moved quickly to hire Iowa defensive line coach Rick Kazsenski just like he did in hiring Joseph.
On the surface, this is a horizontal step for Joseph but it’s a move that speaks well to Bo Pelini’s ability to recruit coaches as well as players. Though the Volunteers have struggled in going 23-27 the last four seasons, Tennessee’s not exactly a bottom-tier program, plus they’re in the SEC. Pelini must really be preaching a defensive gospel to lure Joseph to Nebraska for essentially the same role.
Despite the Vols’ struggles as a team, their secondary finished among nation's top 20 with 18 interceptions in 2010; fourth in the SEC. Joseph relied on only one starting safety for each game, while the rest of the defensive backs were an ensemble unit that rotated. He also served as a recruiting coordinator and is a New Orleans native. He also had one graduate assistant season at LSU, where he worked under head coach Les Miles and Pelini, who at the time was the Tigers defensive coordinator.
In most cases in any job, people are not going to take a lateral move without a good reason. Tennessee’s aforementioned struggles the last few seasons would definitely put Dooley on the hot seat heading into the 2012 season. If the Vols decide to send Dooley packing, it is very likely that the staff would be fired.
Joseph, however, may very well want to work under Pelini (from what I’ve read, he truly enjoyed and respected him when they were together at LSU) and he may also find the job security greater in Lincoln.
The fact, Joseph has coached high school football in the New Orleans area, having spent three seasons each as an assistant coach at both Archbishop Shaw and Destrehan high schools in the New Orleans area. Joseph was at Archbishop Shaw from 1999 through 2002, and then at Destrehan through 2005. That coupled with the fact that Joseph has five years experience as a recruiting coordinator is an asset.
In one respect the state of Tennessee is a lot like Nebraska in that they do not have a lot of local high school talent from which to draw. Tennessee has a bigger population base (6.4 million to Nebraska’s 1.8 million) but they don’t recruit as nationally as the Huskers. The Vols, however, regularly go to Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and really the entire southeast for players. That’s where Joseph will be able to bring some new ideas to recruiting. You think it’s tough recruiting against Texas and Oklahoma or now Ohio State and Michigan? Nothing is more competitive than recruiting in the SEC. Try being Joseph and going against LSU, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina.
The hire looks good on paper. Joseph brings solid credentials and appears to be an upgrade on the recruiting side and the coaching/teaching side.
I like the dual hires of Kaczenski and Joseph. I think the Huskers are going to be better technique-wise next fall. Papuchis may bring something a little different, and the transition is minimized by Pelini's influence.
No comments:
Post a Comment