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Thursday, January 10, 2008

CSTV has a name for the open DC spot:

...head coach Rich Rodriguez is interested in possibly hiring Jon Hoke as his defensive coordinator. Hoke currently is the defensive backs coach with the Houston Texans. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Florida from 1999-2001, taking over for Bob Stoops.
The NCAA's archive only goes back to 2000, but the two years encompassed there are pretty good:

YearRushPassPass EffTotalScoring
20003957124229
200112281395

After the 2001 season, Spurrier left for the NFL and Ron Zook came in; Hoke took a job as the Texans' defensive backs coach. He's held that position since, surviving a coaching change along the way. Before his tenure at Florida he was the defensive backs coach at Missouri, Kent State, San Diego State, and Bowling Green. (There was year of defensive coordination at Kent State, too.)

He's also a little nuts:
“He might be the most nervous person I’ve seen in my life,” cornerback DeMarcus Faggins said. “He’s walking up and down. He takes energy drinks and he might take way more than he needs for the game. I think he starts shaking.”

Cornerback Dunta Robinson has his own strategy.

“He’s one of those guys you don’t want to talk to before the game or during the game,” Robinson said. “I try to stay away from him as much as I can on Sundays. A lot of times it gets heated. We might go back and forth, but as soon as we get off the field it gets back to normal.”
And, yes, he's Brady Hoke's brother.

Seems like a pretty good choice with some experience as a college DC and an excellent reputation in the NFL. One issue: if Tall and Gibson and Hoke and Hopson are the defensive assistants, that's four guys who coached the secondary last year. As discussed, Tall has some experience with the DL and a lot of experience with linebackers, but everyone else in that scenario is a DB lifer.

Update: Yes, an update even before I post the damn thing. Chengelis:
Hoke, I am told, is not at all interested in the position and will not be interviewing for the job -- he is very happy with the Texans and the NFL. Another name I've heard regarding potential defensive coordinators is Stanford DC Scott Shafer. Shafer just finished his first season as defensive coordinator with the Cardinal. He was the DC at Western Michigan for two years and has coached in the Big Ten at Indiana and Illinois.
Rats. Not that I was particularly invested in Hoke, but that was a waste of a half hour.

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