I remember how big a deal i thought it was being in the same sociology section in the spring semester as James Aldridge as Chris Stewart as the first early enrollees.
I feel like Manti and Jaylon won the college and high school Butkus awards in the same year, so this would be a neat little callback
So much for Vandy hiring an offensive minded head coach and having him in place before early signing day. That's definitely the right hire for them though.
Cinci's defensive coordinator is 34 years old and has them as a top 10 defense in 2 years. Too much of a lateral move for him?
Marcus Freeman needs to be call #1. People say he won't leave Fickell, but I find that hard to believe if we double his salary. He's only making $600k
Tough job to go to. Low floor, pretty low ceiling given the circumstances. Good for him though, he's earned it. Vandy is getting a program builder.
It's hard to classify some defenses these days as purely 3-4 or 4-3. When we hired Elko, one of the big reasons was that he had developed a multiple front defense.
Fickell is also in the Urban Meyer coaching family, so he’s likely going to be connected to the same financial adviser they all use. The same one who Brian Kelly also uses, and recommended he go down to Wake to steal a previous DC and LB coach. Same reason why you’ve seen some ND/Ohio State coaching flips in the past. No real info on Freeman, but it wouldn’t be shocking considering how BK has made hires in the past.
that's an interesting angle I hadn't heard before will be very interesting to see if BK goes safe and promotes from within or tries to go all out to land a guy like Freeman. The ties are all there for BK to get Freeman and I think he'd be an upgrade in recruiting and a pretty proven DC as well. BK has earned the right to do what he thinks is best w/o everyone second guessing him though, just my opinion
Positives to Freeman- the AAC is a wild league on offense. Spread, RPOs', multiple, tempo, option- he's seen it all at Cincy Cons he's young AF and as always the Elston factor
There's a nicely coordinated series of tweets from the beat writers endorsing Elston right now, so I'd imagine he's the leader in the clubhouse.
I get the impression Elston is content with his current roll. If you can keep him and let him be the “old” voice in the room with another dynamic young DC I’m pretty sure all would be happy.
Don't agree with this at all. His overall track record of hiring is poor. And his recent good hires weren't only made by him.
"I have a high level of respect for Mel Tucker," Freeman told The Enquirer in July. "But ultimately, I have goals, personal goals, and one of those is wanting to be a head coach, and I believe I don't need to leave the University of Cincinnati to achieve that goal. I'm in a great position as the defensive coordinator here at Cincinnati to one day be in position to be a head coach, and going to Michigan State didn't make me feel like I was going to be any more closer to it. Did the relationship with Coach Fickell come into play? Absolutely. Did the relationship I have with our kids here come into play? Absolutely." Thought this was interesting
Moreso the part about wanting to be a head coach and going to Michigan state not advancing that goal. Wouldn't be able to say the same about our DC job.