Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Raise the Roof

Today's hire: Ted Roof, your new Auburn defensive coordinator per Charles Goldberg. He's the guy on the left:



Roof arrives after having (mostly) repaired the World's Worst Defense in Minnesota this year. If you ask me "When is the best time to try and poach assistants from Minnesota to come work for you in the sunny Deep South?" I'd give you very good odds the answer is "the first week of January."

A more comprehensive review of Roof's* resume will arrive tomorrow, but for now, the gut reaction is that this is another solid-to-terrific hire for Chizik. For a guy who's still only 45 years old, Roof has a stunning amount of diverse experience--position coach, coordinator, head coach, East Coast, South, Midwest. If he's maybe not another home run--is there such a thing as a home run defensive coordinator hire for a program like Auburn?--it's awfully hard to pick out anyone available who we would say definitively "Oh, that guy would have been better." And, one more time, all together now: he's not a Dye guy.

In short: still no reason to slow down on the sunshine and lollipops just yet.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's awfully hard to pick out anyone available who we would say definitively "Oh, that guy would have been better."

That's because they've all already coached here. The best one is currently the AU HC, #2a is Mac Brown's designated successor, and #2b succeeded #1 at his previous job.

With Chiz at the helm, at least I have confidnece in the D. As you noted, the number-one worry is relatd to Graham's comment that the no huddle O taxes the entire team and that even the D has to be on board and extra-well conditioned to keep up.

Loganville Tiger said...

May not be another home run, but a at the very least a stand-up double. The guy coached some really good D's under O'Leary @ Ga. Tech. Only reason he left and landed @ Duke was O'Leary's little resume mishap with ND I guess.

I like the hire.

LT

Anonymous said...

.....Man, I'd take some Minnesota snow, right now! Here in the Tragic City, we've had rain like the last 19 out of 21 days. I've forgotten what the sun looks like.

.....Today, it rose up into the seventies, and we had tornado warnings and stuff. Not to mention the 5 inches of so of rain in the past 24 hours, and flooded roads everywhere. Bring on the snow! I'm tired of sweltering in the soggy tropics!

.....Having to run the air conditioner in January is the pits!

Anonymous said...

I'm a little in the dark on Roof as a DC. I know his history as HC, as wasn't impressed. I live in the Triangle, NC, and he was regarded as a clown. Recruiting was a joke, did very little to inspire players/fans, and the results speak for themselves. The excuse was/is "Hey this is Duke", but now Duke has a real coach in Cutcliffe, and the difference is amazing, even with Roof's players that were left. Would have been happier retaining Rhoads instead of this hire, but we'll see. Coach Tuberville was once semi-impressed with Roof, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Chizik's done so many other things right so far, he get's the benefit too. War Eagle

JCS said...

TEEEEEEEED ROOOOOOF....RUSTED!
Sounds like a good hire to me. I'm with you on the non-Dye connection that each of these hires brings. I was worried at first, but it definitely appears as though Chizik is hiring the right "fit" and not necessarily the fan favorite. If the latter were true, we'd already have gotten Searels, Garner, etc. I am optimistic about the offense and defense.
Also, I'd love to hear the JCCW's take on the Tulsa game last night. I was more impressed with the actual play calling than the results of the plays. Yeah, rushing and passing yardage, yards per play, and the totals were impressive, but if you look at the balance and situational play calling...now that was impressive. There is no doubt about Malzahn's imagination, and with an intelligent qb (Trotter/Caudle), I believe we'll see some of the same things next year. If you have time, Jerry, give us your opinion. Thanks for the continued good work. I know that I'm one of many who really appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

Joshua,
I wouldn't sell Kodi short on intelligence just yet if I were you.

He may very well be dumb as a sack of hammers, but getting flat out hosed in the coaching department as he was these last two seasons, I think judgement has to be reserved.