Overall, I’m not as outraged.
Simpson is a very good coach. I know he has no South Florida connection and therefore qualifies as a “meh” hire but realistically, any other name being battled about was at best lateral to him.
T-Rob will immediately upgrade the talent in the defensive backfield, and that’s 90% of the battle back there. Van Dyke is almost insurance on that recruit-first philosophy with South Florida defensive backs.
Now at the end of the day the biggest issue that Miami’s defense faced this year were the linebackers. The corners were bad, but this group was horrendous. The play was awful, kids started that would barely start for FIU, which forced Frierson in to an undersized role and overall, the talent level at the position is bad. And now essentially, what we have now is Diaz as DC and two linebacker coaches.
In theory, if those linebacker coaches are good…this works for Diaz.
For me, Patke is the unknown. I realize Miami fans have had enough, but Richt loved this guy and I’m stuck wondering if its him or the talent. How many Miami coaches from the last 15 years that would never be hired elsewhere, in fact, moved on to be highly respected elsewhere.
And that leaves Baker, who we all know is Diaz’s guy. I would think this is his last.
PS>Rumph to recruiting is just funny, but as I hear it, he’s headed to more of a local coach relationship spot.