With Andy Avalos gone to become the head coach at Boise State, on of the premier defensive coordinator openings in college football lies in Eugene, Oregon on Mario Cristobal's staff.
According to a tweet from Bruce Feldman, the Ducks defensive play calling opportunity has attracted the interest of some SEC coordinators, some NFL coaches, and a few notable others.
Feldman shares that the coaches in the mix for the job include Clint Hurtt (Seahawks assistant HC), Chris Ash (former Texas DC), Derrick Ansley (Tennessee DC), Tosh Lupoi (Falcons run game coordinator), Zach Arnett (Mississippi State DC), Glenn Schumann (Georgia co-DC), and Nate Woody (Army DC).
Hurtt's last stops in college football was as the defensive line coach at Miami from 2006-09 and then at Louisville from 2010-13. From there he moved onto the NFL where he worked with the Bears in 2014 as assistant defensive line coach, then with their outside linebackers for a few seasons. In 2017 he left to become the assistant head coach / defensive line coach on Pete Carrolls staff in Seattle, where he has remained.
Arnett has been in the mix for some other high profile defensive coordinator jobs the past few weeks, including at LSU and Texas after one season leading Mike Leach's defense in Starkville. He's considered a young, fast riser in coaching circles that will have no shortage of future opportunities.
Ansley is an interesting name in the mix as rumors about Jeremy Pruitt's future at Tennessee continue to pile up, and chatter has picked up significantly since the Vols added former Auburn defensive coordinator-turned-interim head coach Kevin Steele to the staff as a defensive assistant.
Among the other names, Ash led an improved Texas unit in just one season with Tom Herman; Lupoi was revered for his recruiting expertise and has experience working under Saban as a coordinator for the Tide for a few seasons before leaving for the NFL; Schumann would bring some great experience working under Kirby Smart at Georgia the last few seasons and also has a prior history with Saban, and Nate Woody has led impressive and disciplined defenses at Army since the departure of Jay Bateman to become the defensive coordinator at UNC.
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">January 15, 2021