Maurice Linguist on Wednesday made a bold hire for his new offensive coordinator at Buffalo.
The new Bulls' head coach, hired last Friday after Lance Leipold parlayed his turnaround of the program into the top job at Kansas, wasn't finished.
By late Wednesday night, the fast-rising Linguist – whom two Southeastern Conference coaches earlier in the day told FootballScoop, “Man, that guy is good.” and “Good coach. Heard a lot of good things.” – had made another major play to snag an up-and-coming assistant from a Mid-American Conference rival.
Per sources, Linguist is adding Akron's Mike Daniels onto the Bulls' offensive staff as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. Daniels was hired earlier this year by Akron's Tom Arth to be the Zips' running backs coach.
It's a bold move for Linguist to nab Daniels, a former University of Cincinnati letter-winner who became a fixture as a prep coach in the Queen City and boasts rich connections throughout Ohio.
Daniels also previously served on the University at Buffalo staff from 2009-11 in a dual capacity; he was both running backs coach and academic coordinator.
Additionally, Daniels has collegiate experience at Alcorn State, Kennesaw State and his alma mater, where Daniels initiated his coaching journey as a graduate assistant.
Earlier on Wednesday reports surfaced that Linguist had lured Shane Montgomery back into the MAC to be Buffalo's offensive play-caller.
Montgomery just helped guide James Madison to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals, where the Dukes lost to No. 2-seed Sam Houston State. Montgomery has lengthy MAC ties, having served eight years on staff at Miami (Ohio) and one year at Akron.