as for the dense last year, we played really well, but we were on the field so much that the lack of depth showed a lot and we couldn’t keep teams out of the end zone.

i was told hawk wanted to take a look at the whole staff and see where we could change direction after last season. sure, we can all say that losing Doss and a few defensive starters were the reasons, but with coaching changes, i believe it suggests that we just didn’t have the right people for the group we had last season. offensively, i’m told it is uncertain that Plough will be back. don’t know if that means he gets another job or another parting of ways. Offensively last season our playcalling was baffling is some critical games and situations. i can think of about 4/5 games where we had critical playcalling blunders that really costs us. half of that is execution by players, but half is gameplan as well. all in all i don’t mean to ruffle any feathers and i certainly do not know everything. just relating information that i’ve heard/seen/believe.

Matt Coombs is official on twitter as the new DC

Aggiebro- no ruffled feathers here. You just have presented some very startling news which is somewhat hard to absorb. Apparently you do have good sources. Tucker is leaving, so you have some good cred here. Keep on it!

You can't take out games in one year, and not the other

yards per game stats are deceiving. The big change this year was yards per rush: 4.8 in 2018, 4.2 this year. Defense 4.2 to 4.3. Yards per pass defense improved from 7.4 to 7.0. Offense pass pp improve from 7.2 to 7.3. So overall, defense gave up 5.5 ypp in both years, and offense improved from 6.0 to 6.2 Turnovers were roughly the same. It was tougher competition, lack of luck, and some questionable play calling in key spots.

I'm glad we're not complacent. Last year I was told the coaches felt they had something special. I recall Hawkins & Tucker jawing on the sideline one game, figured it was a healthy disagreement.

I was surprised at Cal with an early gift and a prolific offense, that we couldn't score more than 13. But we competed. Then we couldn't stop USD. The season seemed to change with the uninspired loss to Montana. Not mentally as strong as Montana or NDSU. But the young men came back & battled, and injuries piled up.

Plough appears talented but needs more time. The play calling reminded me of Gould at times, run, run, long pass on 3rd down, predictable, there needs to be a quicker feedback loop. Losing several top WRs & almost all the RBs was brutal.

Foster adopted the Flex, a schema no one else ran fulltime. Supposedly it allowed smaller, intelligent players to excel. Our new DC sounds young & green, and sounds like Hawk picked the new DL coach (26) from Colorado. Don't understand signing more TEs than D linemen, esp when we graduate 5.

Now I would certainly be a little bit surprised if Plough was gone as well. Admittedly I was not 100% thrilled with the play calling this last season, but didn't he just receive a promotion last offseason? I guess that's the name of the game in coaching though, You have to be consistent or you'll find yourself out the door quickly.

It would be a severe challenge for any O Coordinator to have at least 2 top WRs out, only 1 healthy RB, lose Doss, and WR Vaughn possibly nursing an injury. And by design, no FB. But I guess that's the hero's journey.

The excuse of losing a wide receiver while having a returning starter at every other offensive position is lame. Coaches had two full years knowing Doss was graduating, so plenty of time to compensate. We have some great athletes as receivers. Maybe we need to look to change the receiver coach.

It's official:
https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/1/20/football-coombs-named-aggies-defensive-coordinator.aspx

"Yale alumnus arrives fresh of Oregon's Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl"

Fresh of what?

So 3 years college experience, but never a position coach?

Bellevue is apparently a big time high school program, at least by Washington standards. Resume is kind of blank on what he did for 4 years between graduation and working with Bellevue.
Looks like he was to be Eastern Oregon’s DC last year but that didn’t happen.

Young and inexperienced doesn't necessarily mean bad. Kevin Blue came outta nowhere and has been great. Gould had a lot of experience as a coach (not necessarily HC) and well... We know how that went.

Bellevue is the High School that ended De La Salle’s win streak so they are a big time program.

So as I see it, there are five other defensive coaches still on staff: Huppert, Eisenstadt, Brown, Brady, and Hicks. Do they go as well? Aggiebro. . . ?

Football scoop is reporting that we have a new defensive line coach which is Huppert's current position. They report that its Chidera Uzo-Diribe from University of Kansas. They nailed the Coombs hiring.

Lots of changes in the works....

There were shortcomings on both sides of the ball. In 2018 Hawk restored the tradition. Over the next two years the program needs to take a big step forward with recruiting, player development and in-game strategy.

Sure seems that way. Going to be an interesting offseason with coaching changes and a big quarterback battle in our midst.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2020/1/20/football-coombs-named-aggies-defensive-coordinator.aspx

"Just like in recruiting, it's all about fit," said Hawkins. "He went to Yale, so he understands education and that component. He's used to winning, so he expects to win and knows how to win. He has worked in a similar defensive structure that we run, so he can take that and add and polish and put his spin on it."

He's a Colorado guy so likely a Hawkins pick. Looks like he was a great player, only 26, and Coombs a Boise guy. The Big Sky is a tough place to play defense.

Not a Colorado guy. Also has never been an on field college coach, just an analyst. Big move from breaking down film to calling the D but he has been part of the Oregon recruiting machine.

Chidera Uzo Diribe seems a very good hire at DL. We will see and hope. . .

If there is a change at OC, might be good to go and bring Kevin Daft back from Princeton. He did well at Davis and did well at Princeton. Consistency and a Davis guy.

I believe you meant Dartmouth. He has their offense rolling.

247sports
Offensive Coordinator Hot Board

Kevin Daft

"WHY DAFT: In last year’s search for a new offensive coordinator IU had Sean Gleeson, who was at Princeton at the time, as a finalist for the job. What that shows is Tom Allen is willing to think outside the box and look at any level when searching for the right coach to lead his offense. If Coach Allen decides to go back to the Ivy League again a candidate that could make sense is Kevin Daft from Dartmouth. The California native took over as the Dartmouth OC in 2017, and in his first season as the play caller for the Big Green their scoring improved by 10 points per game from the season before. In 2018 and 2019 Dartmouth was second in the Ivy League in scoring, so Daft has shown an ability to come in and immediately improve an offense and keep it at a high level. His offenses at Dartmouth and UC Davis have been some of the best at controlling the ball, passing efficiency, running the ball and scoring in the red zone. Daft recruits Louisiana, Oklahoma and eastern Texas for Dartmouth so he could potentially open up some new recruiting areas for IU. Daft’s time in the NFL as a player would be valuable for him as a coach and on the recruiting trail."

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Article/Indiana-football-offensive-coordinator-job-opening--141173279/

Northwestern quotes

"Kevin Daft (Dartmouth - Offensive Coordinator/QBs)

"Why not stay in the Ivy League? Daft leads a Dartmouth offense that sits atop the conference standings with Princeton at 7-0. His Big Green offense has scored 35+ points in five of the team’s [first] seven games this year, and he’s 24-3 overall since arriving in Hanover three seasons ago.

"Heading into the Ivy League for a coordinator seems logical given Northwestern’s emphasis on recruiting kids with high academic standards, and Daft certainly has the track record to make the jump. The UC Davis alum was an assistant at Cal for four years, a stretch that included time at receivers coach when Marvin Jones, Jr. was in the room, before moving onto the FCS level.

"Daft has plenty of coaching experience despite being just 44 years old, with much of it coming for schools with academic standards on par with those of Northwestern, and though Dartmouth is putting up plenty of points this season, they are doing so with real offensive balance. *** Also, the Big Green aren’t dependent on the success of any one quarterback: last year, they rotated passers due to injuries and still put up massive numbers. *** Daft is certainly an intriguing enough option to be worth a look should the NU job open up."

https://www.insidenu.com/2019/11/5/20949046/who-could-be-northwesterns-next-offensive-coordinator-mick-mccall-mike-kafka-pat-fitzgerald-surace

Daft was in a tough spot, having to implement Ron Gould's offense.

Impressive that his offense continued to roll with QB injuries.

At this point in his career, I would have to think that Daft would be looking for an HC gig somewhere or a jump to FBS. Not sure a lateral move truly benefits him, but I suppose crazier things have happened. All this being said, Plough still has the job as of this very moment.

I'm not lobbying for that, 88Aggie mentioned Daft so I looked up his progress. I agree with your points, except Daft likely has family considerations, family in California, and he potentially.might like to take us with a Hawkins to Bison-type success.

Side note: Dartmouth finally finishing a new $20 Million indoor practice facility for ICA.