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All-in-one assistant coach suggestions for CU

How many 2018 assistants will Mel Tucker retain?

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Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
To get this started, I want to suggest Donnell Leomiti as a DB Coach.

I've brought him up in the past as a guy who I think needs to be given a long look. I'm not one to be all about "former Buff so we've got to have him", but that connection to the program is a positive.

Leomiti is the DB coach and Defensive Coordinator at CSU-Pueblo. They're 10-1 this year and giving up under 13 points a game. Not a flash in the pan either. That's been a consistently good team and defense. He was the team's recruiting coordinator since 2008 before taking over as DC this year.

He was on the CU staff in '05 and '06 as an intern who worked in on-campus recruiting. Prior to that, he'd been a coach at Denver North and at Boulder High. 4 year starter at CU from '92-'95 as a safety.

Not only can he be a big asset recruiting in the state, he's also a Pacific Islander who went to high school in American Samoa. Two of CU's most glaring needs, imo, are to strengthen in-state recruiting and to get back to recruiting Pacific Islander talent at a high level. He checks a lot of boxes for me.

Thoughts? Other coaches you guys have your eyes on as potential assistant coaches?
 
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I would love to see them keep Chev if he was willing to roll back to a position coach/recruiter. My supposition, based on nothing substantive, is that as good as he has been as a recruiter, he has been held back by MMac's way of doing business. Those chops cover up what has been a less than stellar record as a position coach/OC in my opinion.
 
Tony Hull as RB coach
Has he recruited Louisiana well for KU? Have their RBs done well? I haven't paid much attention. Just looked him up and he went from New Orleans HS coach to that KU job.
 
Speaking of CSU-Pueblo ..... what would be a logical next step for John Wristen? Is an assistant or coordinator be a step back for him or is a SJSU HC type of job his next step ?

Just saw that he's already 56. Maybe CSU-Pueblo is his sweet spot.
 
Speaking of CSU-Pueblo ..... what would be a logical next step for John Wristen? Is an assistant or coordinator be a step back for him or is a SJSU HC type of job his next step ?
He was our TE Coach & ST Coordinator over a decade ago and then had the same job at UCLA. If he wants to get back to major conference football instead of sticking at his alma mater and continuing his success there, I'd think it would take an OC title or something with some pretty serious coin.
 
Aaron Henry-NCState secondary coach

Kenny Dillingham-Memphis OC

Cort Dennison-Oregon lb coach

Glenn Schumann-Georgia lb coach

Those are the guys I like in order. I’d have not problem with taking a chance on any of those guys as coordinators.
 
Aaron Henry-NCState secondary coach

Kenny Dillingham-Memphis OC

Cort Dennison-Oregon lb coach

Glenn Schumann-Georgia lb coach

Those are the guys I like in order. I’d have not problem with taking a chance on any of those guys as coordinators.
Speaking of NC State, I'm very high on Ryan Nielsen. DL Coach who built that Wolfpack front and then went to the Saints a couple years ago. Recruits & develops at an elite level. I'd like him as DC.
 
To get this started, I want to suggest Donnell Leomiti as a DB Coach.

I've brought him up in the past who I think needs to be given a long look. I'm not one to be all about "former Buff so we've got to have him", but that connection to the program is a positive.

Leomiti is the DB coach and Defensive Coordinator at CSU-Pueblo. They're 10-1 this year and giving up under 13 points a game. Not a flash in the pan either. That's been a consistently good team and defense. He was the team's recruiting coordinator since 2008 before taking over as DC this year.

He was on the CU staff in '05 and '06 as an intern who worked in on-campus recruiting. Prior to that, he'd been a coach at Denver North and at Boulder High. 4 year starter at CU from '92-'95 as a safety.

Not only can he be a big asset recruiting in the state, he's also a Pacific Islander who went to high school in American Samoa. Two of CU's most glaring needs, imo, are to strengthen in-state recruiting and to get back to recruiting Pacific Islander talent at a high level. He checks a lot of boxes for me.

Thoughts? Other coaches you guys have your eyes on as potential assistant coaches?
I like Leomiti. He won a big battle with cancer a while back. If he is fully recovered and up to the rigors of recruiting at the P5 level he would be great for CU. If he wants to keep a more balanced life and stay at CSU Pueblo where they named a building after him that would make sense too. Either way it’s good to see a former Buff do well.
 
I hate the Logan talk to but would he be a decent recruiting coordinator? Knows the state. If we could just keep the top 5 in state guys every year we’d have decent start.
 
Isn't this conversation more effective if we think about it in terms of who the HC names we're talking about would surround themselves with?-If its Miles, I'd want his OC to be Fedora (assuming UNC moves on from him) or Todd Monken. I don't want somebody who has connections to his LSU tenure or somebody who has spent most of their career in the SEC. If Jeff Tedford is the new guy, I think Clancy Pendergast could be a possible DC for him-they worked together at Cal, and I'd expect Pendergast to not be retained by USC when Jack Del Rio takes that job after they inevitably fire Clay Helton.
 
Isn't this conversation more effective if we think about it in terms of who the HC names we're talking about would surround themselves with?-If its Miles, I'd want his OC to be Fedora (assuming UNC moves on from him) or Todd Monken. I don't want somebody who has connections to his LSU tenure or somebody who has spent most of their career in the SEC. If Jeff Tedford is the new guy, I think Clancy Pendergast could be a possible DC for him-they worked together at Cal, and I'd expect Pendergast to not be retained by USC when Jack Del Rio takes that job after they inevitably fire Clay Helton.
I only think it matters if we're thinking in terms of our assistant salary pool being limited. In that case, yeah, we'd have to spend the big money on the coordinator on one side of the ball while trusting the HC to handle the other side of the ball. Like when Chip was at Oregon or Spurrier was at Florida, there was no reason to spend top dollar for an OC. With Gary Patterson at TCU, they don't break the budget to hire a DC.

So, yeah, it has an impact. This thread wasn't necessarily focused on coordinators, though. I was thinking about assistants in general. Maybe a great OL coach who recruits or whatever.
 
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Has he recruited Louisiana well for KU? Have their RBs done well? I haven't paid much attention. Just looked him up and he went from New Orleans HS coach to that KU job.
Yep, and Pooka Williams is the major recruit signed by Hull and is having a great freshman campaign.
 
I only think it matters if we're thinking in terms of our assistant salary pool being limited. In that case, yeah, we'd have to spend the big money on the coordinator on one side of the ball while trusting the HC to handle the other side of the ball. Like when Chip was at Oregon or Spurrier was at Florida, there was no reason to spend top dollar for an OC. With Gary Patterson at TCU, they don't break the budget to hire a DC.

So, yeah, it has an impact. This thread wasn't necessarily focused on coordinators, though. I was thinking about assistants in general. Maybe a great OL coach who recruits or whatever.

I'm expecting an increase in our assistant pool from what we have now......but I'm not expecting enough there to where we're able to pull somebody from Alabama or what not without promoting him. Good thread to discuss members of the current staff we'd like to see stay too-I'd like Chev to stay if he's willing to go back to just coaching WRs, and I'd like to keep Drake. He's a promising young coach IMO and I've been pleasantly surprised with the DL play this year.
 
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To get this started, I want to suggest Donnell Leomiti as a DB Coach.

I've brought him up in the past as a guy who I think needs to be given a long look. I'm not one to be all about "former Buff so we've got to have him", but that connection to the program is a positive.

Leomiti is the DB coach and Defensive Coordinator at CSU-Pueblo. They're 10-1 this year and giving up under 13 points a game. Not a flash in the pan either. That's been a consistently good team and defense. He was the team's recruiting coordinator since 2008 before taking over as DC this year.

He was on the CU staff in '05 and '06 as an intern who worked in on-campus recruiting. Prior to that, he'd been a coach at Denver North and at Boulder High. 4 year starter at CU from '92-'95 as a safety.

Not only can he be a big asset recruiting in the state, he's also a Pacific Islander who went to high school in American Samoa. Two of CU's most glaring needs, imo, are to strengthen in-state recruiting and to get back to recruiting Pacific Islander talent at a high level. He checks a lot of boxes for me.

Thoughts? Other coaches you guys have your eyes on as potential assistant coaches?
I've been thinking about this a bit lately- I posted elsewhere that one of the real weaknesses since GB was fired has been in-state recruiting. In the eyes of many HS coaches, CU did GB dirty, and he was well-respected since he was a former CO HS coach and he seemed to prioritize in-state recruiting.

Hawk seemed kind of ambivalent about in-state prospects; he definitely did not emphasize in-state success in my opinion. Then Embree ran recruiting in a manner that was pretty much openly hostile towards HS in Colorado. MM canvased every HS in the state at the beginning of his tenure here, but I haven't seen much emphasis on it from him, either. I can't imagine that there are too many HS coaches in-state that were around the last time CU prioritized recruits from the state.

With how much the population has grown in Colorado, it's imperative that CU get the first pick of kids in-state. I beleive that starts with having guys on staff who HS coaches will listen to. Leomiti is one guy; I think Stitt (mentioned in this thread) is another. I'd give strong consideration to finding room on the staff for those two guys, or John Wristen.
 
Ronnie Bradford - USC DB
Johny Nansen - USC LB
Jeff Grimes - BYU OL
Chris Naoele - former Hawaii OL
Frank Maile - USU DC/LB
CJ Ah You - Vanderbilt DL
Jesse Williams KU DL
Depending on what happens with the staffs at USC, BYU, and Vanderbilt some of these coaches may not be available.
 
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