Menu
What's new
By:
Filters
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!

Support or Retort: "DJ Eliot = good hire."

Will Colorado's defense rank Top 5 in total D within the Pac-12 in 2017?

  • Yes

    Votes: 46 37.4%

  • No

    Votes: 77 62.6%
  • Total voters
    123

Justin M Guerriero

Club Member
Club Member
Looking for some opinions on the hiring of Kentucky's DJ Eliot as CU's new DC and linebackers coach. Are you happy with this? What're your preliminary thoughts on him?

I happen to think that he could be a good fit; he's had success with younger defensive players in his coaching career. Last season, the Wildcats' sophomore safety Mike Edwards led all SEC defensive backs with 93 tackles. Sophomore Jordan Jones became Kentucky's first player to record 100 tackles in a season in 2016.

Perhaps a more pointed question: with the many seniors that the Buffs lost on defense, is Eliot the guy who can help younger talent fill the holes? Anything you all are hesitant about in regards to him?

Keep in mind the players to go pro under Eliot: From 2013, two ILBs, three OLBs and two DEs have been drafted since Eliot took over the Wildcats' defense (most importantly, Mr. Bud Dupree, an OLD who was the first round pick by my beloved Steelers in 2015 and who will be sacking Tom Brady at least once on Sunday, mark my words hehe.)

Thoughts??
 
I voted no mostly due to the younger set of players than we had this year. Any top 5 finish would be outstanding coaching. I don't really know anything about Eliot's coaching.
 
Is "Top 5 in the Pac-12" how we're judging whether he does a good job in 2017?

I mean, we did lose 8 starters and all of us expected the defense to slip a bit even when we were assuming Leavitt was coming back.

Regardless of who the DC is for 2017, I would have said my expectation is middle third (ranked 5th-8th) with a top third finish exceeding and a bottom third a disappointment.
 
goalline said:
I voted no mostly due to the younger set of players than we had this year. Any top 5 finish would be outstanding coaching. I don't really know anything about Eliot's coaching.
Click to expand...
Please don't ask some of the resident board members lol. As for me, I'm willing to wait and see. I'm not gonna crap all over the guy when I don't know much about him. Mac saw something in him, that's enough for me right now.
 
We weren't going to be Top 5 with anybody.

I don't think it's a good hire, but that doesn't mean it can't work out. If Jeffcoat can continue to produce DLs like he had last year, I think Eliot will do a lot better than he did at UK, but how big of an IF is that? Hires are often about the right fit, sometimes guys fail somewhere and succeed elsewhere (see: Justin Wilcox, Jake Spavital), he's just one (big) piece to the puzzle in both places. I guess we'll see whether he's one of those guys. But I don't think the hire makes sense unless we were either struggling to find people who wanted the job or Mac reached way too far into a very limited scope based on what he wanted in a candidate. Hopefully it works out.
 
The defense was going to take its lumps early anyway, I want to see if this defense improves as the year goes along.

I think it's a weak hire but we'll know soon enough and more so in the 2018 season.

I'm more interested in who they fill the staff with.
 
I said yes just cuz...want to be positive. Time will tell if it's a good hire...Mac's done a great job w his new hires so there must be something he saw in this guy.
 
I'd assume USC, Udub, Utah will be good like they were last year. UCLA is a crapshoot, don't think Levitt will have Oregon in the top five, so I'd say 5-7 being where I expect CU to be even with player losses. We will have to see though. Lost a monster for us on the DL and several in the backfield.
 
As far as this hire-there were those of us here who wondered about the hiring of one Jim Leavitt two years ago, as he had not been a coordinator in 20 years prior to take this job. I think this is a good to great hire for multiple reasons. One, Eliot has a great background.....especially when compared with Peter Sirmon. Sirmon was a solid recruiter who had a year's worth of experience to his credit as a DC. Eliot has been in that role for several years, but he's been in this situation before-with three years of DC experience under a defensive minded coach. He seems like a very solid recruiter, in particular during his stint at Florida State. Let's exclude what he did at Kentucky-Kentucky football could start winning division titles and playing in New Year's Day bowl games (or better), and they're still going to play second fiddle to the basketball team. It's a hard sell for recruits. The work was going to be cut out for whoever took over for Leavitt, and I never expected top 5 in the conference. 6-7 is reasonable.
 
This guy is widely viewed in coaching circles as a bright defensive mind. Perhaps UK just wasn't the right fit, or maybe he just needed to get away from Stoops to spread his wings a bit. Either way, I am hoping that my faith in HCMM is rewarded and that this guy is a perfect fit for CU. I wanted more of a "wow" hire, but I am willing to let this guy coach first before I pass judgement.
 
Well, my NMSU Aggies (3-9) put up 42 points on his defense in Lexington last year ... through three quarters. Pretty underwhelming hire. I'd say bottom third in D next year.
 
rosstr said:
Well, my NMSU Aggies (3-9) put up 42 points on his defense in Lexington last year ... through three quarters. Pretty underwhelming hire. I'd say bottom third in D next year.
Click to expand...

What happened to your offense as the season went on? NMSU lit up UNM early last year, too, right?
 
Buffnik said:
What happened to your offense as the season went on? NMSU lit up UNM early last year, too, right?
Click to expand...
They stole that game from the lobos. Fun game to be at though.
Back on topic, there was going to be a natural drop in the defense when Thompson, Chido, Tupou, KO and Witherspoon left. Regardless whether it's JL or this Kentucky guy, the defense was going to fall back to 6-11 in the PAC, I'd guess.
 
I think the 2018 class and the 2018 season will tell a lot. 2017 was always going to be a step back regardless.

If he is even a decent recruiter, he should be able to land some legit front seven players with his background. Additionally, his second season in Boulder should have an experienced, talented defense.
 
I am putting my trust in Coach Mac. He sees or has seen something, and each hire he has made has improved. So in that light he should be better than leavitt. Does seem to have a way of coaching kids up and especially edge rushers. Everywhere he has coached they have had great pass rush off the edge which is an area we struggled. I feel he will relate well with the players. We need to remember all those great D coordinators had to start somewhere and where young once also.
He will learn from MM and Jeffcoat. Puzzled why the hire took so long but thats the past now. Hope he gets no pushback from the players. I also hope he watches some film and starts learning the skill sets of our current roster so we can get prepared to thump csu.
On a side note I guess my subscription has expired? Lost my avatar...will have to pony up the $.
 
Duff Man said:
I think the 2018 class and the 2018 season will tell a lot. 2017 was always going to be a step back regardless.

If he is even a decent recruiter, he should be able to land some legit front seven players with his background. Additionally, his second season in Boulder should have an experienced, talented defense.
Click to expand...

2018 should return 8ish starters on D and lose a lot on O but return the QB & a lot of experienced talent even if the returning starters number is low. If we're a bowl team in 2017, we should be one of the favorites in the South race in 2018.
 
Justin has been coming in to his own at an awkward time. We go from 10-2 to losing two games badly, losing our DC, losing our CB's coach, and losing 2 commits. In the meantime, BBall is struggling to put it kindly.

That being said, I can't help but feel everything he posts has a negative angle to it. Therefore, I am not responding to the poll.
 
Buffnik said:
What happened to your offense as the season went on? NMSU lit up UNM early last year, too, right?
Click to expand...
QB got hurt at the end of the year, and they had a lot of injuries hit mid year. They struggled against better teams, but Rogers was the catalyst at QB. He missed the App State game with a hurt elbow and played only sparingly in the finale vs. S. Alabama. And I played ball with his Dad and Uncle, who I am still close to (so I am biased).
 
Duff Man said:
I think the 2018 class and the 2018 season will tell a lot. 2017 was always going to be a step back regardless.

If he is even a decent recruiter, he should be able to land some legit front seven players with his background. Additionally, his second season in Boulder should have an experienced, talented defense.
Click to expand...


My thoughts exactly...
 
I don't think making a splash hire is always a good thing. Eliot can recruit Florida, coach from the booth, where HCMM wants his DC and is a good planner. Additionally, he is strong in working with DE's and LB's. I am a firm believer in JL as DC, so no matter who was hired it is a step down in my opinion. That being said, I like the hire for more reasons that just as a DC. I think the CU faithful will need to wait for 2 years before seeing what he can achieve. While many see a slight drop off from last year, I am expecting a huge drop: 8 Defensive players, who played most of the snaps, had the most tackles, TFL, sacks, interceptions, breakups, etc.... Add in the loss of a DC and strong DB coach as well as the team's Senior QB. Yikes. But the solid recruiting in back to back years should begin paying off with consistency starting in 2018. I am certainly willing to give Eliot time to land his own footprint on the program.
 
Last edited:
BuffinCali said:
I don't think making a splash hire is always a good thing. Eliot can recruit Florida, coach from the booth, where HCMM wants his DC and is a good planner. Additionally, he is strong in working with DE's and LB's. I am a firm believer in JL as DC, so no matter who was hired it is a step down in my opinion. That being said, I like the hire for more reasons that just as a DC. I think the CU faithful will need to wait for 2 years before seeing what he can achieve. While many see a slight drop off from last year, I am expecting a huge drop: 8 Defensive players, who played most of the snaps, had the most tackles, TFL, sacks, interceptions, breakups, etc.... Add in the loss of a DC and strong DB coach as well as the team's Senior QB. Yikes. But the solid recruiting in back to back years should begin paying off with consistency starting in 2018. I am certainly willing to give Eliot time to land his own footprint on the program.
Click to expand...

That's the thing. Leavitt is on the level as a DC that he doesn't belong as a DC or assistant... and hasn't for about 20 years. He lost his HC job through scandal, not failure. Based purely on coaching acumen and success, he should be a HC. There aren't a lot of guys like that out there and you're not going to replace with someone equivalent.

So, knowing that, the strategy seemed to be to try to emulate some of the areas Leavitt was strong within the dynamic we had this year (energy & passion), accept that you're not going to get his experience and ability as a mad scientist play caller, and balance that by getting someone who is stronger in other areas than JL was (working well with others in a subordinate role, recruiting, etc.). The idea was that if you get that and pair it with MacIntyre's DC chops, you can succeed with a smart, younger coach who is growing as a DC. Eliot and the original target (Shirmon) both fit that profile.

I don't know if it will work. I don't know that it won't. But I think I understand the thinking, trust that RG, LC and MM are smart, knowledgeable and good at their jobs, and I'm behind them on this. It's a different approach than we had with Baer and Leavitt (more like what we have with Lindgren and Chev). Can work and I actually like this approach better on the defensive side when we've got a defensive coach as our HC.
 
Super stoked we got a DC from a playoff level SEC team (sorry for redundancy).

I dunno I feel like I did when Oregon picked up Helfrich, which is lol. Now it's a sad lol.
 
he was not in the top 40% at his position
he was DEMOTED last season
there is nothing to say he is a great recruiter
MM hasn't come out with reasons why it was done

this was an inexplicable, unimpressive hire and the spin from many of you is laughable. his one major attribute seems to be he is a 'nice guy' (who won't detract from MM - who likely felt Leavitt and Chev got too much credit - reminds one of Ms Clinton picking a VP candidate no one ever heard of)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top