Larry Coker--Not an elite hire. Here's where Coker was when Davis hired him as OC: 1993–1994 Ohio St. DEFENSIVE BACKS Coach;
1995 Ohio St. QB Coach.
Greg Schiano--Not an elite hire. Here's Schiano's immediate history prior to being hired: 1991–1995 Penn State DB Coach; 1996–1997 Chicago Bears Defensive Assistant; 1998 Chicago Bears DB Coach.
Dudzinski--Not an elite hire. Chud's background: 1994–1995 University of Miami (Graduate assistant).
Vernon Hargreaves--Not an elite hire. Hargreaves came to Miami after 13 seasons on the staff at the University of Connecticut, where he was outside linebackers coach from 1985-89 and inside linebackers coach from 1989-97.
Curtis Johnson--Not an elite hire. 1994 SMU (WR); 1995 Cal (WR). He had a good background but nothing earth shattering.
Kehoe--Not an elite hire. Kehoe was the TE Coach and an Offensive Line Assistant when Davis hired him.
Greg Mark--Not an elite hire. Mark was a GA at UM until 1994. He spent one year as Utah State's DL Coach and then Davis hired him.
Pagano--Not an elite hire. 1992–1994 East Carolina coached defensive backs and linebackers.
Soldinger--Not an elite hire. Was a HS Coach.
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So there you have it. Our last great staff, which produced multiple HCs and coordinators, had ZERO elite hires when the hires were made. None of those guys were guys that anyone on here would have been jumping up and down about at the time they were hired. With the benefit of time and seeing their careers develop, we can see that several of them turned into great football coaches.
Hopefully, we'll see the same thing with some of Richt's "questionable" hires. You never know if Banda or Rumph might develop into the next Pagano for example. We had no idea Pagano was going to be the HC of the Colts when we hired him from East Carolina.
