GonzoCane
All-ACC
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2011
- Messages
- 11,837
found this interesting. Thanks for posting
TTM: A lot has been made of his close friendship with Mark D’Onofrio, his former Nittany Lions teammate who is his defensive coordinator. Miami’s defense had a bad season, and there are calls in Coral Gables that a change needs to be made. Is hiring Golden, in your mind, a “package deal” with D’Onofrio?
JD: This is where I think things could get interesting. I’m not saying it will be a sticking point that would ultimately kill a deal, because I think Al’s way too smart to let something like that hinder things, but I do think Al feels a bit conflicted about this and ultimately wants to see Mark land on his feet. I’d be shocked if Al didn’t have something to do with Mark getting a couple of interviews for the head coaching job at Temple last December before Matt Rhule ultimately got the job, and I think it’s fair to assume that Al wanted to see Mark either A. get his name out there for some positive ‘Hey, Mark D’Onofrio got a head coaching job interview’ press or B. get the job so he could avoid having to make a tough decision about his future down the line at Miami.
All of that, I think, is interesting considering former Temple AD Bill Bradshaw offered Mark the chance to be Al’s successor mere hours after Al announced he was leaving for Miami, but Al wholeheartedly convinced Mark to not take the job and follow him down to Miami.
But the numbers don’t lie, and Mark’s defenses have come under some deserved scrutiny at Miami. After being ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense in 2011 (at 20.1 points per game), the Hurricanes got worse. They were 83rd nationally in 2012 (30.5 ppg.) and 66th in the nation this past season (26.8 ppg.), and there was an ugly, three-game stretch this season when Miami, at a time when it really had a chance to prove itself, gave up 131 points and 1,609 yards on third down in losses to Florida State, Virginia Tech and Duke, and the Canes gave up an average of nearly 44 points a game in that three-game losing streak.
You forgot this part, maybe just as important
JD: "I do, and I think he’s going to have to come to the realization (if he hasn’t already) that Mark can’t be his defensive coordinator at Penn State."
Could be a sticking point/delay in negotiations and/or an announcement because he has to find his buddy a landing spot.
[video=youtube;Z_u7VGiMO0U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_u7VGiMO0U[/video]