[Update]: The transcript of Bo Davis' introductory press conference this morning is worth reading and that's far from always the case. Also, Manny Diaz said that he expects to make a decision within days, though he did not provide any hints about what that decision would be. --GoBR--
It's been a whirlwind several days for the Texas football program. Early on Sunday, Mack Brown still had to fill five positions on his staff. Then, news broke on Sunday that Darrell Wyatt was hired as the wide receivers coach and co-recruiting coordinator. He quickly hit the road yesterday when the recruiting dead period ended by visiting Jaxon Shipley out in Brownwood and his connections to the state in terms of recruiting and track record developing receivers make him an excellent choice for the job.
On Tuesday, the hire of defensive tackles coach Bo Davis away from Alabama became official in the evening and he held his introductory press conference on Wednesday morning. A former assistant coach at Galena Park North Shore, Davis also brings ties to the state to help on the recruiting trail, where he will likely cover some part of the Houston area.
He, too, has a strong track record of success on the field molding dominant run defenses at Alabama, but noted in his press conference that those defenses were much more multiple than many thought. In other words, he's not tied to a 3-4 and Texas will likely remain multiple along the defensive front, much as it was under Will Muschamp.
Of course, that still leaves three positions unfilled and the answers there could be forthcoming soon. Paul Chryst was in town on Monday and left on Tuesday with a job offer. As of Tuesday evening, he had not made a decision about whether he was going to take the job and several Wisconsin players were unaware of any scheduled team meetings. Chryst is still the overwhelming favorite to take the job and it would be surprising if he turned it down.
Over at Recruitocosm, Jesus believes the time is now for Chryst to leave Madison becaues it will be hard to replicate this season's success and his value as a coordinator may never be higher. Philosophically, Chryst seems to favor the type of running game preferred by Mack Brown and money shouldn't be an issue -- Chryst could easily make seven figures at Texas.
The only question is whether he's ready to transplant his family. Chryst is from Madison, went to Wisconsin and has been with the Badgers since 2005. Fortunately for Texas, he family reportedly enjoyed the visit and the communities of Madison and Austin have some similarities that could appeal to the Chryst family.
There hasn't been a lot of buzz around Boise State offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin over the last few days and it doesn't seem like he's been in town to interview with Mack Brown, so he's probably the second choice if Chryst turns down the job.
On the defensive side, the buzz about Stanford's Vic Fangio has died down and he hasn't been in town for an interview either. The name that jumped to the front of the line on Tuesday was Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who was in town interviewing for the open DC position. His wife was seen being dropped off at Bellmont by Sally Brown, for whatever that is worth. Diaz left Wednesday morning to return to Starksville, but it's unclear at this point whether or not he received an offer to coach at Texas. The likelihood is that he did.
As a defensive coordinator, Diaz has taken an odd path to the top. Though he was a star football player in high school, he never played in college and became a production assistant at ESPN after graduating from Florida State. After realizing he really wanted to get into coaching, he secured a graduate assistant job at Florida State and quickly rose through the coaching ranks, making major positive impacts at North Carolina State and Middle Tennessee State before taking the Mississippi State job last year and helping to turn around a scoring defense that ranked in the bottom half of the country in 2009 and elevating it to 20th in 2010.
Diaz is sort of a Muschamp-lite -- at 36, he's a fiery, energetic young coach who is known as being extremely intelligent and being willing to think outside the box. He's also highly aggressive and loves to send blitzes from a variety of angles to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Instead of reading and reacting, Diaz wants his defenses to play fast instead of thinking. He also believes that "You can't be a great defense in a casual manner."
The other Tuesday bombshell was the report that Jeff Madden will be relieved of his duties as strength and conditioning coach, though the school has not made an official announcement and Orangebloods has held off on any reports of Mad Dog's demise. If Madden is truly gone, the top two names continue to be LSU's Tommy Moffitt and Tennessee's Bennie Wyle. As of Tuesday night, it seems like Texas did reach out to LSU to seek permission to speak with Moffitt, but has not done so with Wylie. At this point, it's mostly a waiting game until something official happens with Mad Dog and the hiring process gets into full swing.
Back to the positions that are actually open -- it's assumed at this point that offensive line coach Bob Bostad would join Chryst in Ausitn were the latter to take the job and the rumors floating around have Diaz close to accepting the position. Getting all five top targets would be a major coup for Mack Brown and provide the type of positive momentum going forward the program has sorely lacked since the recruiting success last spring. All five are ideal candidates and possess the type of coaching ability that would suggest they could make major strides with the 2011 Texas football team.
After a dizzying Tuesday, Texas fans return to a similar position -- that of waiting for some news to drop.
Consider this your Wednesday open thread for any and all coaching changes and opinions thereof.