HateYouAndMyself

I think that is the major red flag here. You only have so many coaching positions and we need a true player development to hopefully, for the first time in like a decade, help our CBs stop sucking balls and make good on their potential. That is what burns a bit in this Joseph hire. He doesn't push the needle on the development side. Still keeping an open mind and this could be a HUGE win for us depending how the staff rounds out.

It helps to be good nationally on defense when your conference plays god awful offense. Antiquated schemes and mediocre, underdeveloped talent galore up and down the PAC. So I take any claims of Cal even being all that good defensively in the first place with an absolutely massive grain of salt. Then looking deeper Sirmon only recently was made Co-DC and he isn't even the primary guy. Tim Deruyter is their primary DC who calls plays, as I understand it, and above them both is their HC Wilcox who himself has a background in being a DC and is probably far more responsible for whatever success they've had then the guys under him. Nor have Sirmon nor Dereuyter shown themselves to be weapons on the recruiting trail though maybe someone can correct me on that if I'm mistaken? I know its hard to land bigger fish at Cal but the quality of talent they would now be expected to bring in, and the level of competition they will have trying to recruit, would be a sizable step up. I'm not saying he is a shit tier coach. To me A-tier = Whales like Muschamp, B tier = really good guys with some questions or not as long a track record like Freeman, Arnett, etc. and then C-tier are people that have been... fine, but hardly mind blowingly impressive, and are only getting hired because they are friends of friends.

Multiple groups said that part of Raymon's 'demands' for leaving would including having full control over the secondary. That doesn't mean he had to be the only secondary coach on campus but it does probably mean he won't accept having someone else directly above him as 'defensive pass game coordinator' or whatever. Us hiring him to that specific position makes Raymond 100% donezo I'd have to think.

I will be fucking pissed if our DC ends up being Sirmon. That is the same kind of C-tier 'But he is a friend of a friend!' horseshit we've had the last 8 years. Not going to worry about it till it happens but hiring Sirmon would be an absolutely massive red flag imo. Having serious shots at Arnett, Freeman, Odom, potentially even Quinn, and Ash already on campus? The end result simply cannot be goddamn Sirmon.

I agree that is almost certainly how this plays out but some insiders, for what its worth (not much, admittedly), have been saying Gideon might be 'just' the ST coach and then help around as needed with the rest of the staff. I don't really but that since it means not being able to have split DL/DE or LBs into two groups which based on scheme is usually pretty damned valuable. I agree though like 99% chance this closes the door on those other secondary coaches

I guess it is possible Ayers and Raymond could still be in play, since Joseph is typically safeties, but I imagine Joseph is going to wear a Co-DC tag and that is almost certainly the same thing that would need to be dangled to actually get Raymond or Ayers on board. Man this really came outa left field... he is by no means a bad hire but it seems odd as fuck and absolutely not a move to be made unless we have our main DC decided. In the very least this should 100% mean Ash is gone

If Oregon decides they want Arnett they will probably get him. It is the more desirable DC gig, even over us, when you factor in what a rotting dumpster fire all but like 3 teams are in the PAC. Even the 'better' teams like Washington, Utah, USC, etc. have major warts and are hardly consistent offensive juggernauts at this point. Simple fucking Jack could make himself look like a viable HC candidate as a DC in the PAC with Oregon's talent on that side of the ball. If Arnett is 'our guy' we probably can't wait till Tuesday to offer him.

My first thought is that it would likely mean Arnett, if anything, but Quinn is closely connected to a ton of excellent LB coaches so if it ends up being him he probably has guys he wants to slot into that roll himself. Point is I doubt we can take anything from Hutzler leaving either way beyond 'Ash is likely not returning' which seems more obvious by the day anyway.

My concern with Golding is that he would only be available if Saban is pushing him out the door. If Saban shocks us all be retiring or something, and Golding ends up available due to the coaching shuffle? Sure, I'm open to it. I am not nearly as concerned by the mild slide in defensive metrics we've seen at Bama since he took over. Even if he isn't as good as Smart or Pruitt he is still to my potato eyes anyway a very good coach and not a 'downgrade' from Ash. But if Saban, whose eye for defensive coaching talent is damn near impeccable, thinks Golding is a lost cause as DC and wants to cut bait or go another direction? Fuck that. I would be thrilled with Quinn because I would think his hiring could go a long way towards securing Lufoi or Davis (and I have to think Raymond would feel good about coaching under him) and Arnett seems like the real deal so far. Good options both.

What are the chances LSU now just promotes Raymond to Co-DC and brings in a proven playcaller to help him run the show? I would think either way Freeman picking ND kind of fucks us in the Raymond sweepstakes. Chatter before seemed like if they had landed Freeman, Raymond was probably going to go somewhere else. I know we are also linked to Ayers but that feels as unrealistic as Lufoi. Still a lot of great options out there thankfully at both DC and CB though so no reason to panic.

I stumbled upon Surly at the start of the Urban or Bust saga and lurked my way through it. Almost made an account a dozen times just so I could ignore a few specific retards but was too lazy. Finally overcame that apathy and took the dive.

In this case we would just need to deepfake some photos of Gideon in blackface so that we can pull a Baylor and jettison him into the gulf.

He literally said don't quote me on this and then you quoted him on exactly that. What a fucking rebel