Serious question- what am I missing with Conklin? His defenses were 56th, 106th and 65th in total team defense his 3 years at Pitt ( 2 out of the 3 were worse than us) then he goes to Wofford as HC and now we want him running our defense? Hard pass for me unless I’m missing something
Knowles or Walters would be solid hires. Knowles the safer bet but Walters is a rising coach getting HC looks and Missou obviously thinks a lot of him- neither are particularly impressive recruiters, but both seem to be very good DC’s - getting them to take a lateral move would be a win- even if it is for more money (we are clearly paying well north of $1M to get either to take a lateral move)
But neither are the Home run hire that Ash or Robinson would have been
I have no horse in this field if it is between these 3 guys. JMO but I do think Conklin is a good coach.
Might be at Wofford the last 2 years but also won/shared conference crown both years.
Few team stats for 2018 and 2019 since he became the head coach which I think fit perfectly with the philosophy of Bielema
2018 Wofford led the conference in total defense, scoring defense, rushing defense, passing defense and rushing offense.
2019 Wofford led the conference in rushing defense, rushing offense, total defense, sacks and sacks allowed.
Conklin is only 41, will be 42 in June. It looks like he has produced at every stop. I also remember him beating eventual National Champ Clemson in 2016 as only loss and in 2017 beat #2 Miami that was 10-0 before finishing 10-3. He has more upside and shown more results than any DC Lovie had on his staff including himself during the tenure at Illinois.