re: The Defensive Coordinator hire doesn't really matter.

if you look behind the numbers in '14 the stats you refer to are misleading as hell. yes, we held our 12 opponents to the least avg yard per game. whoopee!

MSU and Auburn completely dominated our defense. so did Arkansas and notre dame. we got our stats against cupcakes and it just so happens our cupcakes didn't score.

you can blame the offense all uyou want, and they certainly contributed to this mediocre season but our defense was poreous and it allowed the other team to chip away for first downs and stay on the field. Kelly's game planned the Chavis D perfectly. bend, don't break shite doesn't always work.

imo, Chavis got exposed this year. he's good but has some weaknesses that simply prevent most championship runs. his weaknesses are recruiting and developing (either or both) defensive linemen and linebackers. and he was the linebacker coach. his style of using undersized guys doesn't work unless the middle can be plugged and pressure can be applied to the QB . his defenses, with some exceptions, never did that. yes, 2011 was one of those exceptions. we have had the best D secondary and a poor front 7 for most of the time he was here, certainly, the last 3 years (the years where all the players were recruited under his watch).

so the DC matters A LOT. we need to get someone that can get our D back to what it was when Chavis arrived and give our damn offense a chance to grow up.