re: “Kevin Steele likely headed to LSU” - Mentioned in Oregon DC search.

quote:

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Jim Leonard is my favorite guy.... he’s not listed in the article.

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Not sour grapes, but I think both Leonhard and Nielsen have the potential to be better than Freeman. I've been following Leonhard since we hired Aranda and wondering how Wisconsin manages to continue making home run DC hires.

As far as Nielsen goes, he's as much the defensive version of Joe Brady as you can get; star pupil learning from one of the best DC's in the NFL, even if he is a bit older than Brady. I think one of Dennis Allen's best talents is roster management and player rotation, navigating depleted rosters on a weekly basis and keeping his defenses fresh to the end of the game. If Nielsen could successfully implement that same approach at LSU along with the schemes and aggressive mindset, the ceiling would be high.

Also, I know it's been rumored that Nielsen turned down the job already, but you have to think if Brady made that big of a jump back into the NFL from LSU and he wasn't even OC, Nielsen should at least seriously consider an offer.

And just to be clear, I stress the word "potential" here. I'm not claiming that either of them will be better than Freeman but IMO it's certainly possible.