I checked out of the constant checking of this board after Freeman chose Notre Dame last minute. But I pop in enough to tell that this hire will not be well received as the DC was not. I can’t even remember the DCs name. But a couple of thoughts:

—the Co-DCs didn’t work in ‘08 because of Mallory and Peveto (and maybe Miles some). It is in no way a predictor of success with 2 different human beings in the positions with being underneath another totally different human being.

—CO-DCs have been shown to have some success. I don’t think it’s ever ideal, but if the HC establishes the roles of each, and they not only agree to to, but embrace it and work well with and compliment each other, it could very well be a successful arrangement

—if it fails, it is because of Coach O and the Co-DCs, not the concept of Co-DCs

—I read in another thread that this hire is retarded because apparently there is another LB coach who is infinitely better than Baker. That very well may be true. But I think most of us fans think way too highly of ourselves regarding the evaluation of position coaches. These guys go to all the same clinics, work with the same people, watch the same film—there’s not some secret formula that only a select few position coaches have that others don’t. Some are better teachers than others, sure, but as long as they are competent, I don’t know that the gap between the best position coach and the worst is as wide as we’ve convinced ourselves. It’s much more important to have the best players. Identifying and signing them is much more important than whatever drills you may have them running.

—At his core, Coach O is a recruiter, and I don’t think he’d sacrifice bad recruiting from a position coach for the slight gain he may give you as a teacher. That doesn’t make sense to me at all.

—it’s so hard to judge position coaches because we’re just not privy to the information needed to do so. They are not on an island, they are working within an overall scheme. Do we really think Raymond went from none of the best DB coaches in CFB to the worst overnight? Of course not. His guys could only do what they were instructed to within Pelini’s scheme.

—personality fits make an difference. People can make BBQ buddy jokes all they want (though after 30 years of coaching, it’s almost impossible to not have any connection whatsoever with guys), but the fact is that a good working environment is crucial. It’s up to O to foster a culture where everybody wants to not only shown up to work, but are excited to work together.

—I don’t know anything about Baker that I haven’t read in the last hour on here. Don’t know anything about our DC that I didn’t read or hear the last 3 days. They could both be epic failures and help usher Ed out the door. Or they could help Ed hold the trophy again in the next 2 years. Perhaps we could hold off a bit on getting our panties all in wads and let it play out at least a game or 2.