Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Jay Norvell has accepted the Offensive Coordinator job at UCLA. Interestingly, the spot was vacated by the firing of another coach with Nebraska (Wesleyan) ties Jim Svoboda.
Normally losing a coach this close to Signing Day would be troublesome. In this case, however, I don't expect it to have much impact. Norvell was a solid recruiter, but not spectacular and has not been the contact for many of our big-name recruits over the past couple of years.
My sense is that Shawn Watson will become the Offensive Coordinator, but much like in Norvell's case the position will mainly be a title. Callahan will likely remain in charge of game planning and playcalling.
First name I'll throw out there to fill the vacancy on the staff is Dave Roberts. His name has come up time and time again, and he is a very respected recruiter. I'll give some thought to some other candidates and update this over the weekend.
*Update - Another name to consider is Eric Roark. Roark is currently the recruiting coordinator at SMU and also coaches DEs. He has fantastic connections in Texas and would be a big help recruiting that state. Roark also played for Jimmy Johnson at Oklahoma State.
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