jagowar
12-20-2005, 01:18 PM
Dennis Franchione announced the hiring of Gary Darnell as defensive coordinator Friday.
[img width=350]http://www.aggiefans.com/forums/images/user_uploaded_images/40720c75659b9-12-1.jpg[/img width]
Darnell, 57, most recently served as the head coach at Western Michigan University from 1997-2004. He took over a WMU program that went 2-9 in 1996 and in his first season the Broncos were the most improved team in the country fashioning an 8-3 record. In 1999 and 2000, the Broncos won the Mid-American Western Division and Darnell was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2000.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to work at Texas A&M," Darnell said. “First, we have to have versatility and flexibility in our defense to fit what we need to do to the personnel we have to do it with. We’ll evaluate our players and we’ll set up schemes that play to their talents and helps make them successful."
“The reason for that is we want to get good as fast as we can and continue to grow," Darnell said. “We’ll get the best system we can run to succeed right now."
“Defense revolves around the different ways you can create extra help in the box," Darnell added. “In today’s game of spread offenses, you have to cover not just the depth of the field, but also the width of the field, while always protecting against the run. It comes down to how you can create extra help in the box. And in college football, you have to be versatile enough to adjust to different attacks from week to week."
Total Defense Scoring Defense (while with the longhorns)
1993 401.2 yards per game 24.5 points per game (without Darnell)
1994 363.4 yards per game 23.6 points per game
1995 369.9 yards per game 18.8 points per game
1996 373.0 yards per game 22.3 points per game
1997 399.2 yards per game 33.3 points per game (without Darnell)
Serving as defensive coordinator is nothing new to Darnell. He served as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame (1990-91), Florida (1988-89), Wake Forest (1986-87) as well as Kansas State (1978-82). Between his time at Kansas State and Wake Forest, Darnell served as the head coach at Tennessee Tech (1983-85). Darnell also served as the interim head coach at Florida for the final seven games in 1989.
Coach Darnell has already proved to be a solid recruiter in convincing Anthony Lewis to commit to play at Texas A&M. Lewis (6-foot-2, 228 pounds), a member of the Star-Telegram's Elite 11.
[img width=350]http://www.aggiefans.com/forums/images/user_uploaded_images/40720c75659b9-12-1.jpg[/img width]
Darnell, 57, most recently served as the head coach at Western Michigan University from 1997-2004. He took over a WMU program that went 2-9 in 1996 and in his first season the Broncos were the most improved team in the country fashioning an 8-3 record. In 1999 and 2000, the Broncos won the Mid-American Western Division and Darnell was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2000.
“I am very excited about the opportunity to work at Texas A&M," Darnell said. “First, we have to have versatility and flexibility in our defense to fit what we need to do to the personnel we have to do it with. We’ll evaluate our players and we’ll set up schemes that play to their talents and helps make them successful."
“The reason for that is we want to get good as fast as we can and continue to grow," Darnell said. “We’ll get the best system we can run to succeed right now."
“Defense revolves around the different ways you can create extra help in the box," Darnell added. “In today’s game of spread offenses, you have to cover not just the depth of the field, but also the width of the field, while always protecting against the run. It comes down to how you can create extra help in the box. And in college football, you have to be versatile enough to adjust to different attacks from week to week."
Total Defense Scoring Defense (while with the longhorns)
1993 401.2 yards per game 24.5 points per game (without Darnell)
1994 363.4 yards per game 23.6 points per game
1995 369.9 yards per game 18.8 points per game
1996 373.0 yards per game 22.3 points per game
1997 399.2 yards per game 33.3 points per game (without Darnell)
Serving as defensive coordinator is nothing new to Darnell. He served as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame (1990-91), Florida (1988-89), Wake Forest (1986-87) as well as Kansas State (1978-82). Between his time at Kansas State and Wake Forest, Darnell served as the head coach at Tennessee Tech (1983-85). Darnell also served as the interim head coach at Florida for the final seven games in 1989.
Coach Darnell has already proved to be a solid recruiter in convincing Anthony Lewis to commit to play at Texas A&M. Lewis (6-foot-2, 228 pounds), a member of the Star-Telegram's Elite 11.