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Well, the news that had been lingering on the rumor mill all weekend finally came to fruition and it was finally announced this morning that Boise State is in the market for yet another coordinator—this time of the defensive variety. The Broncos still have yet to replace OC Eliah Drinkwitz and are now tasked with filling Marcel Yates' seat in the booth. The reasons for Yates departure do not appear to be purely monetary, but it cannot be underscored enough that he WILL be making 200k more in Tucson...so even if he was only slightly disgruntled...nearly a quarter million more in annual salary would have many of us headed for the exits as well—regardless of how "loyal" we claim to be.
#BoiseState DC Marcel Yates tells @FoxSports he has accepted the #Arizona defensive coordinator job.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 18, 2016
That said, Yates was a well-liked coach and good recruiter that was uniquely qualified to extol the virtues of a Boise State education. His loss hurts...there's no spinning it. In fact, he and Drinkwitz were both instrumental in bringing in some of the highest profile recruits in recent history, so replacing them won't be easy—but must be done correctly. I'm reticent to dive into the "SOMETHING IS ROTTEN IN DENMARK" storyline that many are trying to push right now. It could very well be that Harsin isn't the easiest person to work for...but there's no doubt in my mind Harsin's number one goal is to win and his love of Boise State runs deep. That has to be the focus of the entire staff or things just won't work. Harsin isn't looking for a springboard, and he may want things run a certain way. If people don't share his vision, there will be tension. There's always tension when things don't go exactly to plan—but I'm not going to entertain sentiment that Harsin is some kind of cancerous megalomaniac. The Broncos losing 3 coordinators in 2 seasons is troubling, but it doesn't have to be devastating.
A name being thrown around at defensive coordinator is linebackers coach Andy Avalos—and UPDATE: as soon as I hit 'publish' Andy Avalos was indeed named Boise State's next DC. More coming ASAP.
Your turn
No use crying over spilled milk, right? If Boise State can hang on to their commits a Super Mario sized bullet will have been dodged.