After a highly-publicized whiff at Randy Shannon and an even higher-publicized ill-fated courtship of former USC assistant Rocky Seto (and some much-needed Me Time in Cabo), Rick Neuheisel has a defensive coordinator in place for the 2011 college football season. The lucky fellow replacing the luckless Chuck Bullough: Joe Tresey, former DC at Cincinnati under Brian Kelly and at USF under Jim Leavitt.
But where was Tresey in 2010? The school's official release sticks that news waaay down in the sixth paragraph:
Tresey spent the 2010 season as defensive backs coach for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.
Everybody's entitled to a walkabout year, we suppose. For their part, Bruins Nation is keeping it on the sunny side:
We didn't see this coming, but we're glad we're here. If the paper profileholds up, then we appear to have all the boxes on the list checked off.
Aggressiveness? See the record at USF and Cincinnati.
Experience? 14+ years coaching at various college levels, 3 years DC at Div. I level, and 5 years DC at lower college levels, too.
Up-and-comer? Looks like it here from the cheap seats.
Price? Safe to say that a Pac-10 salary is probably more handsome than USF or the UFL.
At any rate: Welcome to Coach Tresey! Maybe shell out for an extended-stay hotel for a couple weeks, just to make sure this hire sticks.