Pagano’s brother is Baltimore’s DC. I thought Leavitt was the guy, but Pagano fits the mold. He’s a good NFL assistant with good positional expertise.

I’m curious if Kendricks would stay outside in a 3-4. He’s pretty small for that role, but Larimore and Zumwalt (I assume) would start inside and we need to get EK on the field

We have athletes at LB and a tough MLB in Larimore. These guys are NFL guys and know what it takes to get to the pro level so the high school recruits will listen to their pitch. I must admit I’m a lot more excited about these hires than the Bullough/Johnson/Tresey hires. I’m most excited about having a ST coach as well. I just hope that we can get a new S&C coach because that’s where we need to improve.

These guys look like the real deal, tough as nails, exactly what the doctor ordered. If they can’t stop the spread, it won’t be because of lack of scheme or effort.

So far it looks like Mora is taking the whole coaching staff to a higher level of intensity and discipline, both of which we have been lacking for years at least on the surface.

Of course, not a down has been played in practice or a game but these guys are all at another level from anything we have had in the last ten years IMO.

I think kids will love to play for these top flight NFL guys.

In nine months we’ll know a lot more.

From my perspective, the coaching spot most in need of severe improvement was the LB coach, which I expect Pagano to take over in addition to DC.

That was the group that killed UCLA’s defense all season long. Very undisciplined in gap responsibility, poor tackling, terrible communication.
If the LB’s on a defense are an issue, the entire defense is an issue. Almost impossible to find a defense that is dominant without a solid group of LBs. Not necessarily excellent LBs, but solid, go-to-work type of guys in the 2-deep.

Pagano has been coaching an outstanding group of LBs in San Diego. He’s mostly responsible for turning a 4th round pick into one of the best LBs in the NFL (Shaun Phillips) and also has a 3x All-Pro in Shawne Merriman on his resume. He consistently has gotten the best out of any LB that comes his way. That group has dealt with a lot of injuries and missed games from their best players over the years and seen very limited drops in level of play.

As for your biggest concern, I feel like having collegiate experience on the defensive side is far less important than it is on offense. If Mora had hired a NFL WR or O-Line coach as the OC, I would have had a big issue because offensive schemes in the NFL are so limited and the offenses in the NFL are all ball-control oriented.
A good DC, regardless of the level of play, is determined by a team’s ability to tackle consistently well and every player buying into the scheme 100%. A defensive scheme adjusts to offense and should evolve and change a little every week. That’s the nature of the beast on defense. You can’t bring in a spread defense or a power run defense, you need a guy that can motivate, scheme and, most importantly, adjust against anything that is thrown their way.
While he’s been at San Diego, there has been constant buy-in on the defensive side of the ball, which tell me he can motivate, he can scheme and he can adjust. San Diego always seemed to be the team that could bea/slow down the offenses with guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger.

He’s turned down a lot of opportunities to get a pay raise at the NFL level because his family is a So Cal family and he loves it here. That negates the threat of him bailing for a better job if he is successful here, which is a big deal from my point of view.

Hope that helps you out a bit.

Only time I’ve spent on offense was as a TE half of my sophomore year in college and a blocking WR in high school because we didn’t have a TE.

I thought the same of Palcic, to be honest. He made the most out of the worst situation. Scary number of injuries, suspensions, ineligible guys, a 2 year mission. In addition, the offensive line he was left with after Dorrell left was one of the worst I’ve seen.

Just glancing over SMU’s bio of him, I got this: "His line paved the way for an SMU offense which set school records in total offense, passing yards, passing TDs and first downs among others. Running back Zach Line finished the season with 1,494 yards rushing…Line was just the second 1,000-yard collegiate rusher under June Jones. "

And from his first year: “In his first season on the Hilltop, Klemm led Beachum to All-Conference honors and Brooks and Josh LeRibeus to honorable mention All-Conference accolades. The line blocked for an offense that passed for a then-school-record 3,666 yards and produced the first collegiate 1,000-yard rusher under June Jones.”

Looks like he did a pretty solid job. I just need to see results.

It’s the ace recruiters he has poached from other college programs who know what they’re doing. I see no signs that the NFL ties you were so hot and bothered about are a prime factor here. So no, I don’t think you’re crazy. You’re just the hilarious guy that does a TD celebration not realizing that you gave up a Safety instead.