Well, the direction of 2011 Kent State football was painfully evident when the coaching rumors were populating Twitter and message boards. This receivers coach, that receivers coach, perhaps this other OC. Seems to be a pattern. They wanted an offensive-minded guy. Looks like they have one: Ohio State assistant/WR coach Darrell Hazell is expected to be the next head coach.
It's really not a surprise they went with someone like Hazell after Doug Martin resigned. They needed that after the defense did their job and the offense languished. He's a veteran assistant, he recruits, but more importantly his teams (and their point-manufacturing) improve. This sorta sounds like what they need, doesn't it?
Think of all the receivers OSU has had since 2004, when Hazell joined the team. I'm gonna go from memory: Ted Ginn, Dane Sanzenbacher, and Santonio Holmes. [peeks] Okay and also Brian Hartline, Anthony Gonzalez, and Brian Robiskie. Not bad. He was even involved with the playcalling in Columbus, so he has experience with that. Any worries about the defense perhaps regressing back to average might be quelled with Pete Rekstis returning as the DC. It's a good coaching foundation, and nobody can ask for more than that.
And no pressure, Coach-elect Hazell, but nobody's consistently won there except for a small window in the 1970s when Don James told Jack Lambert to blitz. Gary Pinkel, Lou Saban, and Lou Holtz also played there in their youth, and in the color-TV era we've seen Josh Cribbs and Julian Edelman come out of the program ... but there just hasn't been much to scream about as a Flashes fan other than some notable alumni doing neato things. This was supposed to be their year, but the high aspirations were punted out of bounds.
So let's welcome Hazell to the Hustle Belt. Try not to talk up the fact that coaches can leave for a bigger school in two years. Let's get him to think that first he's actually gotta win a MAC division — something the school's never done before, and neither did Al Golden.