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Paul Haynes was dismissed from the Kent State Golden Flashes football team after a bad run. It appeared he was going to end up at Iowa State under former Toledo head coach Matt Campbell.
It turns out, he ended up at Michigan State. NBC reported that the nephew of his former boss Jim Tressel would now be in charge of their storied defense, while Haynes would take over as the defensive backs coach. That’s a role Haynes knows well, and has flourished at.
This is an ideal fit for a lot of reasons. Haynes does his best work coaching defensive backs. Tressel 2.5 and Dantonio have similar philosophies with regards to defense, which Haynes certainly agrees with. He has the best of both worlds, as he can make a solid living coaching the MSU secondary, but he also has the opportunity to advance.
I always felt Haynes was a good coach and a great recruiter. It’s going to take a great coach and an even better recruiter, and possibly a magician, to turn Kent State around. I don’t think any sane person really blames him for the woes in Kent.
I personally wish him all the best, even though he went to the fancy Catholic School, while my wife had to slum it out at the public across the street that is now closed, while I struggled to complete 9th grade English (I, in fact, didn’t, hence my over use of commas) at the other public school on the other side of Morse road. I’ll be honest, I actually hope he can parlay this gig into another MAC head coaching gig where he actually has a chance at success.