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Incoming Ball State head coach Mike Neu has wasted no time building his staff for the 2016 season.
Football Scoop is reporting as of Thursday afternoon that former Syracuse defensive line coach Tim Daoust will become Ball State's next defensive coordinator.
Source…Tim Daoust to be new defensive coordinator at Ball State https://t.co/sNnVtycOD5
— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) January 14, 2016
Daoust is no newcomer to the Mid-American Conference. Before being hired at Syracuse in 2011 as a defensive ends coach, Daoust served as Central Michigan's defensive line coach for the 2010 season. Before that, he spent four seasons at Western Michigan, serving one year as the Broncos' defensive line coach and three seasons as the secondary coach for the program. All four of his years at WMU were spent under long time Broncos head coach Bill Cubit.
Northern Illinois gave Daoust his first opportunity to start coaching as a graduate assistant from 2002-03. Afterwards, Daoust pushed on, coaching cornerbacks at Illinois State in 2004 and serving as a graduate assistant once again at Cincinnati in 2005, before taking the job at Western Michigan.
Daoust has helped develop several NFL draft picks, including E.J. Biggers and Lewis Delmars at Western Michigan, as well as Chandler Jones and Jay Bromley at Syracuse.
Graduating in 2001, Daoust played his college ball at Wittenberg University. He ranks second on Wittenberg's all-time sack list, with 27.5 sacks over the course of his college career. He made all-conference teams in both his junior and senior seasons.
Ball State's last defensive coordinator was Kevin Kelly, who spent two seasons at Ball State under former head coach Pete Lembo. Ball State's defensive struggled under Kelly, giving up over 35 points per game to opponents over the course of the season. The Cardinals also gave up nearly 9 yards per pass and over 5 yards per rush in 2015.
The defense Daoust helped overlook at Syracuse in 2015 as assistant head coach gave up 31 points per game in what was very much an off year for a good Syracuse team. According to his bio, he helped Cuse become the only FBS team to not allow a 100 yard rusher over the course of the 2013 season.