5'10", 185#s, 6 interceptions this year.

San Diego Union: "According to the Battle Prep West website, Gibbons is a combination of speed and power.

His report reads: “Big-play, hard-hitting safety. Flies around the field. Excellent against the run.”

Gibbons, who runs a speedy 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had 113 tackles, 81 solos, 10 tackles for losses and an interception for the Saints last season."

We haven't got them yet. :cool:

Hopefully, they know we're loaded at LB & DB, loaded on offense, will be deep at RB ... and just need two more DL.

Given his injury, he may have 4 years eligibility left.

"Dixon, who signed with Fresno State over offers from Nevada, UNLV and Wyoming, among others, injured his meniscus on the final day of fall camp with the Bulldogs. He's already undergone surgery and rehab is expected to last 6 months."

http://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/manogue-alum-peyton-dixon-now-at-fresno-state-out-for-season-after-knee-surgery

Tape

https://youtu.be/Y1qBlMYE8N4

RB Payton Dixon*** to transfer to Davis.

Reno-Gazette: Bishop Manogue grad Dixon to sign with UC Davis for football

"Dixon signed with Fresno State out of high school. He injured his knee last August and did not play for the Bulldogs.

"After Fresno State head coach Jeff Tedford announced he was leaving the Bulldogs, due to health reasons, Dixon pout his name in the transfer portal.

"His father, Diaz Dixon, said Peyton Dixon will sign officially with UC Davis on Friday."

"Dixon ran for 3,143 yards and 49 touchdowns as a senior at Manogue and helped lead the Miners to the Northern 4A Regional championship in 2018."

https://www.rgj.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/01/22/bishop-manogue-peyton-dixon-transfers-fresno-state-uc-davis-football/4546633002/

If true, that should add depth & youth at RB.

I believe O'Brien's girlfriend (now wife) was in Davis.

I thought he did the math, and knew they were a run offense.

Don't forget, at Sochor's memorial O'Brien recalled not feeling much interest from Sochor on their first recruit meeting when he was a high school senior (?), so at least that perception didn't help.

The kind of addition we need to make a playoff run (if he can compete).

From today's Davis Enterprise:

"Tucker and UC Davis parted ways by “mutual agreement,” according Hawkins. Tucker played for Hawkins at Willamette University and coached with him at Boise State and Colorado before stints at West Hills and East Los Angeles community colleges were stepping stones to a reunion with Hawkins in 2017."

"Tucker has yet to respond to The Enterprise requests for an interview regarding his plans."

"In each of Tucker’s seasons at Davis, the Aggies’ points allowed decreased, as did allowed yardage. Turnovers forced went from 15 to 20 to 24 in 2019."

Cody or Dan?

Youth movement. Shelton's first college coaching position. Didn't Watts have his first college job here?

I'm not lobbying for that, 88Aggie mentioned Daft so I looked up his progress. I agree with your points, except Daft likely has family considerations, family in California, and he potentially.might like to take us with a Hawkins to Bison-type success.

Side note: Dartmouth finally finishing a new $20 Million indoor practice facility for ICA.

Daft was in a tough spot, having to implement Ron Gould's offense.

Impressive that his offense continued to roll with QB injuries.

Northwestern quotes

"Kevin Daft (Dartmouth - Offensive Coordinator/QBs)

"Why not stay in the Ivy League? Daft leads a Dartmouth offense that sits atop the conference standings with Princeton at 7-0. His Big Green offense has scored 35+ points in five of the team’s [first] seven games this year, and he’s 24-3 overall since arriving in Hanover three seasons ago.

"Heading into the Ivy League for a coordinator seems logical given Northwestern’s emphasis on recruiting kids with high academic standards, and Daft certainly has the track record to make the jump. The UC Davis alum was an assistant at Cal for four years, a stretch that included time at receivers coach when Marvin Jones, Jr. was in the room, before moving onto the FCS level.

"Daft has plenty of coaching experience despite being just 44 years old, with much of it coming for schools with academic standards on par with those of Northwestern, and though Dartmouth is putting up plenty of points this season, they are doing so with real offensive balance. *** Also, the Big Green aren’t dependent on the success of any one quarterback: last year, they rotated passers due to injuries and still put up massive numbers. *** Daft is certainly an intriguing enough option to be worth a look should the NU job open up."

https://www.insidenu.com/2019/11/5/20949046/who-could-be-northwesterns-next-offensive-coordinator-mick-mccall-mike-kafka-pat-fitzgerald-surace

I believe you meant Dartmouth. He has their offense rolling.

247sports
Offensive Coordinator Hot Board

Kevin Daft

"WHY DAFT: In last year’s search for a new offensive coordinator IU had Sean Gleeson, who was at Princeton at the time, as a finalist for the job. What that shows is Tom Allen is willing to think outside the box and look at any level when searching for the right coach to lead his offense. If Coach Allen decides to go back to the Ivy League again a candidate that could make sense is Kevin Daft from Dartmouth. The California native took over as the Dartmouth OC in 2017, and in his first season as the play caller for the Big Green their scoring improved by 10 points per game from the season before. In 2018 and 2019 Dartmouth was second in the Ivy League in scoring, so Daft has shown an ability to come in and immediately improve an offense and keep it at a high level. His offenses at Dartmouth and UC Davis have been some of the best at controlling the ball, passing efficiency, running the ball and scoring in the red zone. Daft recruits Louisiana, Oklahoma and eastern Texas for Dartmouth so he could potentially open up some new recruiting areas for IU. Daft’s time in the NFL as a player would be valuable for him as a coach and on the recruiting trail."

https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Article/Indiana-football-offensive-coordinator-job-opening--141173279/

He's a Colorado guy so likely a Hawkins pick. Looks like he was a great player, only 26, and Coombs a Boise guy. The Big Sky is a tough place to play defense.

"Yale alumnus arrives fresh of Oregon's Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl"

Fresh of what?

So 3 years college experience, but never a position coach?

It would be a severe challenge for any O Coordinator to have at least 2 top WRs out, only 1 healthy RB, lose Doss, and WR Vaughn possibly nursing an injury. And by design, no FB. But I guess that's the hero's journey.

I'm glad we're not complacent. Last year I was told the coaches felt they had something special. I recall Hawkins & Tucker jawing on the sideline one game, figured it was a healthy disagreement.

I was surprised at Cal with an early gift and a prolific offense, that we couldn't score more than 13. But we competed. Then we couldn't stop USD. The season seemed to change with the uninspired loss to Montana. Not mentally as strong as Montana or NDSU. But the young men came back & battled, and injuries piled up.

Plough appears talented but needs more time. The play calling reminded me of Gould at times, run, run, long pass on 3rd down, predictable, there needs to be a quicker feedback loop. Losing several top WRs & almost all the RBs was brutal.

Foster adopted the Flex, a schema no one else ran fulltime. Supposedly it allowed smaller, intelligent players to excel. Our new DC sounds young & green, and sounds like Hawk picked the new DL coach (26) from Colorado. Don't understand signing more TEs than D linemen, esp when we graduate 5.

Our offensive numbers were juiced up via 79 points vs USD & Lehigh.

Take those 2 games out, and we're averaging 26.5 PPG.

I looked at the numbers a few times last year, and one number that popped out was our big decrease in scoring. Doss, injuries, better comp, competition dialed into our new offense (fewer surprises). Defense held pretty steady, esp w injuries & tougher schedule.

Offense - PPG

2019: 28.67 (28% drop)
2018: 39.69

Total Yards
2019: 433 (11.5% drop)
2018: 488.9

Passing / Rushing
2019: 309 / 123 (P - 4% drop ; R - 11.5% drop)
2018: 322 / 166

Opponents

Offense - PPG
2019: 29.33 (7% increase)
2018: 27.38

Total Yards
2019: 444.3 (2.8% increase)
2018: 431.8

Does he have a gig lined up? So do I have this correct ...

Matt Coombs - new Defensive Coordinator - 34?, 4 yrs HS coach; Boise State - 2 yrs Quality assistant & 2 yrs DB coach.

Chidera Uzo-Diribe - Defensive Line - 26, 3 yrs as a graduate assistant at Colorado.