Thursday, February 12, 2009

Canes make Lovett DC Plus 2009 Schedule...

First, the 2009 schedule. Mark them down in your outlook/blackberry:

Sept. 7 at Florida State (ESPN)

Sept. 17 Georgia Tech (ESPN)

Sept. 26 at Virginia Tech

Oct. 3 Oklahoma

Oct. 10 Florida A&M

Oct. 17 at Central Florida

Oct. 24 Clemson

Oct. 31 at Wake Forest

Nov. 7 Virginia

Nov. 14 at North Carolina

Nov. 21 Duke

Nov. 28 at South Florida




It is official. That is one ugly mug!!! Ok, ok, now the serious stuff. The Canes have finalized the deal with John Lovett to be the new Defensive Coordinator. Lovett has spend 18 years as a defensive coordinator at various institutions. Coach Shannon had stated previously that if he did not find a suitable candidate for the position he would do it himself. It seems as though he has found him in Lovett.

It is believed that coach Lovett has a great knowledge of ACC football. He has spent a good amount of time in the conference, with stints at Clemson and most recently, North Carolina. Coaches that have worked with him in the past, have nothing but positive things to say. Of course I wouldn't expect them to say anything negative anyways. Some of the things they have said are that he is a great recruiter in the Southeast as well as the Northeast, and a proven talent evaluator. Also coaches have mentioned that he is aggressive as a DC and works particularly well with the secondary, something we desperately need to improve on. He has had stints with Mississippi under coach Tubberville for four years, then followed Tubberville to Auburn for three years as DC. Other stints as defensive coordinator include stops at Clemson and Maine.

He spent the last two years at UNC under coach Butch Davis as special teams coach and assisting the defense under corrdinators Chuch Pagano and Everett Withers. He helped with gameplanning extensively.


I know there is people who are a bit skeptical about the hire and don't know if this is the "homerun" hire we were all looking for but I don't think this is a significant dropoff from coach Young. I believe coach Lovett brings some different to the table and something we've all been wanting as well; someone with knowledge in the secondary. No one seems to be too happy with coach McGriff. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from Lovett. So I am definitely looking forward to seeing what will play out. I'm good with the hire. Not overly ecstatic, but good.


Once again here is his bio off the UNC athletic website:


Lovett was part of a defensive staff that improved more than 60 positions from the previous year in the NCAA's total defense statistical rankings. In addition, kick returner Brandon Tate established the ACC career mark for kickoff return yards and returned a punt for a touchdown. UNC kicker Connor Barth had his best season in 2007, connecting on 19 of 22 field goals and setting the school career mark for field goals.
Prior to coming to Carolina, Lovett was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green from 2005-06. In addition to coordinating the defense at Bowling Green, Lovett coached linebackers in 2005 and defensive backs in 2006. In his first year at BGSU, Lovett's defense ranked 20th in the country in turnover margin.
The defensive coordinator at Clemson from 2002-04, Lovett helped develop one of the ACC's top defenses and defensive backs Justin Miller and Brian Mance earned All-America honors. In 2004, Clemson was 11th in the nation in pass defense efficiency (103.4) and 26th in total defense (327.3). In 2003, his defense allowed just 19.2 points per game as Clemson finished the year with nine wins and a top 25 national ranking.
Lovett was the defensive coordinator at Auburn from 1999-2001 and helped lead the Tigers to bowl games each of his last two years. In 2001, Auburn earned a berth in the Peach Bowl opposite North Carolina.
Lovett coached the secondary all four years he was at Ole Miss (1995-98), including the 1997 season when the Rebels had an 8-4 overall record, including a victory in the Motor City Bowl.
Prior to coming to Mississippi in 1995, Lovett worked as defensive coordinator at the University of Maine for two stints. He first went to Orono in 1985 and severed as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach from 1985-88. He also served as defensive coordinator for the Black Bears in 1994. The 1987 team won the conference championship and qualified for the Division I-AA playoffs.
Lovett began his career in coaching at Saint Joseph's Region High School in Montvale, N.J., in 1976. He started his college career in 1978 at Union College in New York, where he worked until 1982. Lovett spent the 1983 season in the Ivy League at Brown, and then moved back to New York to work under Joe Walton as the New York Jets' defensive quality control coach in 1984. In 1989, he joined head coach Tim Murphy at the University of Cincinnati, where he remained until 1992. In 1993, he coached at UNLV as the secondary coach.
Lovett graduated from C.W. Post College in December of 1973. He came to the school as a walk-on, but quickly earned a scholarship and served as the team's co-captain as a senior in 1973. He played for Dom Amile, who is now the Director of Football Operations for the Indianapolis Colts. At the completion of his career, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Denver and he earned his Master's Degree in 1975. The next year he entered the coaching profession.
The Lovett FileDate and Place of Birth: Born December 1, 1950Family: Wife, CarolEducation: C.W. Post College, 1973; C.W. Post College, master's, 1975Playing Experience: 1970-73, C.W. Post CollegeCoaching Experience: 1976-77, St. Joseph's Regional High School, N.J.; 1978-82, Union College, N.Y. (assistant coach); 1983, Brown (assistant coach); 1984, New York Jets (defensive quality control coach), 1985-88, Maine (assistant coach/defensive coordinator); 1989-92, Cincinnati (assistant coach/defensive coordinator); 1993, UNLV (assistant coach/secondary); 1994, Maine (assistant coach/defensive coordinator); 1995-98, Mississippi (assistant coach/secondary); 1999-2001, Auburn (assistant coach/defensive coordinator); 2002-04, Clemson (assistant coach/defensive coordinator); 2005-06, Bowling Green, (assistant coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers/defensive backs); 2007-present, North Carolina (assistant coach/special teams coordinator/defensive assistant)


3 comments:

  1. Just the fact this guy is a good recruiter makes my toes tingle! But like you, I'm not overly ecstatic either... I think it SUCKS that we play FSU our first game!
    {BTW}... You should put LSU on the "What school will Bryce Brown end up with" poll cause I think he's gonna be a Tiger.

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  2. I like playing FSU early. Sure, we are installing a new offense, but that means they can't gameplan for it. It also means both offenses are going to have some rust to shake off.

    We played a ton of freshman and soph. last year, the yaer a year older and a year better.

    They lost Myron Rolle, Everette Brown, Antone Smith, and Carr. They are going to struggle, especially when it comes to replace them.

    This game is a toss up, it'll come down to penalties and turnovers.

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  3. Guess I just miss the old days when we played them in Oct or Nov. "Wide Right"!!! Aaahh the old days... Heres hopin' that Lovett is the right piece to the puzzle. Great job on this site, Jazz. Thanks for the take.

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