Big12 & more
Defending Darnell
By Terrance Harris on July 29, 2006 at 4:02 PM
Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione was asked about his decision to bring Gary Darnell aboard as his defensive coordinator and he made it clear that he has nothing but belief in his long-time friend.
The last time Darnell coached in these parts, he was basically ran out of town as defensive coordinator at Texas under John Mackovic.
"Gary is somebody I deeply respect and admire and I've known for a long time," Franchione said. "We did a lot of research and one thing I found, there were 80,000 applicants for our job. All those people sittingin Kyle Field know defense every Saturday.
"But (Darnell) emerged as the guy. I have admired him because he's taken a little and done a lot and he's taken a lot and done a lot."
Of course in this situation, Darnell will be taking over one of the worst passes defenses in the country will have to turn it around in a hurry.