Kevin Wilson more specifically explains James Patton's role | | | |
Posted by: Pete Roussel on February 19, 2013 With the departure of Mark Hagan to Texas A&M, many coaches believed that Indiana head coachKevin Wilson would hire another defensive line coach to work alongside Jon Fabris. Wilson was prepared to do so, until he became aware that Oklahoma offensive line coach James Patton was looking for a new job. |
Patton and Wilson coached together at Miami (OH), Northwestern, and Oklahoma.
So Wilson hired Patton, but not as the offensive line coach. Although Patton has not coached on the defensive side of the ball, Wilson, through his experience coaching with Patton, felt comfortable naming Patton as the assistant defensive line coach / special teams coordinator / recruiting coordinator.
On Monday, Wilson explained more specifically the role Patton will assume.
Wilson stated, "Jon Fabris will man the entire front four on the defensive line."
"He's (Patton) going to manage the special teams, not be the 'special teams coordinator,' we're going to keep doing what we're doing, not total changes, all of our coaches are involved. He'll manage special teams, make sure all positions are covered, he'll also manage recruiting coordinator which we have internal recruiting help, just to make sure all of those things are going. He doesn't have a true position, so he's a little bit free to do some of that management. And when he's on the field, he'll assist Coach Fabris."
Indiana begins spring practice on March 2.
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