Idaho coach Paul Petrino isn’t done making changes to his defensive staff. According to FootballScoop.com, defensive coordinator Ronnie Lee will not return to the program.
The Moscow-Pullman Daily News is reporting that former Washington State defensive coordinator Mike Breske, will replace Lee as Idaho’s new defensive coordinator.
Breske was also seen at Saturday’s women’s basketball game wearing an Idaho football jacket.
The team has yet to confirm the hire.
When Mike Leach was hired by WSU in 2012, he brought in Breske as his defensive coordinator. The plan was for Breske to implement an aggressive, blitz heavy, attacking 3-4 defense to complement Leach’s Air Raid offense.
In his first season at WSU, Breske helped guide the Cougars to their first bowl game since 2003. The defense forced 30 turnovers (second in the Pac-12) and finished ranked No. 8 in the country in tackles-for-loss with an average of 7.67 per game.
Breske was dismissed at the end of the 2014 season after WSU lost six of its last seven games. The Cougars finished the season ranked No. 114 in points against with an average of 38.6 points allowed per game.
The Breske hire is Petrino’s third coaching change this offseason. Last Sunday, Idaho confirmed the departures of defensive line coach Bam Hardmon, who will have the same job at Troy, and defensive backs coach Ashley Ambrose, who will have the same job at Texas State.
The changes to the defensive staff seemed inevitable after the Vandal defense ranked near the bottom of most statistical categories. Last season, opposing teams averaged 462.7 yards per game against Idaho, which ranked No. 112 in the country.
The Daily news also reports that former Montana cornerbacks coach Aric Williams will join the program as the new secondary coach — the position group Lee coached.
Williams spent five seasons at Montana. In his time there he had two players earn All-American honors and one selected to the All-Big Sky team in 2014.
Williams played defensive back at Oregon State and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He spent two seasons in the NFL, in 2006 he was a member of the Washington Redskins, but was never promoted from the practice squad. Williams spent the next three years playing in the Arena Football League.
FootballScoop also reported last week that San Diego defensive line coach Kenny Holmes will takeover Hardmon’s old position as the Vandals’ defensive line coach.
Holmes, who played defensive end at the University of Miami, was selected by the Tennessee Oilers with 18th overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. After seven seasons in the NFL, Holmes finished his career with 289 tackles and 39 sacks.
Like the Breske news, Idaho has not confirmed either of the hires.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]
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