https://duckswire.usatoday.com/2022/12/28/oregon-safeties-coach-matt-powledge-new-target-for-baylor-dc/

Matt Powledge, Oregon's safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator, is now considered a target to be Baylor's next defensive coordinator according to a tweet from Bruce Feldman at The Athletic.

they take our qb...we retaliate. nuclear option engage.

If Ducks are fighting Bears, I'm ultimately going with Bears in the long run!!!!!!!!

Meh, is he really an upgrade over Roberts?

Oregon Co-DC/safeties coach Matt Powledge has emerged as a target for the Baylor DC, per source. The 35-yr-old spent 2 seasons on Dave Aranda’s staff as Baylor’s safeties coach & special teams coordinator. Oregon is tied for No. 1 in the Pac-12 in fewest plays of 20+ yds allowed.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 29, 2022

IowaBear said:

---

Meh, is he really an upgrade over Roberts?

---

For sure did you see the drop off in our secondary this year.

Knew it. If this is where we go, we can just pack it in. Not even someone with DC experience.

Weak

Ronnie Wheat…..

Most Aranda decisions nowadays are weak. It's the new norm for the yoda

Fre3dombear said:

---

Knew it. If this is where we go, we can just pack it in. Not even someone with DC experience.

Weak

---

I mentioned it in the other thread, but Mack Rhodes had an interview a couple weeks back where he talked all this powerful stuff about how we weren't afraid to open up the checkbook for this hire. We could probably do worse than Powledge, but it definitely comes across as a "my first couple options said no" type of choice. I do think he's a very good safeties and special teams coach.

We took Rhule from them..they took Novasad..so it's our turn.

IowaBear said:

---

Meh, is he really an upgrade over Roberts?

---

Roberts' firing would appear to have had more to do with cultural fit that performance.

DanaDane said:

---

If Ducks are fighting Bears, I'm ultimately going with Bears in the long run!!!!!!!!

---

What if it's 1 bear-sized duck or 100 duck-sized bears?

Another defensive player lost.

Open To All Options ☎️ pic.twitter.com/Ap4mwqZAD5

— ♕𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤♘¹ ¹ (@MHarris11_) December 29, 2022

I've done all the reading on Powledge I could possibly find, and I'm honestly not sure what his role was at Oregon. His title is co-defensive coordinator, but it seems that he was really more of a safeties coach. He didn't actually call plays. I think what happened is that Oregon went out last year and money whipped the best safety coach they could find which at the time was Matt Powledge. He is being paid 700K at Oregon which seems pretty good for a position coach

No Quarterback said:

---

I've done all the reading on Powledge I could possibly find, and I'm honestly not sure what his role was at Oregon. His title is co-defensive coordinator, but it seems that he was really more of a safeties coach. He didn't actually call plays. I think what happened is that Oregon went out last year and money whipped the best safety coach they could find which at the time was Matt Powledge. He is being paid 700K at Oregon which seems pretty good for a position coach

---

Shoot, if you think that's impressive, try paying $1.1mm for a special teams coach who left his family to date a stripper with a pet monkey.

Bigkahunaww said:

---

Another defensive player lost.

Open To All Options ☎️ pic.twitter.com/Ap4mwqZAD5

— ♕𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤♘¹ ¹ (@MHarris11_) December 29, 2022

---

Who is this? Nevertheless Best of luck to him.

I hope that's not a mistake!

My guess is we made a run at Leonhard(maybe someone else as well) he unsurprisingly said no thanks and we moved on to Powledge who knows the players, staff, and culture. Our secondary really struggled last year and he's an ace in that area. He's young so shouldn't mind hitting the road for recruiting.

I dont know but I think Aranda doing nothing about the offense could be hurting this search. As no one wants to go to a situation that is looking like a one season and fired situation. Certainly no big names want to come in and get a firing on their record after a year.

I'm good with Powledge. He can be DC/Safeties then we can hire an inside LB coach who can recruit. We need to follow Rhule's outline for recruiting... size/speed. There is no subsititute for either.

What would you consider an upgrade?

If we don't get better athletes on defense you won't get better results with Nick Saban as DC

He's young and I bet he can also recruit.

So now Aranda is potentially getting fired in a year?

If we have a bad year, I do think that can happen.

Never heard of him but happy because we do need to free some scholarships up to bring in better talent

Why are people upset about this? We don't need a block buster DC hire--in Aranda we already have what was considered perhaps the best DC in the country.

What we need is a guy who can recruit and teach sound fundamentals, while understanding the Baylor culture. I think this guy fits that idea pretty well.

Golden Helmet said:

---

So now Aranda is potentially getting fired in a year?

---

Not unless Baylor misses a bowl and there is a scandal of some sort (i.e. hitting players like Washington's last coach).

No

As a HC you strive to always make a blockbuster hire….always.

Problem is The Madden Football gang at every school thinks they know as much as the Head Coach and his staff on potential and new hires.

Is he bringing Novosad back with him?

Do we even want him anymore?

IowaBear said:

---

Meh, is he really an upgrade over Roberts?

---

What a shock they you would say "meh" to ANYTHING Baylor does.

What a shock, Evil is obsessed with my opinion.. on a message board. It's a meh hire. He's never called plays before. It's a high risk high reward type of hire

pitchspork said:

---

Why are people upset about this? We don't need a block buster DC hire--in Aranda we already have what was considered perhaps the best DC in the country.

What we need is a guy who can recruit and teach sound fundamentals, while understanding the Baylor culture. I think this guy fits that idea pretty well.

---

I don't want Aranda running the defense. I want him running the program. He was hired to be the head coach, not the DC.

That said, I'm fine with -- if a little underwhelmed by -- the Powledge hire.

Because some on this board look for the negative rather than any positive in anything. They would complain if we hired Nick Saban as a coordinator……

That's a stretch, most would be getting Saban tats

Bear3 said:

---

Because some on this board look for the negative rather than any positive in anything. They would complain if we hired Nick Saban as a coordinator……

---

I look for neither the positive or the negative. I look at things as they are -- or at least as I perceive them to be. When things are good, I'll push back against unwarranted negativity. But I see no value in trying to convince myself that things are better than they are when they're bad.