Applewhite took his time filling the position, considering five candidates before finally making the hire Jan. 6, 25 days after he was introduced as head coach.
Not only did D’Onofrio come with the endorsement of Orlando, he also fit two important categories Applewhite set for his staff: trust and comfort level.
“I knew early on this is the guy,” Applewhite said. "He brings a lot of great things to the table, (especially) his experience at schools that are similar building the Temple program and recruiting at Miami. He gets this place without having been here or worked here.
“He understands this place - the energy factor and attitude that needs to come with the defense. That was intriguing to me.”
I think a lot of our fan base is uncomfortable with the hire because of the eerie similarities of Levine’s hiring of Nesbit, IE saying we’re running the same system (“if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”) then hiring a guy he didn’t know personally. We all know what happened w/ that offense.
Now I think Applewhite is a better judge of coaching talent because he’s a better coach, but we shall see.
This is exactly what people are antsy about. We got burned bad by Levine. Unfortunately Levine’s coaching staff was largely incoherent and the offense devolved down into a series of plays. No coherent philosophy other than snap the ball ASAP.
People are right to be concerned because what we have been doing overall has been working and allowing us to compete in the top 10. People don’t want to be a plucky G5 team. We want to compete at the highest level.
So I hope Applewhite is not shining us on… intuitively I don’t think he is, but we shall see…
Everybody needs to take a deep breath. Major needs our full support. What makes a Coach WIN is how he communicates and motivates his Team. This is his first HC job. We are going to know fairly quickly.
What worries me most is the recruiting. Like everyone else I have not seen the “connections” work so far.
This hire is no where near Nesbittish in my opinion, D’Onofrio has 10 plus years as a D1 coordinator at two urban universities…he wasn’t found on google coming from nowhere.
Fair point on D’Onofrio in that he has way more experience than Nesbitt at SFA. For all of our sakes, we need him to do well to keep the train rolling.
Comparing D’onofrio to a zero like Nesbit is absurd…Mark D did a fantastic job at Temple, and had to manage an incredibly difficult situation at Miami…He was recommended by Orlando for God’s sake! I am much more worried about giving him decent talent to work with than his coaching abilities.
I’m not saying it’s right, but that’s the general thought process of a lot of our fan base. According to various message boards and social media anyway. I’m 100% behind the new staff.
I love Major’s interview with Solomon. When you listen to the guy you get an entirely different feel than when Levine was taking over. Levine said all the right words but you just knew he was flying by the seat of his pants. Not his fault he was thrust into a situation that was over his head.
But Major is totally different. And it shows when you listen to him. Coach D is going to be a great hire because Major knows exactly what he is looking for and interviewed a number of candidates for that job. Orlando’s recommendation also carries a ton of weight. Coaches don’t BS other coaches. Coaching is a fraternity and they darn well know if they sucker punch another coach it will come back to haunt them later. Everybody take a deep breath and start making plans for the Fall. It’s going to be a great season.
