Shoop will be charged with upgrading a defense that was solid but didn’t hold two-touchdown leads against Oklahoma and Florida in the fourth quarter. Shoop also will be challenged with succeeding at what he calls one of the toughest assignments you could envision.
“I always argue that being a defensive coordinator in college football is the hardest job in college sports today,” said Shoop, who also was defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt (2011-13).
Shoop noted that “one week you’re playing a team with an Air Raid offense to teams with dual-threat quarterbacks to run-pass option quarterbacks.” Not to mention zone read schemes and triple option schemes and hurry-up attacks.