Ellis Johnson?

[Razor8]

Coming into the season the MSU defense was the one that worried me the most. I am very happy about this hire.

[Nashville Fan]

He will stop the run and pressure the QB. He will preach fundamentals like tackling and academics. Yes he is a step up from Reggie. With AL talent, he had one of the best defenses in the country which pretty much handed AL another NC. Add to this more aggressive offense than the 06 season, you have a defense that hopefully will be playing with a lead most of the year.

[HoginHouston]

Great hire. DC at Alabama, Clemson, and Miss State. In all those places, he had varying levels of talent to work with, but he excelled in all places. At Bama, with great talent, he helped win a national championship and had a top-ranked defense year in and year out. At Clemson, he had the number 10 defense in the country.

But to me what is impressive is that at a place like Mississippi State, he managed to put a very tough defense on the field that was really instrumental in turning that program back to respectability. He is a good recruiter with ties to Mississippi, Alabama, and he has recruited even Florida and Georgia before. Do you notice that Petrino never wastes a slot on someone who refuses to recruit or sucks at it? If you are reading this, Reggie, I hope you know I mean you!

I am excited to see the whole staff, but so far, I think CBP is assembling a fantastic group of coaches. From stealing Northwestern's OC (number one offense in Big Ten and he was willing to take a cut to be our QB coach) to bringing in a Broyles Award finalist for OC to retaining Tim Horton (just the one we wanted to keep) and nabbing a solid DC coach, Petrino is on the move getting us a staff that will win big in the SEC.

I am certain of one thing: we will never have to witness such poor coaching/preparation as we have in games like Tennessee (07), USC (05,06), Vandy (05), etc. We will come to play every game...

[The Boar War]

At first I wasn't excited about the name.  I guess the truth is I didn't know anything about him.  After looking at his resume I think he will do a great job.  One of my main concerns with Petrino was the ability of our team to defend in the SEC. 

That being said does the hire of a college dc rule out some of the NFL position coachs that were rumored to be coming?

[JoePaul03]

I may be wrong, and I haven't looked it up, but hasn't MSU given our rushing offense as much trouble as any D we've faced in the past couple years? Couple that with the job MSU did on UCF's back, and I think this was a good hire.
Plus, I trust Petrino...if he thinks he can coach, I'm gonna trust his judgment until he gives us a reason not to.