John Butler Named Penn State Defensive Coordinator After Ted Roof Moves On To Georgia Tech

The Ted Roof era has come to an end in Happy Valley after one season as he has decided to head back south and take over defensive playcalling for Georgia Tech, his alma mater. Penn State secondary coach John Butler has already been promoted to Nittany Lion defensive coordinator.

Roof, who has already had a stint as the Yellow Jacket defensive coordinator (1999-2001), started off the 2012 season much criticized in Penn State losses to Ohio and Virginia but eventually won over most of the Penn State faithful as the Nittany Lions ended the season on an 8-2 run, partly due to Roof's aggressive defense which ended up ranked fourth in the Big Ten.

Butler did a respectable job with a depleted secondary unit who was thought to be the weak link of the Penn State defense at the beginning of the season. Before Penn State, Butler was a special teams coordinator at South Carolina and linebacker coach at Minnesota, but has never been a defensive coordinator during his coaching career.

A question to be asked here: Why not Larry Johnson Sr. or Ron Vanderlinden? Do they enjoy the roles that they're in now or does BOB want one of his "own guys" running the defense? Whatever the case, Butler has been said by many to be a fiery guy and will hopefully be a great addition to the senior coaching unit.

UPDATE: Bill O'Brien quotes

"John did an outstanding job with the secondary this past season and brings tremendous experience, energy and a passion for tenacious defense to the field and in the meeting room. John quickly developed a great relationship with all our players on defense and special teams and his ability to teach and relate to the players on and off the field will greatly assist in making this an easy transition."

"I am very appreciative of Ted's contributions to Penn State. Ted and I have known each other a long time and coached together at Georgia Tech, his alma mater. Ted is a great coach and person. He earned the respect of our players and they enjoyed playing for him. We wish Ted and his family well."

Stay tuned to Black Shoe Diaries for more analysis.

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