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10 people who SMU football could consider for its open defensive coordinator job

Kevin Kane left to be an assistant coach at Illinois on Thursday, leaving SMU with an important role to fill.

For the second straight season, SMU will need to replace one of its coordinators. Last season, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee left for the same title at Miami. And on Thursday evening, Kevin Kane took a job as the outside linebackers coach and associate head coach at Illinois.

Prior to that move, SMU seemed to be on track to retain its entire coaching staff. Now, this late-in-the-game shakeup leave the Mustangs needing to make a hire just about six weeks out from a possible start to spring practices.

Kane spent three years at SMU and was a highly regarded coach. It will be on head coach Sonny Dykes and the athletic department staff to look for his replacement. It’s a critical job for this program, as Dykes has an offensive background.

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Here are 10 people who may make sense for the job.

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1. Randall Joyner — DL coach at SMU

Joyner makes sense for a few reasons. One, he’s coached defensive ends and the defensive line at SMU during the whole Dykes era. So there’s immediate familiarity with the job and the defense in a job that needs to be filled quickly. Secondly, Joyner played linebacker, so he’s got a good sense of multiple defensive phases. He’s very well liked by his players, and he went to SMU. He’s also proven to be a good recruiter. Joyner is not yet 30 years old, which may work against him. But Dykes likes hiring young coaches. It’s only a matter of time before Joyner is a coordinator. The question is if he gets a shot now.

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2. Trey Haverty — Safeties coach at SMU

Haverty has what Joyner does not, which is a lot of coaching experience at this level. He also has defensive coordinator experience, when he served that role at Lamar in 2016. Haverty has coaches linebackers and safeties and even wide receivers over his coaching career. And he’s also been with this program through the Dykes era, again making it a smoother transition.

3. Kevin Curtis — Cornerbacks coach at SMU

Curtis checks off a lot of the same boxes as the last two candidates. He’s got more experience than Joyner. He also really showed his chops as a coach in how he helped turn former running back Brandon Stephens into a legitimately good cornerback with a shot at playing in the NFL. Curtis also has the benefit of having played in the NFL. It’s fair to believe that internal candidates will be considered for this position, or that there could be co-defensive coordinator duties.

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4. Greg Burns — Previously DBs coach at Arizona

Burns spent three seasons as a defensive backs coach for Dykes at California, and has been a DBs coach all over the country, every year since 1997. He’s never been a defensive coordinator. But he has added benefit of experience, familiarity with Dykes, and he’s available. Burns was not brought back to Arizona after head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired after the season ended. Dykes tends to hire younger up-and-comers, but at this stage in the game, maybe familiarity is more important.

5. Phil Bennett — DC at North Texas

The ink probably isn’t even dry on Bennett being named the defensive coordinator at North Texas on Friday. But SMU loves to poach from its Denton rival as much as possible, so it could make sense. Bennett also served, albeit unsuccessfully, as the head coach at SMU from 2002-2007. He has a lot of ties to the area, and a lot of experience as a defensive coach. The cons are that he hasn’t coached since 2017, and has some baggage as a former assistant under Art Briles.

6. Archie McDaniel — Co-DC at Texas State

McDaniel has one major thing working against him. He was a linebackers coach at SMU under Chad Morris, so Dykes already had a chance to retain him and didn’t. That said, some time has passed, McDaniel has earned a job in a coordinator position. He has some familiarity with SMU already, and he currently works for Jake Spavital, who knows Dykes very well.

7. Siriki Diabate — LBs coach at Middle Tennessee

It doesn’t seem likely that SMU would want to go with a young coach who doesn’t have defensive coordinator experience, if it isn’t an internal candidate. If it’s external, it would make sense to hire someone with experience, or at least familiarity with the defense or the system. But last year, Dykes hired an unproven up-and-coming coach to be his offensive coordinator. So if he does so again, Diabate fits the bill as someone who may make sense. Diabate is only 29, but has been a highly-regarded LBs coach at Middle Tennessee for four years. Keep in mind that SMU needs someone who can coach linebackers, since that was Kane’s position group.

8. Travis Williams — Previously LBs coach at Auburn

Williams was considered one of the best assistant coaches and recruiters on Auburn’s staff, and just found out yesterday that he would not be retained by the new coaching staff, following the firing of Gus Malzahn. The timing makes a lot of sense, and Williams was primed to get a coordinator job soon. SMU may be the most sensible.

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9. Brett Diersen — OLB/ST coordinator at Temple

Diersen coached for a season at SMU when Dykes first arrived. His connection was more to Kevin Kane, though, and it’s unclear how Dykes felt about him leaving for a job in the conference after one year. That said, if the relationship is strong, it could be a sensible hire.

10. Stefan McClure — Graduate assistant at SMU

McClure is a total wildcard here. He’s served as a graduate assistant for two years with SMU, and it’s possible that time is done. McClure played in the NFL and also played for Dykes at Cal. It wouldn’t make sense, necessarily, for him to make that major of a leap, but he does have an understanding of the defense. At the very least, it’s reasonable to consider him as a candidate for a staff job if an internal defensive coordinator hire is made.

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