Derrick Ansley, we hardly knew ye.
On Monday, Ansley was in line to be the next Colorado State Rams defensive coordinator under Mike Bobo. The reports first surfaced early Monday morning and, after reviewing his history, Ansley looked like a perfect hire for Bobo.
He’s young, intelligent, a brilliant recruiter who learned the ropes first at a D-III and then moved up to the greatest college football program in the world, Alabama.
But, something happened on Monday. ‘Bama won their 17th National Championship and Ansley, who was the Crimson Tide’s defensive backs coach, caught the eye of John Gruden and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL.
Today, reports from Football Scoop and ESPN have Ansley agreeing to a deal with the Raiders to become their secondary coach, which is a huge blow to Bobo and the Rams because they thought it was a done deal; Ansley agreed in principle to join Colorado State.
At 36 years old, Ansley is young and could have utilized that youth in recruiting for the Rams. While he played safety for four years at Troy, even in his playing days he was considered the coach of the defense and has always possessed a high football IQ. And that youth would also likely mean bringing energy and life to the defensive sideline, something which would have benefitted the Rams and been a change.
Now, just as he said after the Gildan New Mexico Bowl loss, Mike Bobo has to get back to work and in a hurry. Three weeks ago, he was talking to Charles Kelly — formerly the D.C. at Florida State — about joining the Rams, but nothing came from the meeting. And Bobo’s said he had talked to six men about the position during the early signing period presser, which was before Ansley’s name was brought up.
Simply, Ansley looked to be a perfect hire for Bobo and his growing program at Colorado State. Now, Bobo’s left without a single defensive coach and the “dead period” for recruiting ends today. The Rams already signed 17 players during the early signing period, which is a positive, but it still leaves them with seven scholarships to fill by National Signing Day, which is Feb. 7.