TCU has employed Andy Avalos as its defensive coordinator. Avalos’ hiring comes a month after he was fired as Boise State coach amid his third season regardless of a 22-14 total document with this system. The Broncos went on to win the Mountain West championship weeks after his departure.
Avalos, 42, beforehand served as defensive coordinator at Oregon from 2019-20, the place he helped the Geese seize back-to-back Pac-12 championships below former coach Mario Cristobal. He additionally had a earlier stint at Boise State from 2012-18 wherein he held a wide range of assistant roles for the Broncos, together with linebackers coach and defensive coordinator. Previous to his teaching profession, Avalos attended Boise State and performed linebacker for the Broncos from 2001-04.
TCU’s addition of Avalos comes a day after the Horned Frogs parted methods with Joe Gillespie after two seasons. TCU ended the 2023 season, their second season below coach Sonny Dykes, a disappointing 5-7 after orchestrating an unbelievable run to the School Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship in 2022. The Frogs surrendered a season-high 69 factors of their season finale, a loss at Oklahoma.
TCU turns to Avalos to inject spark on protection
TCU struggled to area consistency in all phases of the sport this previous season. The Frogs’ protection, with its 3-3-5 scheme below Gillespie, was no exception. There have been already query marks after the defensive showings in final yr’s School Soccer Playoff — TCU allowed 110 factors mixed to Michigan and Georgia — and issues weren’t quieted when Colorado handed for greater than 500 yards towards TCU in the course of the Buffaloes’ 45-42 Week 1 victory towards the Frogs. TCU in the end ended the season averaging 408.3 yards and 27.83 factors allowed per contest, marks that ranked a hundredth and 78th on the FBS stage, respectively.
TCU will now be banking on Avalos to orchestrate an analogous defensive turnaround to that which he oversaw upon arrival to Oregon as defensive coordinator in 2019. The Geese boasted the No. 9 scoring protection within the nation throughout Avalos’ first yr as defensive coordinator, holding opponents to 16.5 factors on common after surrendering 27 factors per sport the yr prior. Oregon additionally led the Pac-12 in sacks throughout each seasons wherein Avalos was on the defensive helm.
Extra defensive success got here for Avalos as Boise State coach, peaking in the course of the 2022 season. The Broncos protection completed within the high 15 nationally each total and in scoring, holding opponents to 281.5 yards and 18.5 factors per sport on common as Boise State completed because the Mountain West runner-up. The unit took a step again in 2023, averaging 375.5 yards and 24.8 factors allowed, although it did not maintain the Broncos from profitable a league title, prompting Spencer Danielson to have the interim tag faraway from his title as Avalos’ full-time substitute.
Avalos’ first sport with TCU will come on the West Coast for the California native because the Frogs open the 2024 season at Stanford.
