As mentioned earlier, Todd Bradford will take over as Maryland's defensive coordinator, while Massachusetts defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski will serve as the Terrapins' inside linebackers coach.
Bradford will be a defensive coordinator for the fourth time. He previously had stints running defenses at Lehigh (1994), Louisiana Tech (1997-2000) and Southern Mississippi (2008-10).
Bradford, who was assigned the inside linebackers, will now coach the secondary. He was in charge of the safeties at Southern Mississippi.
As for the history of Bradford's defenses with the Golden Eagles, here's the rundown (national and Conference USA ranks in parentheses):
TODD BRADFORD'S SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI DEFENSES, 2008-10
| Year | Scoring | Rushing | Passing | Total |
| 2008 | 24.08 (T-54th/2nd) |
139.77 (58th/4th) |
226.31 (85th/5th) |
366.08 (65th/4th) |
| 2009 | 25.85 (62nd/4th) |
130.85 (43rd/3rd) |
261.62 (109th/8th) |
392.46 (80th/4th) |
| 2010 |
29.54 (81st/5th) |
113.00 (13th/2nd) |
243.38 (99th/7th) |
356.38 (47th/3rd) |
Nationally, those are middle of the road numbers for everything except the 2010 rushing defense (excellent) and all of the passing defenses (not-so-excellent). In the prism of Conference USA, the Golden Eagles gave up passing yards because many of their league opponents run pass-heavy spread systems.
As for how that translates to Maryland and the ACC, it remains to be seen. And see, everyone will this fall.
it's probably worth noting that Southern Miss has a long tradition of pretty decent defenses. It wasn't that long ago that Tyrone Nix was running things over there, and I think Bradford's record probably doesn't hold up as well. Also worth noting that I'm spouting off the cuff, there's no research to support this opinion.
Posted by: marcus | 02/16/2011 at 06:52 PM
"Transformative Excellence"
Posted by: Mike | 02/17/2011 at 09:48 AM
Bradford and Dudzinski (he is a key to the defense) will do fine. What better way to continue Don Brown's schemes then hire a guy who worked with him for 6-7 years. You think Dudzinski might know that aggressive scheme pretty well??
Posted by: ngaterp | 02/20/2011 at 03:10 PM