DCC: Steve Clinkscale

Submitted by Gulo Gulo Luscus on December 23rd, 2020 at 7:54 PM

The Kentucky DB Coach has come up on the board a bunch, so I decided to take a closer look. Seems like he checks everyone's favorite boxes.

Profile

Clinkscale is young (43) but has experience as a full-time DC with Cincinnati in 2015. He grew up in Youngstown and coached at Ashland HS, giving him those Ohio connections many covet. Meanwhile he's also been going to work in Michigan, having pulled Justin Rogers and Marquan McCall from Oak Park. That helped him come in at 31 in the 2020 recruiter rankings at 24/7 (Don Brown at 41!), although I don't see his name in the top 75 for 2019 or 2021. At a glance it appears tough to make the list at a school like Kentucky.

In the News

Brian mentioned him a couple times back in January when we were in the market to replace Campanile. And of course...

Lowballing Steve Clinkscale, who's had two excellent secondaries the past two years and is a proven A+ recruiter in the state of Michigan, looks pretty bad right now.

MSU and Tucker apparently took a run at him as well after striking out with Kentucky's other hot name, Vince Marrow. AL.com recently featured him as a guy who's stock is on the rise in the SEC.

A Sea of Blue reported he was given an additional title of passing game coordinator (interesting for a DB coach) but that doesn't appear on the UK website linked to at top.

Defensive Rankings

Kentucky's 3-4 defense has been strong under head coach Mark Stoops, finishing 44th/40th/21st in DFEI the last three years. Current DC Brad White was elevated after they sent the previous DC was poached by the Chiefs. Clinkscale seems to be in line.

Clinkscale's unit was tops in the SEC in 2019, finishing 12th nationally in passing efficiency (113.03) and 2nd in YPA (6.2). While they fell back to 60th in efficiency (133.91) and 48th in YPA (7) this year, that includes games against Kyle Trask and Mac Jones a year after sending two DBs to the NFL and two more UDFA (i.e. the entire secondary). They were among the best in the SEC in 2018 as well (finished 36th/18th nationally), so the 3 year average suggests a top 30-ish unit against the pass (arguably top 20 when you look only at P5 schools).

Cincinnati was 86th in DFEI the year he was their DC. Not great but the experience is important and he may not have been working with much talent.

Verdict

Hard to argue with what I've seen and summarized here: young guy with a growing body of success on the field who knows Ohio high schools and has pulled a couple recruiting coups in Michigan. We'd be offering him a promotion, for more money (he's only making $500k), at a higher profile program. Who says no? (Not a rhetorical question - please comment below).

TheCube

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:35 PM ^

Attempt #74692 at hiring a Kentucky coach. 
 

I feel like it will end like the 74691 tries before it: raise for the other guy. 

I’m having a hard time truly believing young up and comers will come to Michigan given the seemingly “dead man walking” coaching situation if anything were to go south next year. The contract details will be an intriguing balance. 

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BroadneckBlue21

December 23rd, 2020 at 9:06 PM ^

Maybe Mazi Smith will finally show up as a mammoth NT? 

I wouldn’t mind a 3 man front of we ran a defense like my Bears. I’d prefer having a Paye-like OLB/DE than the viper. 
 

Bears go to nickel a lot, which would take Ross/his backup off, but would love two true OLBs that can rush and play zone, with McGrone playing the Mike.

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Sambojangles

December 23rd, 2020 at 11:12 PM ^

Not sure if serious since the 3-4 is pretty well known but just in case.

In the 3-4, you only have 3 down linemen so the guy in the middle, the Nose Tackle, is generally huge. As in, "planet sized." Vince Wilfork is basically the NFL prototype. A 3-4 NT is asked to take on double teams on a regular basis and often cover two gaps against the OL. Your DEs are also generally bigger than 4-3 DEs. You also need LBs who are able to take on OL unblocked. 

I think it's harder to do at the college level since it's difficult to maintain a big enough DL, and you're more likely to find 2 solid 4-3 DT than one 3-4 DT, though I'm sure others disagree. 

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xtramelanin

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^

nicely detailed OP.  well done.  some questions:

seems like going from being a DC at cincy to being a DB coach at kentucky is at least a slightly backwards move.  how/why did he do that? 

not saying don't give the guy a chance, but for instance comparing resumes, don brown had less to work with during his time at BC and was (i think) more highly ranked across the board than this guy.  what makes you think he's going to be the next big thing as opposed to what you saw with don brown, a much more proven commodity who for the first few years at least paid off in spades? 

 

 

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Gulo Gulo Luscus

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:22 PM ^

That's true, but Don Brown was considered a great hire and looked like one until he didn't. I'm not sure anyone with his resume at a school that offers less is available. If our holdup is "what if he's not as good as Don Brown" then most the fan base would say "not possible" while a handful would say "at least he'd recruit." Not necessarily my opinions as I agree his resume isn't a guarantee; no one is.

I'm comparing him to other names that have come up as legitimate candidates and I like what I see. But I'm also going more off the apparent board preference for someone young with recruiting as a high priority. And that comes from one of the few who supported Craig Ross opining on Hankwitz, so I'm honestly asking who says no to get questions like yours.

EDIT: As for the question on moving backwards, he may have been escaping the sinking ship that was Tommy Tuberville (no politics). In that article they reference him as co-DC. On the one hand that makes it less of a backslide since he moved from AAC to SEC. On the other hand that negates one of my points in his favor that I can't edit in the OP.

So do you say no, XM?

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xtramelanin

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^

not a 'no', but a 'okay, let's check the finer details and see what we come up with'.  if he's really a dynamic recruiter (and not because of bag men!) then that would certainly move him up the ladder a bit.  can he coach actual X's and O's?   who would he bring with him if he did get to be a 'take' by our beloved alma mater?     

again i say though, your OP is really well done and thank you for taking the time to put in the details.  i saw someone below this asked if you would do this for a few other folks and i would echo their request - if you have time and interest it would add to the discussion.  regardless, thanks. 

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xtramelanin

December 23rd, 2020 at 9:10 PM ^

i had not seen it, thank you for bringing it to my attention.  for those like me who might have missed it, here is the quote that SD mick put up from his source inside the locker room:

"I think there's a lack of player leadership which already creates a bad culture. I think through no fault of his own Coach's celebrity status makes him a more intimidating figure to approach, and I think it leads to a bit of a disconnect between the coaching staff and the players. That's my simple response without getting too wordy. I think we have some of the best players in the country and some of the best coaching staff in the country. I would say the chemistry is the biggest issue we are seeing now. My two cents."

interesting take.  i had not read that one before.  i see more than chemistry issues but that doesn't take away from the info you posted.  unless of course you got it from the counter-strike guy.  

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Gulo Gulo Luscus

December 23rd, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^

A well measured response, XM. I knew I left something out... the minor detail of whether he can actually coach! Honestly I have no idea beyond the implications of a quick review. Given he was in the mix for an assistant role in January, I hope Warde is checking the finer details.

I appreciate your feedback and thoughts on the candidate; didn't take it as a knock on the OP at all. I may put one together on Freeman with a minor change from "verdict" to "summary" to better reflect that I'm offering intel rather than positing my preference.

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jpo

December 24th, 2020 at 11:47 AM ^

I know the “bag men” thing comes up a lot, but my sense is that there are gradations of it. Inasmuch as the NCAA seems to allow a fair amount of flexibility on these matters, I’d advise following the spirit of the law rather than its letter. Put another way: OSU is not getting into trouble for its recruiting practices (nor is Alabama), so whatever they’re doing, go thou therefore and do likewise. 

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DTOW

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:11 PM ^

Nice little write up.  Not to be greedy, but if this is something you enjoy some write ups on Marcus Freeman, Larry Foote, and Derek Mason would be cool.

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San Diego Mick

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:30 PM ^

Nice assessment Gulo, he seems like a viable candidate. 

EDIT: after reading some of the comments and concerns, being young and possibly a good recruiter who seems genuine is something our Fanbase desires  and going up against SEC talent can't hurt in the experience department. 

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skegemogpoint

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:41 PM ^

Let it be known, I first posted Clink’s name on this board in 2017. Marquan McCall and Justin Rogers are at UK solely because of Clink.  Ace recruiter in Ohio too.  

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Champeen

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:44 PM ^

Again, im not sure what Michigan did was the right thing.  Don Brown will probably have a better resume than anyone we bring in.  One horrible year out of what, 6/7?

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Gentleman Squirrels

December 23rd, 2020 at 8:51 PM ^

It's not about about one bad year. It's more about a steady decline as other teams began to figure out Michigan's defense and an inability to change the defensive scheme. In the last few years, it wasn't just OSU that was wrecking Michigan's defense. Wisconsin shredded it. PSU kept getting explosive plays. And this last year, almost every team (no matter how bad) had their best offensive game against Michigan. That's bad. 

It's possible Brown could have changed the defense again. But at this point the entire program needs a shot of life and perhaps getting new coaches on the defensive staff (and hopefully new contributors either from the young classes or transfer portal) could be that shot.

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BroadneckBlue21

December 23rd, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^

Three out of five were not good. Giving up 572 yards/game to OSU the last few years were clear indicators, as were his inability to dominate at home against bought non-conference games like Army.

His first year was his best, then he was figured out by every team with talent—and it showed. He should’ve been fired after last year, which was his second year of getting blown out by OSU, then dominated in a bowl game. Nice guy—but past his time. 

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bronxblue

December 23rd, 2020 at 10:14 PM ^

He's intriguing but I do wonder a bit about how much is Stoops and how much is the defensive staff (Stoops being a DC for many years) when it comes to success, as is the fact that he isn't apparently that dynamic of a recruiter if the rankings mean anything.  Being slightly better than Don Brown one year isn't necessarily a ringing endorsement.  A co-DC role makes more sense, as the UK secondary has been really solid and you can always elevate someone to sole DC if it makes sense.

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