We all knew this was coming, so it should be no surprise that defensive line coach Malik Roberson was fired on Thursday. What is fun is his replacement: Former UCLA defensive line coach Todd Howard. To sum up the days events for you, Howard was fired at UCLA so Rick Neuheisel could hire Jim Mastro, an offensive coach that specializes in the running game (pistol!). Just a few hours later, Howard was hired as the defensive line coach at WSU.
We get Neuheisel's leftovers, which I'm cool with, and Neuheisel gets another coach on the offensive end, though he still hasn't filled out his staff yet.
The defensive line and linebackers were both points of contention with many fans, with the masses feeling each unit underperformed. As a result, it appears, both were replaced, with linebackers coach Travis Niekamp taking an administrative role -- replaced by Chris Tormey -- and Roberson replaced by Howard.
Coaching roulette is a fun-filled game. We'll add more here shortly.
Update: Quotes from Wulff via the press release from WSU.
"Todd brings a great deal of experience to our program," Wulff said. "He has coached at the highest levels of collegiate football while also serving on two different coaching staffs in the NFL. He has a lot of experience recruiting the Los Angeles area which was a priority for us and he has also coached All-Americans and numerous All-Conference players."