The official hiring of assistant coach Derrick LeBlanc from LSU was announced last week along with a few other bits of information that flew under the radar. LeBlanc who has experience as a defensive line and as a strength and conditioning coach will watch over the Wyoming defensive line this season taking over for Danilo Robinson who has been moved into an administrative role. It will be interesting to see what dynamic LeBlanc adds to the staff and I am especially excited about his ties to southern states rich with football talent. Can Wyoming expand their recruiting footprint to Arkansas and Louisiana where LeBlanc is sure to have many contacts? I would hope that this is one of the main reasons he was brought on staff.

The other football staff news is interesting as well. Pete Kaligis who was one of two offensive line coaches will continue to work some with the O-Line but will now mainly coach running backs. Jason Ray who was the running backs coach will now coach wide receivers with Derek Sage, a position Ray played at Missouri from 2003-2007. Matt Rahl will continue to coach the defensive line with the newly hired LeBlanc but has added recruiting coordinator to his duties for the up coming season. All these moves are in addition to the hiring of Chris Tormey as defensive coordinator over the winter who took over for the departed Marty English. This is important to note because this is the first time in Dave Christensen’s tenure that his staff has all been hand-picked by him. Let’s hope they all get on well and move the program forward as Christensen expects.