Stan Parrish has admired Jay Hood's coaching since Miami University ruined the reopening of Scheumann Stadium on Opening Night in 2007.
That night, Miami's defense, led by Hood, held Nate Davis and Ball State University to just 13 points, their worst showing of the year.
Wednesday, Parrish named Hood defensive coordinator, filling the void left by Doug Graber's retirement Feb. 8. Hood was the RedHawks' defensive coordinator from 2007 to 2008 and spent last year as the Cardinals' defensive ends coach.
"I like the fact that he was the coordinator at Miami," Parrish said. "I was very impressed with how hard they played."
Hood originally interviewed to be defensive coordinator last year, but when Graber became available, Parrish hired him. Hood will miss Graber, but he is excited for his new role.
"I enjoy the role of coordinating," Hood said. "I look forward to the opportunity to make the defense better."
Both Parrish and Hood said they want to make the transition smooth for the players. Hood intends to use the same base 4-3 defense that Graber installed last year.
"We're trying to evaluate what's good and what's not good," Hood said. "We're going to try and keep as many things similar as we can. We want repetitive learning for the players."
Hood has been a coach for 25 years, the last seven of which have been in the Mid-American Conference. He said he hopes his experience in the conference will help him develop Ball State's defense into a championship winner.
"Like any defense, you've got to stop the run," Hood said. "There are a lot of good quarterbacks in this league, so you have to be able to get pressure on the quarterback and make them make the difficult throws. It's a unique league."
Parrish said he never brought any coaches from outside the program to Muncie for a formal interview, but talked to many coaches that applied for the position.
He will now have to hire another defensive coach to replace Hood.
"I have three people scheduled to come in," Parrish said. "We can go a lot of different ways with it, with exactly what position they're going to coach. I'm bringing in guys with kind of different backgrounds."
All three of the coaches on Parrish's list are defensive coaches from outside the program. Ball State opens spring practice March 24, but he hopes to have the new coach in place by Spring Break.
Until then, Hood is ready to start the process of making the Cardinals into one of the top units in the conference.
"We'll try and get there as fast as we can," he said. "I hope that's next year. But can we get the kids that far that fast? I'm not sure."
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