Joe Tumpkin will call Buffaloes defense for Alamo Bowl

As most of us expected, Joe Tumpkin is taking over the coordinating duties for the CU defense. Tumpkin is a former coordinator at Central Michigan and has experience calling plays for a defense.

Tumpkin was also the linebacker coach at Pittsburgh and at SMU in previous coaching stops, so his move to the linebackers shouldn’t prove to be too alien for Tumpkin. He provides continuity in the defensive staff, and his voice should be a familiar one to this defense. This vaunted Buffalo D is facing one of the toughest tests so far this year, matching up with an explosive Oklahoma State offense.

Clark is no stranger to the secondary, serving as the corners coach throughout the whole year. As CU fans have seen, the corners were flat-out dominant this year. Clark should do just fine with the safeties for the bowl game, and possibly beyond. Another point to note is that Mike MacIntyre is an NFL-level secondary coach. He can pick up any slack left by Tumpkin’s role switch. This defense should be just fine for the Alamo Bowl and beyond.