Less than three days after losing an assistant to a rival SEC school, Kentucky has reportedly found its replacement.
Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione confirmed to the Austin American-Statesman Saturday that his defensive coordinator, Craig Naivar, has left the Bobcats to take over as special teams coordinator of the Wildcats. Naivar, Franchione said, interviewed for the job this past week and accepted it Friday, prompting the head coach to delay the start of spring practice.
“Obviously there was no way we could start if we were going to lose Craig a couple of days later, so we decided to wait,” Franchione said of pressing the pause button on spring. “This is the nature of the business, and we wish Craig well — our defense made huge strides under his coaching the past few seasons.”
UK is expected to make the hiring official at some point this week, perhaps as early as Monday.
Naivar, who would’ve been entering his fourth season with Franchione, replaces Bradley Dale Peveto, who left earlier this week to take the coordinator job at LSU.
(Tip O’ the Cap: Louisville Courier-Journal)