December Offseason Update

A lot has actually been going on in Buffland as we have passed through most of the holidays...
Recruiting
First, Junior College signing day brought three new Buffs aboard, all of whom will enroll in classes in January and participate in spring practices, including two who will compete immediately at the biggest position group of need: the defensive line.  Jordan Carrell, will help bolster the inside while Nathaniel Robbins will join the mix at the pass rushing ends.  The third JC signing was DB Afolabi Laguda, who should also compete for playing time.
Also joining the team in January, and therefore spring ball, will be former JC d-lineman Leo Jackson, who delayed enrollment, as well as greyshirt freshman LB Grant Watanabe.  It also appears that new o-line recruit Dillon Middlemiss graduated high school in December and will also enroll in January.
The most recent verbal commitment, bringing the Buffs to 20 total, was Nashville, TN linebacker Jay Hockaday.  Also committing after early December visits from Arizona were Phoenix DB Isaiah Oliver and Chandler WR Justin Jan.  There are still a couple more spots open after the early departure/graduation of o-lineman Marc Mustoe and Brad Cotner.  The Buffs had hoped for a couple of other names to commit but they all committed elsewhere before Christmas.
It is currently a dead period in recruiting so the coaches who remain (see below) are breaking down game film from the entire season and starting to implement plans for the spring and next season.
Coaching staff
No one really expected this to be such a hot offseason topic, but the biggest surprise since the season ended was the announcement that both defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Kent Baer, as well as defensive ends (and formerly cornerbacks) coach Andy LaRussa had been hired at UNLV.  Coach MacIntyre had said at the end of the season that he didn't anticipate any staff changes, but did insinuate that "you never know" with assistant opportunities.  This was certainly a step down for Baer (who actually had one of the few multi-year contracts at Colorado) who will assume the same duties for a MWC school.  There is rampant speculation that at least Baer was encouraged to look elsewhere, with MacIntyre maybe even putting in a good word for him with Tony Sanchez. LaRussa might be a little more surprising (his father-in-law is o-line coach Gary Bernardi), but he is returning to his alma mater and where he got his coaching start, and is picking up the "special teams coordinator" title as well.  If he could coach special teams, why the hell wasn't he doing that here?! Ah, which leads me to...
Amazingly, "special" teams coach Toby Neinas, who will have to break in a new punter and kicker next year, as well as continue to tighten up all of his coverage teams, appears to be "safe" for now, along with defensive line coach James Jeffcoat and safety coach Charles Clark.
It is unknown how MacIntyre intends to use the last coaching spot.  It could be used for a LB guy if the DC doesn't handle that position as Baer did, another DB/corner coach to help Clark and let MacIntyre focus on other things, or something else, even shifting things on offense.  One rumor has Darian Hagan returning to the coaching staff, where he could play a bigger role in recruiting (as Director of Operations he can only meet with recruits on campus visits); this could possibly with RBs (freeing up Klayton Adams to work solely with TEs), or maybe even to support DBs along with MacIntyre and Clark.
As for Baer's replacement, as of December 30 when I post this, the Buffs were down to four candidates (according to Adam M at Buffstampede.com via Stuart at cuatthegame.com): former USC/Cal/ DC and former NFL coach Clancy Pendergast, Houston DC and former Buff safety on the national champion team David Gibbs, about to be former Florida DC/interim head coach DJ Durkin, or former Oklahoma head coach and current KC Chief LB coach Gary Gibbs. I personally like them in that order; Pendergast knows the conference, but the younger Gibbs would be an infusion of legacy blood, and Durkin is intriguing as defense wasn't really Florida's main problem.  Ed Orgeron had also been mentioned but might not be the best fit.  I would expect an announcement soon, before the recruiting window opens up again in January.
What could have been, what could be on the horizon
There has been a lot of reflection on the Buff 2014 season and the common theme is one I also touched on, that of "oh so close so many times", and the seven games that the Buffs had every chance of winning, but could just never find a way to finish the deed.  Pacific Takes' Jack Follman called them the "Least Lucky team of the Year", cuatthegame.com 's Stuart used all the cliches in his piece, ESPN Pac12 blog called them the "non-bowl team who could most use the extra practice".  They all go on to state that next year could be the year that MacIntyre's crew turns the corner, as there is a lot in the stable and a ton to look forward to in terms of potential.   Additionally, outside of Greg Henderson, no seniors leave any gaping holes (although it could be argued that Munyer and Crabb both gone is a problem, they like the many possible replacements but more on that later). This very young team will be returning over 50 letter winners, 26 of whom were first time (15 freshman, 5 of those true) and will be led by a very strong junior class and a few key seniors. There are a lot of positives to be optimistic about, but of course just as many, if not more questions that must still be addressed.  With that all being said, there must be progress made in the win column and not just in scoring differentials and the expectation from fans, and probably athletic administration, has to be a bowl game (which would be seven wins with @Hawaii and 13 games), and four, or even five, wins the bare minimum.
Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting previews of the offense (a lot to build upon and very little lost), the defense (a new unknown DC and a lot of bodies on the line and in the secondary) and especially special teams (basically starting from scratch) and what we might expect in spring ball and next season.
In the meantime, Happy New Year and Go Buffs!