Houston and Dana Holgorsen target Cal DC Tim DeRuyter for same role.

Reports this afternoon suggest Dana Holgorsen is targeting Tim DeRuyter as his Defensive Coordinator.

Here is the post from FootballScoop.com:

Houston: Joseph Duarte who covers UH for the Houston Chronicle tweets this afternoon he can confirm our report that Tim Deruyter has been Dana’s target for defensive coordinator. Duarte adds that Oklahoma assistant Kerry Cooks is also “being looked at for job on the defensive staff“.

DeRuyter has been the Cal defensive coordinator for two years (coaching either the inside or the outside linebackers each year). Although head coach Justin Wilcox is also a defensive-minded coach, DeRuyter has masterminded an absolute evolution of our defense.

DeRuyter orchestrated a dramatic improvement on the defensive side of the ball in his first campaign at Cal in 2017 when the Golden Bears gave up 14.2 points less per contest than the year before his arrival in 2016, allowing only 28.4 points per contest. Much of the 2017 team’s success came from its big-play ability on defense. Cal ranked among the nation’s best for much of the season in nearly every defensive category related to turnovers before finishing tied for 21st in defensive touchdowns (4), tied for 27th in fumbles recovered (10), tied for 29th in turnovers gained (24) and tied for 32nd in passes intercepted (14). Cal’s seven takeaways in a 37-3 win over then No. 8/9 Washington State equaled the most by an FBS team in 2017 with the Bears’ 9.0 sacks in the contest the most by a Cal team since 2005.

The 2017 Cal defense had better total numbers and rankings than the 2016 squad in 14 of the primary 15 team defensive statistics tracked by the NCAA. Even more impressively the Bears’ average improvement in the national rankings was just under 40 spots per category in those 15 defensive statistics.

The defense alone has kept the California Golden Bears in many games this year due to our offensive struggles—let alone being outright instrumental in some of our wins. As a true testament to DeRuyter’s ability, he was a semifinalist for this year’s Broyles Award, recognizing the top assistant coach in college football.