Mario Cristobal did not waste much time in finding a replacement for defensive coordinator Kevin Steele who made a return to Alabama this week. Miami announced Tuesday that Lance Guidry would take Steele’s place. Here's a look at what to expect from Guidry and the Miami defense.

Guidry will bring a focus to the defensive backs as he played the position at FBS school McNeese St. in the early 90s. He should further develop safety Kamren Kinchens to even higher heights and get the most out of former five-star safety James Williams.

He will also have the opportunity to further develop new Hurricane cornerbacks Davonte Brown and Terry Roberts as well as mold new recruits Damari Brown, Kaleb Spencer, and Robert Stafford.

At his most recent stop at Marshall, Guidry put up impressive numbers despite playing with a subpar offense. In 2022, the Thundering Herd defense was ranked in the top ten in eight different categories including the best in the country on third down. The Marshall offense ranked 122nd last season.

Guidry is a coach that is known to make adjustments based on personnel and the opposition’s scheme. The Marshall defense put up impressive numbers as his cornerbacks Steven Gilmore and Micah Abraham combined for nine interceptions last season.

Guidry runs a 4-2-5 which gives him the versatility to provide a variety of different looks. It’s a scheme that generally has two down linemen in the middle with the opportunity to have edge rushers drop into coverage if needed. It is a scheme that will require players to tackle in space, an area that Miami has struggled with overall in the last five years.

Guidry was a former head coach at his alma mater where he put up a 21-12 record. Just before his stint at McNeese State, he served as the defensive coordinator and interim head coach at Western Kentucky where he led the Hilltoppers to its first bowl appearance in 2012. They would lose to Central Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl to Central Michigan 24-21 that year.

The concern for Guidry is that he has not faced high-level competition on a consistent basis. He is a group of five coach that will make the jump to the power five level and the Miami fan base will not allow him time to acclimate himself.

He did help engineer a win over Notre Dame last season in South Bend last season and that is certainly a win Guidry can hang his hat on, but Marshall went on to lose games against Bowling Green in the following week and matches against Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Coastal Carolina. The average number of points given up in the four games was 24.

The question will be if he will be able to handle the level of competition in the ACC.

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