FROM HEATHER DINICH/ESPN: "Florida State has hired Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops as its next defensive coordinator, according to a source close to the hiring process. Stoops will replace longtime defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, who announced his retirement earlier this season after 26 years. Stoops is the first hand-picked coordinator by Jimbo Fisher, who will replace legendary coach Bobby Bowden following the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl.

Stoops, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, was also a top candidate for the head coaching job at Youngstown State. Details of his contract at FSU were not immediately available. Stoops was defensive backs coach at Miami from 2001-2003 before joining his brother Mike's staff at Arizona for the 2004 season."

Stoops has some pedigree from the state of Florida as he coached the secondary at Miami for three seasons back in the day--remember how good those teams played?--since his time at Miami and to a large extent- and more recently at Arizona, he uses a mix of defensive "cover 2 philosophies" and the Stoops' family staple of "zone blitz schemes". The Cardinal Mooney graduate has been leading the Wildcats' defense for six years and has helped develop some of the nation's top defensive backs. He's tutored the likes of Antoine Cason, a first-round NFL draft pick in 2008 and Wilrey Fontenot (seventh round in '08) while at Arizona.

Prior to that, he was the defensive backs coach at the University of Miami (Fla.) from 2001-03. Stoops, 42, coached some of the nation's best defensive backs during that time, and the Hurricanes led the nation in pass defense in 2002 and 2003. He helped foster the growth of Phillip Buchanon, Mike Rumph and Ed Reed, who were all taken in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft, the first time ever three players from the same secondary were taken in the first round. Some of the other defensive backs he coached while at Miami were: Antrel Rolle (first-round pick), Sean Taylor (first round) and Alfonso Marshall (seventh round). That's not to say Mark Stoops' D has been able to stop anyone and everyone. In their game against Oregon this year- Oregon's offensive numbers in the first half - 45 points, 411 yards - were so dumbfounding, so inexplicable, so un-Stoops-like, that they defied comprehension for an Arizona defense that entered the game ranked second in the Pac-10. I don't have time to find out Arizona's 2009 defensive stats- here's what he's done from last year.

2008 stats:
# Rushing Defense: 131.08 (39, 5)- national/conference numbers
# Pass Defense: 181.92 (23, 4)
# Total Defense: 313.00 (24, 3)
# Scoring Defense: 21.31 (33, 3)
# Turnover Margin: .46 (29, 3)
# Sacks: 1.85 (64, 7)
Sad to see him go? No, way!
Good luck coach in the ACC! And good riddance