Wolves are trying to settle 'awful job'

Arkansas State assistant coach Nick Paremski (center) watches from the sideline during the Red Wolves' win over Central Arkansas on Oct. 10, 2020, at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro. 
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Arkansas State assistant coach Nick Paremski (center) watches from the sideline during the Red Wolves' win over Central Arkansas on Oct. 10, 2020, at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)

JONESBORO -- Nick Paremski has one of the worst jobs in college football.

That's according to Arkansas State University Coach Blake Anderson, who said Monday that being a defensive coordinator in college football in 2020 is not very much fun.

"It's awful. It's an awful job to have. Why would anybody want it?" Anderson said. "I mean, we're all cheating on offense. We have been for quite awhile, and we learn how to cheat better and better as we go.

"Yeah, it's a nightmare to play defense. The old days of power and power pass and I-formation -- that's gone. It's basketball on grass. Everybody can catch it and everybody can throw it. Even your bad teams can still throw the ball enough to put a lot of pressure on you.

"And RPOs just multiply it by 10, and then you take a team like Coastal [Carolina] that runs a triple option with it? Goodness gracious. I don't know why anybody would want to be a defensive coordinator against the offenses we see today."

Paremski is that somebody after being promoted to interim defensive coordinator Oct. 16 after the firing of David Duggan. On Monday, 10 days after his promotion, Paremski spoke with the media for the first time.

He said he's still adjusting to the new role after his first game, in which the ASU defense seemed improved but still gave up 521 yards in a 45-17 loss to Appalachian State on Thursday.

"It's been like drinking through a fire hose at times, with not a lot of sleep, honestly," Paremski said. "Just trying to take it day by day and improve anywhere we can. That's really where I'm at. I can't look too far ahead or too far behind."

Paremski, in his third season at ASU, said he's slowly putting his "stamp" on the defense, but has no intention of changing the scheme. Instead, he's moving players around and rotating guys differently than before in an attempt to put his players in better positions to make plays.

Arkansas State ranks 91st out of 101 FBS teams currently playing, a statistic Paremski hopes to change by season's end.

Anderson said he's liked what he's seen in the 10 days Paremski has been in charge of the defensive unit and has high expectations for the back half of the season. Against Appalachian State, while the defense gave up a few big plays and a lot of yards, the unit also had a few key stops and forced a couple of turnovers.

"It's hard to go one game and say, 'Did we dramatically have huge improvements?' " Anderson said. "I was evaluating that every day last week and in terms of the prep and the energy and the way the guys responded and even some competitive situations where guys were a little bit more competitive than they've been, to create the turnovers that we did -- you'd like to say that you saw some small improvements.

"We've still got a long way to go, but I still feel like we made the right decision. I feel like I did the right thing. And as hard as it was, I still feel like we'll see gradual improvements. I'd like to think we'll play much better defense in the second half of the season than we have in the first half."

Anderson said he's not sure whether he'll keep Paremski as the defensive coordinator next season or make an outside hire. He does know what type of defensive coordinator he wants going forward.

"I want a great teacher. I want a guy that kids can rally around," Anderson said. "I think defense is about energy and emotion, and so it has to be a guy that can really induce energy in that group and be a good teacher. And a guy that's willing to mix it up and go compete.

"I think Nick has all those traits, and I'd love to tell you that we're going to play great defense down the stretch and he's our guy for the future. That's what I anticipate, that's what I expect, that's what I want."

Paremski is going to keep trying to improve Arkansas State's defense anyway he can heading into Saturday's home game against Troy. That's the promise he made to his players the day he was promoted.

"I told them I don't like what happened. I don't want anybody to lose their job at any time," Paremski said. "But at the same time, I told them this is a results-based business. It is for us. It is for the players. We all take part in that failure -- myself, the players, all the other coaches.

"Now, we can all continue to be a part of the problem or we can all start being a part of the solution. And we talked about how change isn't going to happen over night. It's got to start step by step, day by day."

Upcoming Events