We are very excited about the addition of Bob Shoop to our coaching staff, Jones said in a statement. Bob has established himself as one of the premier coordinators in all of college football and is very well-respected as a recruiter, football coach and person. He brings a wealth of experience at the highest level and possesses all the qualities we were looking for as we went through this process. He has directed units that have finished in the Top 25 nationally in each of the last five years and he will do a great job of developing our players on the defensive side of the ball.
The veteran has been in coaching since 1989. Shoop has been the defensive coordinator at Penn State after being the coordinator at Vanderbilt from 2011-2013, where he helped beat Tennessee twice. Shoop's defenses have finished in the top 25 in total defense for 5 consecutive years. In 2015, the Nittany Lions gave up 324.5 yards a game, which was good for 14th nationally. In 2014, Shoops first with the Nittany Lions, he took over a unit that finished 48 in total defense in 2013 and finished the season 2 in the country, giving up an average of 278.7 yards per game.
Shoop spent three seasons at Vanderbilt under head coach James Franklin and the Commodores defense finished in the top 25 in total defense all three years. After finishing 93 in the country in total defense in 2010, Shoop did a remarkable job of building Vanderbilts defense into one of the top 20 defenses in the country that year. In Shoops three years at Vanderbilt, the Commodores only surrendered 30 points or more in nine contests.
