So Who is This Darin Hinshaw Guy?

The BBN patiently waited to hear the news that Eddie Gran had been hired as the new offensive coordinator, but nobody knew that he'd being a quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator with him.  There's only two things we really know about Gran's righthand man, Darin Hinsaw:

1. He's a quarterback coach from the University of Cincinnati.
2. He has a smirk/grin that makes most feel uneasy.

We need to know more about Coach Grinshaw Hinshaw than what's put on the picture from the UK Press Release, so I spent the day doing a little research.  Here's a short list of what I was able to come up with. --  He has four children and is at least 43 years old (his age is in zero biographical information, but I found out that he was 23 in an Orlando Sentinel article from 10 years ago, during his AFL playing days). --  Hinshaw ended his career at UCF as the best to ever play Quarterback.  Before Blake Bortles had his girlfriend "worth a thousand Googles" and a Fiesta Bowl victory for the Knights, Hinshaw was the best QB in UCF school history.  He threw for 9,000 yards and 82 touchdowns in his career, leading UCF to the I-AA playoffs in 1993. --  He was a Cleveland Brown...for four days.  Unfortunately, it was not during Tim Couch's time like I had hoped, it was actually during a worse time in the ugly history of the Cleveland Browns.  Hinshaw participated in a 4-day minicamp before the '95 season — the Browns' last before moving to Baltimore — before being released by the organization.  He would play in Canada and the AFL for a few years before taking his talents to the sideline as a coach. --  All of the places he's coached: UCF, Middle Tennessee, Georgia Southern, Memphis, Tennessee and Cincinnati.  This will be his fourth job serving as a co-offensive coordinator, if you count "passing game coordinator," his title for the last three years at UC.  He's primarily coached quarterbacks, with a few years coaching wide receivers as well. --  He's pretty smart.  Hinshaw received his undergraduate degree in only three years and completed his MBA in one year after his AFL days were done.  Some might not think it's a big deal, but after spending nearly six years in undergrad, I can appreciate his scholastic savvy.

He's been to Commonwealth Stadium Before

The last time he made the trip to Lexington, it didn't treat him so kindly.  His time coaching QBs and WRs with Derek Dooley at UT didn't produce that many wins, but he did have their offense operating at a high level.  Tennessee's offense had the second-most yards in school history in 2012, only behind Peyton Manning's 1997 team. Now Hinshaw is working for the good guys.  If none of those accolades impressed you, it should be reassuring that for the first time since Mark Stoops became head coach his quarterbacks will have a coach primarily focused on them.  Shannon and Neal were both technically QB coaches, but their playcalling responsibilities took precedence. Gran is bringing a righthand man with him that he trusts.  If Stoops trusts Gran, I can trust that the offense will be in much better hands in 2016.