Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, January 9, 2013

In a bit of a surprising move Wednesday, Penn State defensive coordinator Ted Roof left for the same position at Georgia Tech, his alma mater and where he was an All-American.

Since 2008, Roof has worked at Minnesota, Auburn, Penn State and now Georgia Tech. He also took jobs and spent a few days at Louisville and Central Florida during that span.

Ted RoofPenn State coach Bill O?Brien promoted secondary coach John Butler to assume coordinator duties. He?s a smart coach who also has worked at South Carolina, Minnesota, Harvard, Texas State and Midwestern State. Butler also has experience as a special teams coach.

The return to ?The Flats? is a homecoming for Roof, a native of Lawrenceville, Ga., who played linebacker at Tech from 1982-85. Roof also coached at Tech from 1988-2001, serving as defensive coordinator from 1999-2001 before moving on to Duke, where he eventually became head coach. It was at Tech and then Duke where Roof worked with O?Brien.

Roof, 49, played a big role in helping the Nittany Lions forge a surprising 8-4 mark, 6-2 in the Big Ten. Using an aggressive system that was short on personnel, Roof?s defense ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten (353.4 ypg). The unit was No. 4 vs. the run (128.4 ypg) and No. 8 vs. the pass (225.0 ypg).

About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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