Mike Bobo still hasn’t hired a new defensive coordinator, but the CSU football coach said Wednesday whoever he chooses will be able to hire his own staff of position coaches.

Bobo, speaking at a news conference announcing the Rams’ 17 early signees for the 2018 recruiting class, confirmed that he had let defensive line coach Ricky Logo and special-teams coordinator and safeties coach Jamie Bryant go at the end of the regular season.

Bobo previously announced that defensive coordinator Marty English would retire after the Dec. 16 New Mexico Bowl, and cornerbacks coach Terry Fair left prior to the bowl game to join Will Friend, who had been the Rams’ offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, on new coach Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee.

“Hiring a new coordinator and moving forward, I want to give him an opportunity, with me, to help build a staff and make sure we’ve got the right guys in place,” Bobo said. “… We’re going to give the coordinator the opportunity to hire some guys.”

Logo had been the Rams’ defensive line coach for the past three seasons, while Bryant had been with the team for two seasons, replacing Jeff Hammerschmidt when he left early in 2016 for a job with the New York Jets.

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Bobo thanked Logo and Bryant for their work in preparing the Rams for the bowl game, which Colorado State University lost 31-28 to Marshall, knowing they weren’t going to be returning for the 2018 season. Both are “great people, great men,” he said.

Bobo said he was in a rush at first to hire a defensive coordinator before the early signing period began Wednesday but held off after talking to a number of people in the business he trusts, including former CSU coach Sonny Lubick. They all told him to be patient, and that there’s a lot of upheaval on coaching staffs that’s still likely to occur over the next few weeks.

CSU lost two recruits Bobo believes could have made an impact on the program by not having a defensive coordinator.

“At the same time, I wanted to make sure it was the right fit, and I was willing to sacrifice losing those two players to make sure I find the right fit for a coordinator, and I’m in the process of doing that right now.”

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Nobody he’s spoken to yet has been that “right fit” he’s looking for, he said, dispelling rumors he was in the process of hiring former Florida State defensive coordinator Charles Kelly, who he had interviewed before the bowl game along with at least five other candidates.

Bobo also has to hire an offensive line coach and possibly an offensive coordinator, although he said he might opt to split that job up by naming run- and pass-game coordinators. An actual offensive coordinator, he has said, isn’t really necessary since Bobo essentially handles that role himself and calls the offensive plays on game days.

The new 10th assistant he’s allowed to add in January under new NCAA rules will likely work with the defense, but could double up as the special-teams coordinator, too, he said.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and listen to him talk CSU sports at 11:35 a.m. Thursdays on KFKA radio (AM 1310).

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