PINEHURST, N.C. — It was a hypothetical question, but Scott Shafer gave a very real answer. If defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough were to get a job elsewhere, would defensive line coach Tim Daoust be the defensive coordinator in waiting?

“Sure. I mean. He’s ready to do it in my opinion,” Shafer said. “I love having Chuck Bullough here, but there’s something great about knowing Timmy Daoust is ready to do the same thing.”

Shafer spoke on Tuesday at Atlantic Coast Conference Media Day about how Daoust started at the bottom of the coaching ladder as a graduate assistant and video coordinator in 2002 at Northern Illinois. He fondly recalled how Daoust worked his way up as he stuck with Shafer during his time at Western Michigan.

“It’s great that he had to go through the layered process from being a first-time job video coordinator slash GA at the same time in the Mid-American Conference where we didn’t have the opportunity to pay those kids enough and work his way up,” Shafer said.

Now it appears he might be on the verge of moving up even further.