WKU Football announced three promotions within the program’s defensive staff Friday.
Da’von Brown and Davis Merrit will lead the Hilltopper defense as co-defensive coordinators, taking over for Tyson Summers who left the Hill for Colorado State in December. Along with the promotions of Brown and Davis, Defensive Line Coach Carson Hall was announced as the new run game coordinator.
Brown, Merrit, and Hall are all familiar with WKU Football. All three served on the defensive staff the last two seasons. Brown served as the defensive backs coach, and Merritt served as the inside linebackers coach, positions they will continue to fill with the promotion.
Brown came to the Hill in 2023 following two years at Ole Miss, where he served as a grad assistant in 2021 and a defensive analyst in 2022. Before his time as a Rebel, he served as the defensive backs coach of Geneva College – a Division III program. Brown spent his playing career as a defensive back at Florida Atlantic University.
Last season, Brown’s secondary was second-best in Conference USA for passing yards allowed, giving up just 176 yards per game. Defensive back Upton Stout was an All-CUSA First Team selection while Devante Matthews earned a spot on the All-CUSA Second Team.
Merritt joined WKU after aiding in the Georgia Bulldogs’ back-to-back championship run as a defensive quality control coordinator. Before Georgia, he was a senior defensive player personnel analyst for Ole Miss in 2020 and spent three years as a defensive quality control assistant at FAU.
Merrit began coaching as a student assistant at Mississippi State and spent 2013-16 as an assistant at Ole Miss.
Similar to Brown and Merritt, Hall is a product of SEC Football. Before WKU, he spent a year at LSU following two seasons at Illinois. He started coaching as an assistant at Valdosta State, a Division II school, where he won a national championship in 2018. He spent his playing career as a defensive lineman at Georgia.
Sports Reporter Jake McMahon can be reached at [email protected].
