Brown, Merritt Promoted To Co-Defensive Coordinators; Hall Promoted To Run Game Coordinator

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football announced the promotions of Da’Von Brown and Davis Merritt to Co-Defensive Coordinators on Friday.

In addition to the promotions of Brown and Merritt on the defensive side, Carson Hall has been promoted to Run Game Coordinator in addition to his duties as Defensive Line Coach.

All three have served on WKU’s defensive staff the last two seasons and will enter their third with the program in 2025. Brown has been WKU’s Defensive Backs Coach previously, while Merritt has been Inside Linebackers Coach. Both will maintain those responsibilities.

The trio helped WKU reach its fifth and sixth consecutive bowl games, as well as the 2024 Conference USA Championship Game this past season.

WKU was fourth in CUSA in scoring defense in 2024, allowing an average of 24.6 points per game, and ranked third in the category against league opponents during the regular season at just 20.1 points allowed through those eight games. The Hilltoppers finished second in the league in pass defense last season by allowing just 176.1 yards per game and held opponents under 100 yards passing four times during the regular season. The Hilltoppers were third in the league in turnovers gained in 2024.

The year prior, the Hilltopper defense was one of the most aggressive defenses in the country, finishing first in CUSA and tied for seventh nationally in turnovers gained with 26. WKU’s 11 fumble recoveries were seventh nationally and the 15 passes intercepted were 15th in the country – marks that ranked first and second in CUSA, respectively. WKU ranked first in CUSA and 35th nationally in team passing efficiency defense, while the Hilltoppers’ red zone defense was the second-best in CUSA.

WKU had six defensive selections on All-CUSA teams this past season, highlighted by defensive back Upton Stout and defensive tackle Hosea Wheeler receiving First Team nods. Defensive back Devonte’ Mathews was a Second Team All-CUSA selection, while defensive tackle Dallas Walker, defensive end Deante McCray and linebacker Darius Thomas received were Honorable Mention selections. In addition to the six, linebacker Lofton Howard was named to the 2024 CUSA All-Freshman Team.

In 2023, WKU received a pair of CUSA All-Conference Second Team selections defensively in Wheeler and Kendrick Simpkins, while defensive back Anthony Johnson Jr. was an Honorable Mention selection. The Hilltoppers had five defensive players named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team in 2023.

Brown arrived at WKU after a two-year stint at Ole Miss, where he was a Graduate Assistant in 2021 before being promoted to a Defensive Analyst in 2022. In 2022, Brown helped the Rebels’ defense hold opponents to 25 points per game while producing 19 forced turnovers. Ole Miss went 8-5 in 2022 with a win over No. 7 Kentucky and an appearance in the TaxAct Texas Bowl. In Brown’s first season in Oxford, the Rebels put together a 10-win season with an appearance in the Sugar Bowl.

Before joining Lane Kiffin’s staff at Ole Miss, Brown spent the 2020 season at Geneva College where he served as a Graduate Assistant coaching defensive backs. The Golden Tornadoes only played five games that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brown played four seasons as a defensive back at Florida Atlantic. Three of those seasons were spent under the leadership of Kiffin, his boss at Ole Miss. In his final three seasons with the Owls, Brown recorded 114 total tackles, six pass breakups, and one forced fumble. As a senior in 2019, Brown recorded the third-most tackles on the team with 76 while helping FAU finish the year with an 11-3 record.

Merritt joined the Hilltoppers after a successful two-year run at Georgia, where he helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back National Championships. At Georgia, Merritt served as a defensive quality control coordinator while helping assemble one of the most dominant defenses in all of college football.

In 2022, Georgia went a perfect 15-0 with a win over LSU to claim the SEC Championship before moving on to the Peach Bowl, where the Bulldogs beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to move on to the National Championship. The Georgia defense provided an elite performance in the championship game, limiting TCU to just one score in a dominant 65-7 victory.

Under Merritt’s leadership, Georgia’s defense was just as good the year before when they defeated Alabama, 33-18, to claim the title. The 2021 Bulldog defense surrendered just 6.7 points per game, including three shutouts and eight games in which they allowed seven points or less. Following that dominant season, Georgia saw eight defensive players drafted into the NFL, including five first-round picks in the 2022 Draft. Two of those eight draft picks were Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean who both played linebacker under Merritt.

Before his time at Georgia, Merritt spent the 2020 campaign at Ole Miss as a Senior Defensive Player Personnel Analyst. That was after a three-year stint at FAU as a Defensive Quality Control Assistant. FAU won two Conference USA Championships and two bowl games during that span.

Merritt began his coaching career at Mississippi State as a Student Assistant, working primarily with defensive backs from 2011-13. He then went to Ole Miss for his first run with the Rebels, where he was a Volunteer Assistant for the 2013 campaign before serving as a Graduate Assistant from 2014-16. During his time at Ole Miss, the Rebels won the 2015 Sugar Bowl against No. 16 Oklahoma State.

Like Merritt, Hall came to WKU after helping Georgia to its back-to-back National Championships. There, Hall served as an Assistant Defensive Line Coach. He mentored multiple elite defensive linemen at Georgia, including the trio of Travon Walker, Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt, who were all first round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Before joining the staff at Georgia, Hall had a brief stop at LSU where he spent the 2021 spring season with the Tigers as an Assistant Defensive Line Coach. Before joining LSU, he was a Graduate Assistant at Illinois from 2019-20. Hall helped the Illini qualify for a bowl game in his first season – the program’s first in five years.

Hall started his coaching career at Valdosta State, where he was an assistant working with the team’s outside linebackers. Valdosta State went a perfect 14-0 that year and went on to beat Ferris State to claim the Division II National Championship.

Hall played defensive line at Georgia from 2015-17. During his time as a player with the Bulldogs, he helped the team go to three bowl games, including the 2018 Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff Semifinal where Georgia beat Oklahoma in double overtime to advance to the National Championship game against Alabama.