Well, Louisiana Tech’s defense will be a smarter unit simply by association as it moves to Conference USA, right?
Regardless, first-year Tech head coach Skip Holtz announced Tuesday that he has hired Kim Dameron as his new defensive coordinator. Dameron has spent the past two seasons at the Ivy League’s Cornell, the last as defensive coordinator.
“Kim Dameron brings a lot of experience with 14 years as a defensive coordinator,” Holtz said in a statement. “On a personal level, I have known him for a long time as he played and began his coaching career under my father at Arkansas. From a recruiting standpoint, he brings great ties to the area to our program and I am excited to have him on our staff.”
Dameron does have previous experience as a coordinator at the FBS level, including a brief stint serving in that capacity at Cincinnati in 1997. He was also the defensive coordinator during stops at Stephen F. Austin and Eastern Illinois.
Prior to his time at Cornell, he was a defensive assistant at Ole Miss for three years (2008-10). Another SEC connection? He was on the Louisiana-Monroe staff as coordinator when the Warhawks went into Tuscaloosa in 2007 and beat Alabama during Year One of Nick Saban‘s Tide reign.
“My wife and I are extremely excited to come back to North Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex area,” Dameron said. “I have known about Louisiana Tech for years and its reputation nationally, along with the school joining Conference USA with a new head coach in Skip Holtz, makes this a very exciting opportunity. I have had a smile on my face since the first day I got here and I don’t expect that smile to come off my face anytime soon.”