Neal Brown Hires His Staff

We track the progress

New head coach Neal Brown has been building his staff. There have been no official announcements, and my intuition says that has something to do with the publicity of the 2025 team finishing out their run in the New Mexico Bowl this week. I anticipate a rash of announcements immediately following the game. We have some strong rumors about the structure.

We’ll keep this post updated with the latest and greatest. The forum will also have updates including about the Transfer Portal.

Defensive Coordinator

North Texas is hiring Matthew Powledge as the defensive coordinator. By resume alone, he is not as inspiring of a hire as outgoing DC Skyler Cassity. The latter came to Denton from Sam Houston State where he had coordinated a defense known for tackles for loss, and turnovers. He also won ten-games and his team won a bowl.

Powledge is noted for his enthusiasm and known for his recruiting. He was hired by Dan Lanning and Dave Aranda — two of the top minds in defensive football right now. Aranda’s Baylor Bears are eroding his reputation with each passing terrible season.

Although head coach Dave Aranda called the plays on defense, the Bears were toward the bottom of the Big 12 in every category, allowing 32.6 points per game, 197.2 rushing yards per game, 194.9 passing yards per game and an opponent third-down conversion rate of 41%. Baylor was dead last in the conference in fumbles recovered (2) and sacks (12).

Baylor’s defense has been among the worst in the Power Four across the last three years, according to ESPN’s SP+. In 2023, the Bears were 103rd in team defense, 63rd in 2024 and 108th in 2025.

Here is what we are thinking we should be looking for in a DC.

General Manager

Former U of Texas director of scouting Errin Joe is going to be the North Texas General Manager. He was previously the GM at Georgia Tech (a place where they have resources, but a uniquely difficult academic situation) and was on staff at Alabama.

QB Coach

Tyler Allen is reportedly the new coach and was hired even before Sean Brophy was official or even rumored to go to Stillwater. Allen was on staff at WVU and has worked at Jacksonville State.

Special Assistant to the Head Coach/Edge Rushers

Ray Gates was hired to mostly be a link to the local DFW high school scene and this is why he has the “Special assistant” tag. He will also coach edge rushers — notable that it isn’t the entire defensive line. This is a relationship and recruiting hire first and foremost, and while that description can be limiting, it is also a proven path to more things. Ed Orgeron aka “Coach O” is famously known for his recruiting and also coaches defensive line.

Safeties Coach

Jevaugn Codlin left Notre Dame to come to Denton. He is known as a recruiter, and has a relationship with Brown from his WVU days. His moving was a promotion, going from analyst to on-field coach.

Special Teams

Jeff Crosby is reported to be moving to Denton from Appalachian State. He coached the Texas special teams when they went to the playoff, and has a lot of experience at G5 type schools including Southern Miss.

Drew Svoboda coached this area this season, and is the current interim. Svoboda has coached everywhere so he might be a candidate for holding over to fill in at some other spot. No telling.

Unfilled:

Neal Brown hiring Ray Gates early was interesting. While Eric Morris hired offense and let the defensive staff sort of sort itself out. Skyler Cassity insisted on bringing his guys with him from Sam Houston, and now has done the same at Oklahoma State. Powledge doesn’t seem to have that same sort of weight and so I don’t know how much he will command or have input in hiring.

Offensive Coordinator

Rumors are that it will be Chad Scott, who was also the running backs coach at Texas. Maybe a dual role.

Running Backs

Patrick Cobbs was offered a job — likely this one — and took the Oklahoma State gig instead. Chad Scott may be in line for this one.

Linebackers

Corners/DBs?

Offensive Line

Matt Moore was the previous Brown coach at WVU, but now has a nice gig at Virginia Tech. Ryan Alexander was the assistant offensive line coach. He’s an analyst at LSU.

Defensive Line (interior)

Maybe Andrew Jackson — current Penn State analyst — and former WVU coach here.