University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Tom Arth recently announced defensive line coach Davern Williams, inside linebackers coach Oscar Rodriguez and cornerbacks coach Jeremiah Wilson had joined his staff.
The hires were previously reported by the Times Free Press.
Williams was the defensive line coach at East Mississippi Community College the past four seasons, helping the Lions post a 42-3 record with a pair of National Junior College Athletic Association national championships during his tenure. Twenty-three defensive linemen went on to four-year schools under Williams, including former Ole Miss standout D.J. Jones, a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers this past NFL season.
Williams, a former Troy standout who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 2003, was featured on the Netflix documentary "Last Chance U."
"Coach Williams is an excellent football coach who has made an immediate impact in our program and within our defensive line group," Arth said in a news release. "He brings great coaching expertise which will allow him to add value to our program in many ways. I could not be more excited to have the opportunity to work alongside Davern."
Rodriguez most recently spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at La Verne (Calif.) College, helping the Leopards lead their conference in fewest yards allowed per game. Three La Verne defenders earned all-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognition in 2017, while Rodriguez was named the American Football Coaches Association Division III national assistant coach of the year.
Rodriguez earned a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country during eight seasons of junior college work.
"We are extremely excited to welcome Oscar and his family to our program," Arth said in a release. "Oscar is someone who came highly recommended. Looking at his résumé as a defensive coordinator and what he has accomplished speaks volumes and is going to add so much knowledge and depth to our program."
Wilson - a 2005 graduate of Chattooga High School - spent the past five seasons at Florida State, where he worked as a defensive quality control assistant and graduate assistant. He worked under new Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt and new Tennessee special teams/safeties coach Charles Kelly when they were with the Seminoles.
"Jeremiah is as exceptional of a young coach as we have been around," Arth said. "There aren't many people who know the game quite like him. He has worked with some of the best coaches in the country over the last five years and was highly recommended to us."
The announcements conclude an offseason of turnover for the staff that led the Southern Conference's best defense last season.
Defensive coordinator Tom Kaufman, defensive line coach Brian Cochran and cornerbacks coach Jonathan Cooley left for similar positions at Kent State, a Football Bowl Subdivision program. Arth moved inside linebackers coach Matt Feeney to defensive coordinator, and he will also coach safeties. Outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton - the Mocs' only defensive coach in the same position from 2017 - also added the title of assistant head coach.
The Mocs went 3-8 last year in Arth's first season, winning two of their final four games and losing the other two by a combined nine points, with one a double-overtime defeat. They will begin spring practices at 10 a.m. Saturday at Scrappy Moore Field.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.