The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program has added Davern Williams to its staff, according to news reports.
Williams was most recently the defensive line coach at East Mississippi Community College - the program featured in the Netflix documentary series "Last Chance U" - after previous stops at Murray State, Jacksonville State, Millsaps and Huntingdon, the latter two Division III programs.
He played collegiately at both Auburn and Troy. In three seasons as a starter for Troy, he had 164 tackles (19.5 for loss) and eight sacks while playing alongside future NFL standouts DeMarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora.
Under his direction at EMCC, 20 defensive linemen signed with Division I schools, including three from this past season - Cole Baker (Ohio), Aarron Boatright (Idaho) and Marquise Griffin (Austin Peay). Seven of those 20 signed with Power Five conference programs.
The addition of Williams fills one of three needs for UTC's defensive coaching staff, which was decimated in the offseason with the losses of coordinator Tom Kaufman (who also worked with safeties), defensive line coach Brian Cochran and defensive backs coach Jonathan Cooley. Inside linebackers coach Matt Feeney was promoted to coordinator, while outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton - who played with Williams at Troy - was promoted to assistant head coach.
That leaves the Mocs looking for one assistant to coach safeties and one assistant to coach cornerbacks.
New commitment
The Mocs picked up a commitment Sunday from Ben Brewton, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound defensive end from Beach High School in Savannah, Ga.
In just nine games this past season, Brewton had 65 tackles (24 for loss), 13 sacks and two touchdowns off fumble recoveries, and he also made the tackle as Beach scored a safety. He chose the Mocs over three other Football Championship Subdivision programs - Southern Conference member Western Carolina, Savannah State and Hampton.
"I chose UTC because I felt it would be a perfect fit for my style of play," Brewton told the Times Free Press on Sunday, adding his parents "like the school."
"I feel that it's the best place for me to be," Brewton said.
He's the third player to commit to the Mocs since the conclusion of the early signing period in December, with defensive back Blaine Gibson of B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta and offensive lineman Chandon Page of Nashville's Pearl-Cohn the others.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.