First-year Troy University coach Jon Sumrall has made a couple of key hires to his staff – on each side of the line of scrimmage.
Sumrall, hired away from the University of Kentucky last month to take over the Trojans’ program in his native state of Alabama, has added Cole Popovich to his offensive staff as the line coach while Sumrall also has tabbed Eric McDaniel as his defensive line coach, sources told FootballScoop Tuesday.
For Popovich, it’s a return to the collegiate game after five seasons in the New England Patriots’ organization under Bill Belichick, where Popovich was an assistant offensive line coach for the franchise prior to his mid-summer departure in 2021.
McDaniel had been a key member of Jeff Monken’s Army staff as the Black Knights’ assistant defensive line coach.
A former Purdue player, McDaniel had worked alongside Scott Satterfield at a pair of stops – Appalachian State and Louisville – before he joined Monken’s staff in 2021.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sumrall added Brock Hays as the Trojans’ running backs coach. Hays previously had coached at Louisiana Tech.