Southern Miss has announced the addition of Clay Bignell as their new defensive coordinator.
He rejoins the major college ranks after a breakout season as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois.
After a few seasons in major college football as a senior defensive analyst at Notre Dame (2018-19), East Carolina (2020) and Vanderbilt (2021), Bignell spent a season on staff at EIU as safeties coach / pass game coordinator before being elevated to defensive play caller heading into the 2023 season.
He made an immediate impact with the FCS program, leading a defense that ranked #1 in the country in turnover margin, as well as top ten in turnovers gained and fumbles recovered.
His unit also ranked among the top 30 in interceptions (14th), scoring defense (18th), fourth-down defense (19th), pass efficiency defense (26th) and rush defense (30th).
The former Montana State linebacker also has a previous stop at Northwestern earlier in his coaching career as a graduate assistant.
At Southern Miss, he inherits a defense that allowed nearly 36 points per game this past fall, which ranks 128th out of 133 teams.
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