Advertisement

Georgia football has assistant coach opening. Names that make sense to replace Fran Brown

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has an opening for an assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball for the first time in 21 months.

Defensive backs coach Fran Brown was hired Tuesday by Syracuse as its new head coach.

Brown replaced Jahmile Addae in February 2022 after he left for Miami following a national championship season.

More: Now at Alabama, Derek Dooley has coached for multiple UGA rivals. 'It's awful' his mom says

More: Georgia football 2024 schedule dates at Alabama, Texas revealed

Brown coached defensive backs for more than 10 years at Temple, Baylor and Rutgers and was seen as a relentless recruiter.

Smart has some flexibility with the hire since Will Muschamp already coaches the safeties and nickelbacks.

Here are some names that would make sense to replace Brown.

Travaris Robinson, Alabama CBs coach

Former Auburn All-SEC pick worked under Muschamp at South Carolina and Florida. Miami native has South Florida ties and coached at Miami in 2021. Was defensive coordinator with Gamecocks. Crimson Tide ranked 15th in nation this season in pass defense.

Doug Belk, Houston defensive coordinator

Coached safeties for Cougars, but school fired head coach Dana Holgerson. Valdosta native coached at West Virginia, was a graduate assistant at Alabama when Smart and Glenn Schumann were there. Reportedly interviewed for Chargers DC job last year.

Nick Williams, Colorado DE coach

Former Georgia safety and linebacker was a student assistant and graduate assistant at UGA from 2018-2020. The 34-year old Bainbridge native was a defensive analyst at Texas A&M for two seasons and helped the Aggies land a No. 1 recruiting class. Ranked No. 22 in 247Sports 2024 coaching recruiting rankings.

Zac Etheridge, Auburn secondary coach

Was ranked nation’s No. 10 ranked recruiter for 2023 class by 247Sports. Four-year starter at Auburn. Also coached at Houston, Louisiana and Western Carolina.

Bryan Carrington, Arizona State cornerbacks coach

Smart went the up-and-coming coach route when he hired OLBs coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe after a brief stint at TCU and SMU. Carrington was at TCU as an analyst and recruiting coordinator. The Houston native worked at USC and Texas.

Travares Tillman Georgia Tech DBs coach

Graduate assistant and quality control coach at Georgia from 2016-18. Lyons, Ga., native was a two-time All-ACC player for Yellow Jackets.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football assistant hire hot board to replace Fran Brown