Having already added new defensive coordinator Brad Lambert as first reported by FootballScoop, Tony Gibson has completed a near-complete overhaul of his Marshall Thundering Herd defensive staff.
Sources tell FootballScoop Saturday that in addition to hiring Lambert, a veteran with ACC and Big Ten experience to orchestrate the defense, Gibson also is adding Dean Hood as the Herd's safeties coach and Chip West to coach cornerbacks.
Per sources, Jake Ellsworth, Jared Holley and Shannon Morrison no longer are with the Marshall football coaching staff.
Hood had been on the University of Kentucky football staff of Mark Stoops, for whom he served as director of player development. Hood also has head coaching experience as the former leader of Football Championship Subdivision program Murray State.
West has deep Power Conference experience, having served for multiple years on Dave Clawson's Wake Forest Demon Deacons staff as well as at ACC member Syracuse. He logged six years at the University of Virginia; West also had an earlier stint at Marshall, as well as Charlotte, James Madison and Old Dominion among other stops in a decades-long career.
Marshall closed its inaugural season under Gibson, a renowned defensive play-caller who finally got his shot at an Football Bowls Subdivision coaching post, at 5-7; the Herd were 5-5 with a shot at a bowl berth before they dropped their final two games by seven total points against Sun Belt Conference foes Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
The Herd is scheduled to open its 2026 season Sept. 5, 2026, at Penn State, which hired Matt Campbell earlier this month after the Nittany Lions fired James Franklin midway through the 2025 season.