Mark Hudspeth has done at the high school level what Deion Sanders did at Jackson State: assemble quite an unprecedented staff of assistant coaches.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Hudspeth is expected to add Brian Van Gorder -- a well-traveled coaching veteran with stints coaching at college powerhouses ranging from Notre Dame to Auburn to Georgia and a trio of NFL franchises -- back to Hudspeth's Gulf Shores (Alabama) staff as defensive coordinator.
Van Gorder was Hudspeth's first defensive coordinator at the South Alabama prep school two years ago, when Hudspeth exited the college game to take over the high school program.
Van Gorder served as a high school assistant in Florida in 2022 at American Heritage, a perennially strong program near Miami in Hollywood, Florida.
For Van Gorder, it's another move in a coaching career spanning parts of five decades for the coach who next month turns 64.
Van Gorder's orchestrated defenses at Auburn, Notre Dame for three years under Brian Kelly, Georgia and worked with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets.