Will Hall is beginning to fill out his defensive staff and, much like his initial offensive hires, his defensive staff will have connections from his previous stops.
Sources say Austin Armstrong is expected to join the staff in a senior role, possibly as defensive coordinator. Chad Williams is also expected to join the staff working with defensive backs.
Armstrong is presently the inside linebackers coach at Louisiana-Lafayette after spending two years with the Cajuns as a graduate assistant. He spent 2019 as an analyst at Georgia and the 2016 working under Hall as West Georgia's assistant defensive line coach.
A former All-Conference USA defensive back at Southern Miss before crafting a 6-year NFL career, Williams is currently the defensive coordinator at Central Arkansas. He also coordinated defenses previously for Valdosta State and Savannah State, and worked alongside Hall at West Georgia in 2014 and '15.
Additionally, sources previously indicated Sam Gregg was Hall's first choice to join the staff as offensive coordinator, re-creating a working arrangement Gregg had with Hall for more than a decade at numerous stops.
However, we're now told Gregg is likely to remain at Liberty, and Hall is now targeting Cayden Cochran to fill his offensive coordinator role. Cochran is presently the offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Emporia State, but prior to that worked under Hall at West Georgia. He helped West Georgia make two Division II playoff appearances in three seasons on staff. At Emporia State Cochran has helped produce the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Braxton Marstall as well as the No. 2 offense in the conference.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
Update> Sources tell FootballScoop Cochran is locked in as offensive coordinator.
After we released our report yesterday, Cole Cubelic followed up with confirmation on Armstrong.