Last week, the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes announced hiring of Troy native Zac Etheridge as the football program’s new defensive backs coach.

Etheridge’s move to Miami comes just weeks after being named the new defensive pass game coordinator at Houston, where he served as defensive backs coach in 2024. Etheridge, known as one of the top recruiters in the country, hit the ground running at Miami as CaneSport reported that Etheridge visited four-star Alabama commit Zyan Gibson from Gadsden almost immediately after being hired. Etheridge’s ties to the State of Alabama being obvious. 

Etheridge was a star player at Charles Henderson High School, earning Alabama-Mississippi All-Star honors as a senior defensive back in 2005. Etheridge went on to play at Auburn, winning a National Championship with the Tigers in 2010.  

Etheridge was a starting safety for Auburn for four years despite breaking his neck as a junior in 2009. He went on to not only play his senior season but was named captain as he helped lead the Tigers to the 2010 National Championship. As a senior, he tallied 69 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, three interceptions and a fumble recovery.   During his Auburn career, Etheridge earned Freshman All-American and SEC Academic Honor Roll honors and was named the James Owens Courage Award recipient. The award is named in honor of Auburn’s first African-American football player and goes to a player who has shown courage in the face of adversity.   Etheridge started his coaching carer in 2012 as a graduate assistant at Penn State and then served as grad assistant at Georgia Tech from 2013 through 2014. Etheridge’s first full-time coaching job came as cornerbacks and outside linebackers coach at Western Carolina from 2016 through 2017.   

Etheridge coached cornerbacks at Louisiana in 2018 and at Houston from 2019 through the 2020 season. Etheridge returned to his alma mater, Auburn, in 2021 as secondary coach and then served as associate head coach and secondary coach at Auburn from 2022 through 2023. Known as one of the top recruiters in the SEC, Etheridge returned to Houston in 2024 as defensive backs coach.   

Former Troy Trojan receiver Damion Willis was also promoted to inside receivers coach at Georgia Southern this past week. Willis was promoted to an assistant coach after serving this past season as a graduate assistant for the Eagles. 

Willis earned All-Sun Belt honors twice as a Trojan and caught 98 passes for 1,496 yards and 13 touchdowns during his two years with Troy. In 2018, he caught 56 passes for 876 yards and 10 touchdowns and set the New Orleans Bowl record for catches in a game with 11 for 136 yards and two touchdowns.  

Willis has played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. He started two games for the Bengals in 2019 and caught nine passes for 82 yards.

In 2023, Willis played for the Seattle Seadragons of the XFL, catching 18 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. In 2024, Willis was selected in the USFL/XFL “Super Draft” by the Memphis Showboats as the UFL was launched. 

Willis coached at Holmes Community College, at the junior college (JUCO) level, as a receivers coach and kick return coordinator from 2022 through 2023 before coming to Georgia Southern lat season.