Charlotte adds two former SEC assistants to coaching staff

Charlotte football has made a pair of additions its coaching staff, per Yahoo! Sports’ Pete Thamel. The 49ers will bring on Greg Brown as co-defensive coordinator and Kap Dede to coach in the secondary.

Brown coached under Nick Saban at Alabama as a defensive backs coach for one season in 2013. He also brings NFL experience and was a defensive coordinator at Colorado and Arizona. Most recently he served as defensive backs coach at Purdue from 2019-20.

Dede earned his PhD in Administration in Higher Education from Auburn University in 2012. He has served as a defensive quality control analyst for Mississippi State, Florida and Arkansas. He spent the past two seasons at Colorado State, where he was a linebackers coach.

Charlotte parted ways with co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Brandon Cooper and cornerbacks coach Eddie Hicks this offseason. Dede and Brown will presumably come on as their replacements.

Charlotte finished this past season with a 5-7 record, missing out on a bowl game for the second consecutive season. The 49ers were one of the worst defenses in all of college football, giving up more than 465 yards and 34 points per game. They are entering the fourth season of coach Will Healy, who compiled a 14-17 record in his first three years. He led the program to its first-ever winning season in 2019, including a trip to the Bahamas Bowl. The 49ers did not have a football program until 2013 and did not join the FBS until 2015.

Brown is set to share defensive coordinator duties with defensive line coach Marcus West, who is entering his fourth season with the team. West previously shared the defensive coordinator role with Cooper. Jay Bateman and Dave Huxtable were also interviewed for the role, according to the Charlotte Observer.

The 49ers are set to open the 2022 season on Sept. 3 against the William & Mary Tribe. With the new addition to its coaching staff, the hope is next season will be an improvement for the Charlotte defense.