Cal Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes needed to fill out his coaching staff before the start of the season, and he went into defensive mode in doing so. According to John Taylor of NBC Sports’ College Football Talk, Dykes has hired longtime defensive coach John Lovett as the team’s cornerbacks coach.
Lovett, 64, was recently the defensive backs coach for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he spent a year in the same position as Texas Tech and was also the defensive coordinator at Miami for two years. In a career that dates back to the ’70s, Lovett has also worked for a number of programs including Clemson, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Auburn and even the NFL’s New York Jets.
His expertise will now take him to Cal, where he will be tasked with improving a team that finished 128th in the nation in passing defense in 2014. Given how the Golden Bears went from going 1-11 (0-9 Pac-12) in Dykes’ first season to 5-7 (3-6 Pac-12) last year, adding Lovett to the staff should only further improve the team.
Cal opens the season at home against the SWAC’s Grambling State Tigers on September 5.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to CSN Philly
