Report: Arizona State hiring SEC assistant coach

Herm Edwards and the Arizona State Sun Devils are hiring an SEC assistant as its defensive backs coach, as Pete Thamel reported that the Pac-12 program is bringing Missouri‘s secondary coach, Aaron Fletcher, out to Tempe, Arizona.

Fletcher’s move to Arizona State came just one year after he arrived at Mizzou. Fletcher was hired by Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers in February 2021, having spent the last 15 years coaching at the collegiate and high school levels, including the last six years spent at Tulsa.

While with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, Fletcher led a defense that routinely ranked near the top of the American Athletic Conference (AAC), including a top-10 pass defense in the nation during the 2018 season. He helped Tulsa rank in the top five of the AAC in pass defense in his final three seasons, including a conference-leading and eighth-best national mark of 174.6 yards per game in 2018. In six years with Tulsa, Fletcher helped lead the program to three bowl-game appearances.

Before Fletcher’s arrival at Tulsa, his first FBS job, he coached for several seasons at the FCS and high school levels. From 2012 until 2014, Fletcher spent three seasons with the Houston Baptist University Huskies, where he helped the FCS program build from scratch. Despite the program not starting until the 2012 season, Fletcher helped coach one player — Prince Sam — to an all-conference selection in 2014, marking the first time that Houston Baptist football obtained such an honor.

Fletcher coached at three Dallas-area high schools from 2006-2011 before making the jump to college, perhaps explaining why his first job was in the nearby Houston area.

Missouri, Drinkwitz will have to revamp secondary after Fletcher’s departure

Following Fletcher’s departure from Missouri to Arizona State, Missouri will now be looking to completely revamp its secondary coaching staff under Drinkwitz.

Fletcher’s departure came shortly after the school announced in early January that Charlie Harbison, who came to Columbia with Drinkwitz from Appalachian State, would be “stepping aside” from his job as on-field safeties coach to handle what he said were personal matters with his family back in North Carolina. Harbison is also an associate head coach for the Tigers, so Drinkwitz will have some revamping to do in his defense.

“Coach Cheese will remain a valued member of our program moving forward and we appreciate his commitment to Mizzou football,” Drinkwitz said of Harbison after departing.