Report: North Texas coach Neal Brown hiring Baylor defensive coordinator Matt Powledge for same role
North Texas is expected to hire Baylor defensive coordinator Matt Powledge for the same role, per CBS Sports. Powledge has spent the past three seasons with the Bears.
Powledge will be a key contributor on first-year head coach Neal Brown’s staff. Brown was hired earlier this month to replace Eric Morris, who will take over as headman at Oklahoma State in 2026.
Brown and Powledge’s paths crossed for one season at Kentucky in 2013. Brown was the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the time, while Powledge was brought on Mark Stoops’ staff as a graduate assistant.
The two went their separate ways as Brown went on to become the head coach at Troy and eventually West Virginia. Powledge continued to move on up the coaching ranks as well, eventually becoming the co-defensive coordinator at Oregon in 2022. He joined Baylor for a second stint in 2023 as defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
Powledge has had stints at Southeastern Louisiana, Northwestern State, UK, Sam Houston State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana, Baylor and Oregon in total. Aged 38, he played his college football for Sam Houston form 2005-2009 as a fullback.
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Now set to join a North Texas squad, he’ll be working under an old colleague in an attempt to keep the success that the Mean Green enjoyed in 2025 going into next season. North Texas is currently 11-2 overall and finished as the American Conference’s runners-up, losing to Tulane 34-21. They’re set to face San Diego State in the New Mexico Bowl as a result of coming up one win away from the College Football Playoff.
Hiring Powledge wasn’t the only move North Texas reportedly made on Monday Night. Per Pete Thamel, the Mean Green are hiring Errin Joe to be the program’s next general manager. Joe is currently the director of scouting in Austin for the Texas Longhorns — a big get for the former West Virginia headman.
Neal Brown was most recently an analyst on Texas’ staff this season with the title of special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian. He went 37-35 in six seasons at West Virginia. Brown compiled a 25-28 mark in Big 12 conference play.