ULM hires Western Carolina’s LaMar Morgan as DBs coach

Western Carolina defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan will have the same position under Louisiana-Monroe coach Matt Viator, according to sources.

The move brings Morgan back to the Sun Belt, where he was a safety for Louisiana-Lafayette in 2003 and from ’05–07. He spent the past two seasons in his position at Western Carolina.

Morgan replaces former Louisiana-Monroe defensive backs coach Chris Hampton, who left this week to join the staff of Tulane coach Willie Fritz.

Before Western Carolina, Morgan was a defensive graduate assistant at Vanderbilt from 2012–13, working with the program’s strong-side linebackers and nickel backs. During Morgan’s two seasons in Nashville, the Commodores finished within the FBS’s top 23 in total defense both seasons and had a 9–4 record in each campaign, both capped by bowl victories.

Morgan got his start in coaching as an assistant at Joshua (Texas) High. A Copperas Cove, Texas, product, he briefly played for the Arena Football League’s Jacksonville Sharks in 2010.

The underrated Viator was hired as Louisiana-Monroe’s coach in mid-December after registering a 77–33 record in 10 seasons at McNeese State, including a 10–1 mark this past season.

He replaced former Warhawks coach Todd Berry, who was fired in November amidst a 1–9 start. Louisiana-Monroe finished with a 2–11 record this past season, including a 1–7 record in the Sun Belt, and had one of the FBS’s worst offenses.

Berry had a 28–43 record in his six seasons with the Warhawks, which included a lone bowl appearance in 2012.