Report: Veteran Defensive Staffer Leaving Virginia To Join Memphis Tigers Coaching Staff

Virginia is reportedly losing

UofL football safeties coach ShaDon Brown. Dec. 19, 2018 Brown Shadon Uofl Football T9i5836 | Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

According to CBS Sports Matt Zenitz, Virginia is going to be losing a defensive analyst to Memphis.

Zenitz reported this morning that senior defensive analyst ShaDon Brown is leaving Charlottesville to become the cornerbacks coach for the Tigers. Memphis just recently hired Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff to replace Ryan Silverfield, who left to become the head coach at Arkansas.

Memphis is expected to hire Virginia’s ShaDon Brown as cornerbacks coach, a source tells @CBSSports.

Before spending this season as a senior analyst at Virginia, Brown was co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for four seasons at West Virginia. pic.twitter.com/y9iwnJuRfP

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 14, 2025

Per his UVA bio:

"In 2023, the West Virginia defense showed improvement, giving up six fewer points a game than the prior year. The pass defense held 11 of its last 12 opponents to fewer than 300 yards through the air. Cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr., an All-Big 12 Conference First Team performer, was WVU’s 112th All-America selection, including 49th since 2002. He was the program’s 13th consensus All-American, second since 2020, earning a spot on 10 teams. He signed a free agent contract with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers. Bishop led the nation in passes defended (24) and breakups (20), was second in forced incompletions (17) and was tied for No. 19 in interceptions (4). He also was No. 2 in WVU history for single-season pass breakups (20).

In 2022, WVU finished with three defensive touchdowns, all by defensive backs (Jasir Cox, Malachi Ruffin, Jacolby Spells). That mark ranked No. 2 in the Big 12 and was No. 12 nationally. Cox led the Big 12 and was No. 22 in fumbles recovered, and Ruffin led the Mountaineers in passes defended. Safety Aubrey Burks earned All-Big 12 Conference Second-Team honors by the league’s Associated Press writers and was named by PFF College for first-team recognition.

In Brown’s first year as the Mountaineers’ secondary coach, WVU finished No. 5 nationally in red-zone defense, an improvement of 67 spots from the year before, was No. 18 in fewest defensive first downs allowed and in fourth-down percentage, No. 29 in third-down defense (.347), No. 37 in total defense (350.1) and No. 39 in tackles for loss (6.5), an improvement of nine spots. WVU tied for No. 2 in the Big 12 in conference games in interceptions and was No. 3 in passing defense, giving up only 211.2 yards game through the air. In all games, WVU was No. 5 in the nation in red-zone defense and No. 18 in fewest first downs allowed.

In 2021 conference games, Charles Woods was tied for No. 11 in the league in interceptions and No. 13 in passes defended. According to PFF College, he had the lowest pass rating allowed in coverage among Big 12 cornerbacks (22.1).

Prior to his stint in Morgantown, Brown spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons on the staff at Louisville where the Cardinals led the ACC in passing defense and was No. 17 nationally, allowing 189.2 yards per game in 2020. Brown was named one of the top 30 recruiters in the ACC by 247Sports in 2019.

Before coming on at Louisville, Brown oversaw the secondary at Colorado in 2017 & 2018. He was promoted to defensive passing game coordinator for the 2018 season. The Colorado secondary thrived during Brown’s tenure in Boulder, allowing opponents to complete just 56.2% of their passes. The Buffaloes led the Pac-12 Conference in opposing completion percentage (56.7 percent) in 2018 and ranked fourth in 2017. Colorado was No. 2 in third-down defense and No. 5 in total defense and pass defense in 2018 and No. 6 in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense in 2017."