Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore announced Thursday that Dwayne Ledford and Bryan Brown have officially joined the ASU staff as assistant coaches.
Ledford will serve as ASU's offensive line coach and Brown will be an assistant coach on the defensive side of the ball. Specific defensive coaching assignments will be designated in the coming weeks.
With its coaching staff nearly complete (ASU still has one position to fill on the offensive side of the ball), ASU moved up the start of spring practice from the originally scheduled March 19 to March 5.
A native of nearby Marion, and a seven-year National Football League veteran, Ledford joins the Appalachian State staff after one season as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Gardner-Webb.
In his only season at GWU, the Bulldogs ranked second in the Big South in rushing (165.6 yards per game) and third in fewest sacks allowed (17), finishing among the top 50 teams nationally in both categories.
Previous to his one season at Gardner-Webb, he also spent a year Tennessee State, helping lead the Tigers to top-25 national rankings in both rushing (190.0 ypg) and fewest sacks allowed (13).
Brown comes to ASU from Ole Miss, where he was a four-year letterwinner on the gridiron and as a member of the Rebels' basketball team before joining the football staff in 2010.
Last season, he served as a graduate assistant coach at Ole Miss, working specifically with the Rebels' “spur” (nickel back) position.