UConn Football Hires Darrell Perkins as Defensive Backs Coach

After firing four coaches, UConn football made their first new hire, adding Darrell Perkins as the new defensive backs coach. Perkins has experience coaching the secondary at UConn and with Edsall, spending 2010-13 in Storrs with the Huskies and the 2015 season at Maryland when Edsall was fired mid-season.

Most recently, Perkins was the co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Fordham for the past three seasons, the same school linebackers coach Jon Wholley coached at before UConn.

“I am so excited to be back at UConn working with Coach Edsall again,” Perkins said in a release. ”He is a great person, coach and leader. I cannot wait to meet the players and then get to work doing the necessary things to have a great 2019 season.”

Perkins has a good track record of developing quality defensive backs at UConn, working with 2013 NFL Draft picks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson and 2015 first-round pick Byron Jones.

During the 2010 Fiesta Bowl season for the Huskies, the team picked off the fifth-most passes in the nation and had the 28th-ranked pass efficiency defense.

“It is with great pleasure to announce that Darrell Perkins has rejoined our Football Family here at UConn,” head coach Randy Edsall said. ”Darrell understands what it takes to win at UConn and has developed some outstanding defensive backs in his previous stint at UConn. To add a coach and person with Darrell’s experience and knowledge of the University of Connecticut will make us a better program.”

Perkins has also spent time with Old Dominion, Louisiana Monroe and a handful of FCS schools.

With defensive backs coach filled, UConn still needs a defensive coordinator and fill out the strength and conditioning staff.