Spanos brought it to fix UConn’s historically bad defense

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STORRS, Conn. (AP) — UConn has hired Lou Spanos, a coach with experience in both college football and the NFL, to fix its historically bad defense.

Coach Randy Edsall announced Wednesday that Spanos has been hired as defensive coordinator, replacing Billy Crocker, who was fired after the Huskies' 1-11 season.

He takes over a defense that gave up the most yards (7,409), yards per game (617.4), points (605) and points per game (50.41) of any major college football team in NCAA history.

Spanos was an analyst last season for Alabama after serving as the linebackers coach for the Tennessee Titans from 2014-18. He was defensive coordinator at UCLA during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. His resume also includes 15 seasons on the staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers.