Arizona hires Boise State's Yates as defensive coordinator

By foxsports
Published

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona has agreed in principle to hire Boise State defensive coordinator Marcel Yates as its defensive coordinator.

He will replace Jeff Casteel, who was fired this month by coach Rich Rodriguez.

Yates spent the past two seasons at Boise State as defensive coordinator, leading a unit that was ninth nationally with 31 forced turnovers. He was a defensive back at Boise State from 1996-99 and coached defensive backs from 2003-11.

Yates also spent two seasons at Texas A&M as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach.

Yates leaves less than a week after Broncos offensive coordinator Eliah Drinkwitz left Bryan Harsin's staff for North Carolina State.

Yates is the third addition to Arizona's defensive staff, with one position still to be filled.

On Sunday, Rodriguez announced the hiring of former San Jose State secondary coach Donte Williams. Williams, 33, has a reputation as one of the top recruiters in college football.

"I am excited to bring Coach Williams on staff here at Arizona," Rodriguez said. "He is a bright young coach that is an outstanding evaluator of talent and someone who has shown he can develop players. He will bring an energy on and off the field that will have an immediate impact on our program."

Williams spent three seasons on San Jose's staff, the final two coaching the defensive secondary. San Jose State allowed opponents to pass for 153.6 yards per game in 2015, which ranked second in the nation, after leading the nation by giving up just 117.8 yards per game in 2014.

In February 2015, Sports Illustrated named Williams a Top 10 recruiter in college football. He was also tabbed the top recruiter in the Mountain West Conference by 247sports.com each of the last two seasons.

Prior to joining San Jose State, Williams served two years as a graduate assistant at Washington and one year as assistant linebackers coach at Nevada. He is a 2006 graduate of Idaho State.

Rodriguez's first hire for the defensive staff was Jahmile Addae, who was promoted from analyst to a full-time assistant coaching position.