West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has hired Brian Mitchell for the second and final vacancy on his staff, a source told MetroNews on Wednesday.
Mitchell, 44, spent the past three seasons as defensive coordinator at East Carolina but was dismissed Jan. 3 on the heels of an 8-5 season that included a 43-34 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl.
WVU has not announced the hiring, nor that of Tony Gibson, whose hiring MetroNews reported Tuesday night. Gibson, who coached safeties at Arizona this past season and served as a former WVU assistant under Rich Rodriguez, will split secondary duties with Mitchell.
Mitchell played cornerback at Brigham Young from 1987-90 and, after three NFL seasons with the Falcons and Cowboys, he spent 11 years as an assistant with BYU. He later coached with Holgorsen at Texas Tech for four seasons.
In 2011, during Mitchell’s second season at ECU, he implemented a 3-4 scheme. Though the Pirates finished only 5-7, they ranked 33rd in pass defense and 56th in total defense.
This past season, ECU dipped to 107th in the NCAA in pass defense (275.6 yards per game), while ranking 83rd in passing efficiency defense, 87th in total defense (430.6 yards per game) and 53rd in rushing defense (155 yards per game).