Brock looks to bring ‘significant’ change as new DC
New Uconn football defensive coordinator Matt Brock, like head coach Jim Mora, likes a challenge.
Brock, 35 years old with 13 years of experience in various coaching roles at the college level, was intrigued by Mora’s history of building programs and his willingness to embrace change on the defensive side of the football, where he’s spent most of his career at both the NFL and college levels. Mora will hand the defensive reins over to Brock moving forward as he continues to attempt to build the Uconn program back.
“The fact that I get to come in here and (Mora) was on board with allowing me to take control of the defense and the defensive staff, that was intriguing,” Brock said as he met with Connecticut media for the first time Wednesday after spending two days in Storrs. “And ultimately, I think a place like Uconn fits the kind of places I’ve been already: You’ve got to do a good job of trying to evaluate, develop and create a unit that thrives on doing the things you can control well. You may not always be the most talented, but you better be the hardest-playing, toughest, most physical defense you can create.”
Brock has coached in the Pac-12 at Washington State, the Big 12 at Texas Tech and most recently in the SEC, where he spent the last four years at Mississippi State and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2023. The Bulldogs parted ways with head coach Zach Arnett with two games left in the 2023 season and have since hired Jeff Lebby, who brought in a new group of assistants.
“I do like a challenge and I also think that I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and (I’m) trying to prove people wrong,” Brock said. “And let’s face it, this is a team that was in four one-score
ballgames last year, the year before that it won six games. I remember looking from afar at what Uconn was doing with Coach Mora in the ‘22 season winning those games and I went, ‘Man, this guy’s doing an unbelievable job,’ from afar. Now, how I fit into that? Obviously we need to play better defense and I’m hoping I can help that.”
Mora has doubled as defensive coordinator in his first two years at Uconn, with much of the responsibilities handled by committee. The Huskies’ defense ranked 95th in the nation in total yards allowed (406.5) and No. 96 in points allowed (29.8) en route to a 3-9 record last year. It was a pretty significant drop-off from Mora’s first season, when the Huskies allowed 380.5 yards (No. 70) and 26.2 points per game (No. 62) before making their first bowl appearance in seven years.
Mississippi State’s defense, against mostly SEC competition, allowed 350.6 total yards (40th in the FBS) and 26.6 points per game (66th) under Brock last season.
“What I’ve been used to and what we will do here I think is a pretty significant difference from what they had done. And I’ll just be honest, I made the comment when (Mora) first started talking to me I said, ‘I’m a little surprised you’re interested in it because it is different,’” Brock said.
“His willingness to embrace that and almost be energized by it, from my outside looking in on his personality, that honestly gave me faith in the opportunity as well. Because this is a guy that’s done it at the highest level as a defensive coach and he’s energized by learning something new and doing something new. In any business, in any career, when you stop learning you’re done. So I thought that was a great sign.”
Brock is the fourth hire Uconn football has made in this offseason as a number of players have filtered in and out through the transfer portal. Adding Jeremiah Bogan as director of player personnel, the same role he held at LSU last season, and Eddie Hernon as general manager, Mora will have some of the new-age NIL and transfer portal responsibilities lifted from his plate.
“There’s no magic pill that all of a sudden you’ve got a new coach in here and everything just flips, because ultimately this is a player’s game. That doesn’t take responsibility off of us as a staff by any stretch of the imagination – it’s our job to put them in a position to be successful, demand it, get it done, recruit, all of those things that make a good program,” Brock said. “But ultimately we’ve got to continue to work and try to find any angle we can utilize to maximize whatever our resources in any part of the organization.
“Right now (two days into the job) it’s like drinking water out of a fire hose with everybody, but slowly but surely keep chipping away and I think good things can happen if we can get everybody on the same page.”