Hurricanes hire Williams, Shoop as defensive assistant coaches

The University of Miami has completed the hiring of its defensive assistants.

After announcing the hiring of former Auburn star and outgoing Auburn linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator Travis Williams, 38, as UM’s inside linebackers coach, the Hurricanes announced the hiring of accomplished defensive coach Bob Shoop, who will serve as Miami’s new off-field defensive quality control analyst.

Shoop was with Michigan last season as its safeties coach until Michigan announced in early November that he had stopped “working with the team in an on-field coaching capacity” and would be “performing team-related duties remotely. In consideration of his privacy interests,” the Michigan statement concluded, “we will have no further comment.”

Shoop, 54, is a two-time finalist for the prestigious Broyles Award, which annually goes to the nation’s top college football assistant. He played for Yale and was the Columbia head coach from 2003-05 and has served as a defensive coordinator for several programs, including in recent years Penn State, Tennessee and Mississippi.

“We are excited to add someone with his level of expertise to our defensive staff,” UM coach Manny Diaz said of Shoop in a release.

Williams replaces outgoing inside backers coach/defensive coordinator Blake Baker. Baker left Miami last week to become the linebackers coach at LSU.

Miami did not mention the defensive coordinator title Monday. Baker, who retained his defensive coordinator title before he left UM last week, had been stripped of his gameday defensive play-calling duties by Diaz, who announced that he would be calling defensive plays during 2021. Diaz was UM’s defensive coordinator from 2016 through 2018, before he became coach in 2019. UM has not said whether Diaz will regain the coordinator title.

“We are thrilled to welcome Travis and his family to Miami,” Diaz said of Williams. “He has had tremendous success both playing and coaching the linebacker position and I’m excited about the knowledge and passion he will bring to our linebackers group.”

Williams was not retained on the Auburn staff by new head coach

Bryan Harsin. Williams is a former first-team All-SEC linebacker (2004) who has been with Auburn as an assistant since 2014. He started as a defensive analyst and then became linebackers coach in 2016 and had co-defensive coordinator added to his responsibilities in 2019.

Williams played for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He got his Auburn degree in criminology and criminal justice and also earned an Auburn master’s degree in adult education. He is a native of Columbia, South Carolina.

In 2020, Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain ranked first in the SEC with 113 tackles, with teammate Owen Pappoe tallying 93 tackles. In 2019, Auburn’s defense ranked eighth nationally in red zone and third-down defense, allowing 19.5 points a game.