Dan Lanning’s Oregon staff is slowly coming together.

On Friday afternoon, Oregon officially announced Matt Powledge was joining the staff as a co-defensive coordinator, marking the 2nd official hire so far for Lanning, joining offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham who was announced earlier on Friday.

“Matt adds strong credentials and has a deep understanding of what it takes to win,” Lanning said of the new hire in a statement. “Most recently, he served an integral role in a Big 12 championship team at Baylor, where he coached the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year. He previously was instrumental in the fantastic turnaround at Louisiana under Billy Napier. Most of all, Matt is deeply respected in the coaching profession because he cares about the young men he coaches and leads them to success. Duck Nation, join me in warmly welcoming Matt and his fiancée, Karina, to Eugene.”

Powledge comes to Oregon after spending the last two seasons as Baylor’s safeties coach and special teams coordinator. Under Powledge’s tutelage, safety Jalen Pitre earned consensus All-America and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Big 12 with 17.5 tackles for loss. With a bowl game left to play, Pitre has produced 70 total tackles, 7 pass breakups, 3 forced fumbles, 2.5 sacks, and 2 picks.

Powledge has also been the special teams coordinator for Sam Houston State (2014-15), Louisiana Monroe (2016-17), and Louisiana (2018-19).