Oregon State announced on Monday it has hired a new cornerbacks coach. Anthony Perkins will join the program after spending three seasons at Colorado State serving in the same capacity.

“I’m excited to have Coach Perkins join our family,” Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith said in a statement. “He has had a great deal of success as both a coach and student-athlete and I expect that to have a big impact with our cornerbacks. He will be a great addition to our coaching staff.”

Perkins’ appointment fills out Smith’s assistant coaching staff, replacing former defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar after he was let go in November. Tibesar handled the outside linebackers in addition to his role as the defense’s coordinator. Trent Bray, the team’s inside linebackers coach, was initially given the interim DC tag after Tibesar’s dismissal, but Smith elected to remove that tag and make Bray the permanent DC in December.

Bray is currently listed on the team website as the only linebackers coach. Oregon State also already has a secondary coach listed in the staff directory, Blue Adams, and it’s not immediately clear if he’ll handle the safeties while Perkins handles corners or if there’s more shuffling to come.

A 2010 Colorado graduate, Perkins immediately elevated Colorado State’s secondary play after he arrived in 2019. The Rams gave up 50 fewer yards per game through the air in 2019 and were ranked seventh nationally for pass defense. It marked the program’s best ranking in at least 30 years and its first time leading the Mountain West in that category since 2005.

He mentored a first-team selection to the All-Mountain West team in 2020.

Perkins had prior coaching stops as an assistant to the head coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2017-18), the corners coach at Ohio (2015-16), and the secondary coach at Indiana State (2013-14).

“Corvallis is a special place and there are phenomenal people here,” Perkins said. “My family and I are very thankful for Coach Smith and the opportunity to be a part of Beaver Nation.”