STORRS, Conn. – Darrell Perkins, who served as the defensive backs coach at Louisiana-Monroe for the past two seasons, has been named to the same position on the University of Connecticut football staff.

Perkins helped lead the Louisiana-Monroe defense to the top ranking in the Sun Belt Conference in 2009. Prior to his stint at Monroe, he was the defensive coordinator at Charleston Southern in 2007.

“We are very pleased to welcome Darrell to the Connecticut football program,” says UConn head coach Randy Edsall. “He brings a wide variety of coaching experience to our team – and all of it has been successful. Darrell has worked in nearly every region of the country and brings a strong reputation with him to UConn.”

He was the linebackers and special teams coach at Northern Colorado in 2006 and was the defensive backs/special teams coordinator at Charleston Southern from 2004-05. In 2004, Charleston Southern was ranked second in the Football Championship Subdivision in pass defense at 131 yards per game.

Perkins was the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at Ferris State from 2002-03 as the Bulldogs finished first in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in pass defense at 161 yards per game.

He was a defensive graduate assistant at Purdue in 2000 and ’01.

Perkins began his football coaching career at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo., where he was an assistant coach from 1997-99 at his alma mater. He was the head basketball coach at Legacy High School in Fort Collins, Colo., from 1993-96 and led the team to two state playoff appearances.

Perkins is a 1990 graduate of Wyoming and earned his degree in business marketing. He was a two-year starter at running back for the Cowboys and a three-year letter winner from 1985-89.

At Wyoming, Perkins played in the 1987 and ’88 Holiday Bowls and with Purdue coached in the 2001 Rose Bowl, following the Boilermakers’ 2000 Big Ten championship, and the 2001 Sun Bowl.

He is married the former Elena Zbitskaya and his 19-year-old son Jordan is a member of the men’s soccer team at Iona.