Alcorn State’s football program shook up its coaching staff on Thursday, hiring two assistant coaches while promoting two others.

Alcorn promoted Cedric Thornton from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator, and Elliott Wratten to recruiting coordinator. Hired were Damon Frenchers and Stevon Moore, who will coach the defensive line and defensive backs, respectively.

The biggest move was the promotion of Thornton. He has been at Alcorn for the past two years as linebackers coach, with three of his players earning All-Southwestern Athletic Conference honors.

Thornton also aided in the Braves ranking first in the SWAC and top-five in the country in red zone defense.

Thornton had previously been the defensive coordinator at Alabama State before coming to Alcorn.

“Coach Thornton is a great coach that has done an outstanding job for us. This will be a great transition for him and he has defensive coordinator experience previously at Alabama State,” Alcorn head coach Fred McNair said in a school release. “Our guys are already familiar with his style of play as well as his expectations.”

Wratten is also entering his third season at Alcorn. He will take on the recruiting coordinator position in addition to his duties coaching tight ends and fullbacks.

Alcorn’s recruiting class was ranked second in the country among historically black colleges and universities by 247 Sports, and sixth by BOXTOROW.

“Wratten has really moved us forward in recruiting and identifying players that we want. He’s gone out and gotten players from the Houston and Dallas areas and has expanded our recruiting base overall,” McNair said.

Frenchers is a 29-year coaching veteran who was the defensive line coach for North Carolina A&T’s 2015 HBCU national championship team. North Carolina A&T beat Alcorn in the Celebration Bowl that season to win the national title.

“Frenchers is an experienced defensive coach. He actually coached against us in 2015 in the Celebration Bowl with North Carolina A&T and has had great success everywhere he’s been. He’ll definitely provide a lot of leadership and toughness to the program,” McNair said.

Moore, meanwhile, was previously the defensive backs coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and has worked in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots as a scout and in player development.

“Moore is a veteran defensive backs coach and was once under Nick Saban at both LSU and the Miami Dolphins. He has a great understanding of the secondary play and has a lot of awareness in teaching coverage,” McNair said.