Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Football Adds Chip West, Dean Hood To Defensive Staff
1/7/2026 3:40:00 PM | Football
West to oversee Herd cornerbacks, Hood to coach safeties for new DC Brad Lambert
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall Football coach Tony Gibson officially announced a pair of additions to the football staff on Wednesday with Chip West and Dean Hood joining the Herd on the defensive side of the football.
West will coach the cornerbacks for new defensive coordinator Brad Lambert's defense while Hood will take over the safeties spot.
"We are excited to add Chip and Dean to our football staff," Gibson said. "Both of those guys have valuable experience at the highest level of the college game and will help our defense tremendously in 2026. I'm excited to get them with our staff and to start preparation for the 2026 season."
For West, it will be his second stint at Marshall after having served in the same capacity for Lambert on the Herd defensive staff in 2019.
Most recently, West served as the cornerbacks coach at Wake Forest in the 2023 and 2024 seasons after having spent three seasons at Syracuse following his first stint with the Herd.
Prior to coming to Huntington, West was Lambert's co-defensive coordinator at Charlotte in 2018 after having served in the same capacity at Howard in 2017.
West also spent six seasons as cornerbacks coach at Virginia from 2010-15 and brings nearly 30 years of coaching experience to the Herd defense.
Hood also brings nearly four decades of coaching experience to Marshall's defensive coaching staff and joins Lambert again after the two were together at Kentucky in the 2025 season and previously at Charlotte.
Hood spent two seasons as the Director of Player Development at Kentucky after four years as the head coach at Murray State (2020-23). Prior to leading the Racers, Hood spent three years on Kentucky's staff at outside linebackers (2017) and defensive backs (2018-19).
In 2016, Hood served on Lambert's staff at Charlotte as Assistant Head Coach, Special Teams Coordinator and Tight Ends coach. That came after eight seasons as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University (2008-15).
In addition to the coaching announcements, Gibson announced that Sydney Spears has been elevated to the Director of Recruiting and Executive Administration for Marshall Football.
Spears, who previously served as Director of Football Campus Recruiting, is starting her third season with the Herd after joining Marshall's staff in Feb. 2024. She has previous experience at Alabama, Tennessee, Middle Tennessee and Western Carolina.
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---HerdZone.com---
