Cardinals Steal Miami Coach For DB Position

The Arizona Cardinals have fortified their coaching staff by luring University of Miami defensive pass game coordinator Zac Etheridge to the desert, naming him the team’s new cornerbacks coach, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Etheridge arrives in the NFL after guiding the Hurricanes to the College Football Playoff National Championship game this past season while overseeing one of college football’s most feared secondaries. The 2024 Hurricanes finished among the national leaders in nearly every major defensive category, a testament to Etheridge’s ability to mold elite defensive backs.

A former four-year starting safety at Auburn and captain of the Tigers’ 2010 national-title squad, Etheridge has spent the last 13 seasons climbing the collegiate coaching ladder. His journey began in 2012 as a graduate assistant at Penn State, followed by a similar role at Georgia Tech from 2013-14. He then coordinated defensive backs and outside linebackers at Western Carolina (2016-17) before becoming Louisiana’s full-time DB coach in 2018. Stops at Houston (running backs/special teams, 2019-20) and a three-year tenure as Auburn’s safeties coach and assistant head coach followed. Etheridge returned to Houston in 2024 to coach the secondary prior to his lone season in Coral Gables.

Now he inherits a Cardinals cornerback room brimming with upside. Second-year pros Will Johnson and Garrett Williams are entrenched as the projected starting tandem, while rookie Denzel Burke flashed playmaking ability in limited 2024 action. Etheridge’s first challenge will be integrating Starling Thomas V back into the lineup after the third-year corner rehabbed a training-camp ACL tear, while also coaxing consistency from 2023 second-round pick Max Melton, whose early career has been marked by peaks and valleys.

Arizona enters the offseason armed with a full complement of draft picks and more than $40 million in salary-cap space, yet the front office is not expected to prioritize the cornerback position in the 2026 cycle. That reality places the onus squarely on Etheridge to elevate the production of an already talented group and help transform a defense that showed flashes of dominance before injuries derailed the 2024 campaign.

With organized team activities on the horizon, the Cardinals believe Etheridge’s championship pedigree and proven track record of developing NFL-ready defensive backs can accelerate the franchise’s return to postseason relevance.