By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
Trinity Valley Community College athletic director/head football coach Brad Smiley has announced the addition of Darius Hart to the football staff.
Hart replaces Jermial Ashley, who left last month to accept a position on the staff at Tulsa University.
The newcomer to the Cardinal coaching staff arrives after a one-year stint as a graduate assistant at West Alabama University. The previous season, he was defensive line coach at Pearl River Community College.
Hart played college football at Oklahoma State, where he was a defensive end in 2009 and 2010, playing in every game for the Cowboys for two seasons after transferring from Pearl River.
OSU finished ranked in the Top 25 both seasons, finishing 9-4 in 2009 and 11-2 in 2010 and earning bowl berths both seasons. The Cowboys fell to Ole Miss 21-7 in the Cotton Bowl his junior year, but rebounded with a 37-10 victory over Arizona in the Alamo Bowl his senior season.
Hart was an all-district wide receiver at Poplarville (Miss.) High School and signed to play that position at Pearl River, but was converted to linebacker and eventually to defensive end, where he earned all-conference and all-region accolades and was rated as one of the top seven defensive ends in junior college football. He was tabbed as the Mississippi Junior College South Division Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2008. He was also a three-time all-district basketball player at Poplarville High School.