BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Football announced updates to its 2026 coaching staff on Sunday.
The moves are highlighted by the promotion of Davis Merritt to Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach and the hiring of Bodie Reeder as Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach. Joe Bernardi has also been promoted to Co-Offensive Coordinator, to go along with his duties as Offensive Line Coach.
Other coaching moves include the addition of David Metcalf as Safeties Coach and Dayton LeBlanc as Defensive Tackles Coach. Tyler Malone has been hired as Associate Director of Football Strength and Conditioning, Zach Kramme has been promoted to General Manager/Director of Player Personnel and Ashley Terhune has been hired as Director of Recuiting Operations.
Merritt is entering his fourth season at WKU in 2026 and most recently served as the program's Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach during the 2025 season. Prior to that, Merritt was WKU's Inside Linebackers Coach during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Merritt led one of the top defenses in Conference USA last season, which helped the team to a 9-4 overall record and a victory in the 2025 New Orleans Bowl.
The Hilltoppers finished the regular season second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 23.4 points per game. WKU had the second-best pass defense efficiency in the conference in the regular season at 113.9, and was second in the league in passing yards allowed at just 221.4 per game. WKU had the second-best third down defense in the conference, allowing opponents to convert just 35.3% of the time, and the best fourth down conversion defense, allowing opponents to convert just 32.1% of the time. The fourth down defense ranked sixth nationally. WKU allowed the second-fewest first downs per game in CUSA in 2025 – 20.4 per game. The Hilltoppers were strong in the red zone defensively, allowing opponents to score touchdowns just 34.7% of the time once reaching the red zone, the third-best mark nationally behind only Indiana and Ohio State – the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the College Football Playoff.
The Hilltoppers had a pair of players receive All-CUSA Honorable Mention recognition on defense in 2025 – Harper Holloman and Jaylen Lewis.
In 2024, Merritt helped coach WKU to berths in the Conference USA Championship Game and the Boca Raton Bowl. The Hilltopper defense was fourth in CUSA in scoring defense in 2024, allowing an average of 24.6 points per game, and ranked third in the category against league opponents during the regular season at just 20.1 points allowed through those eight games. The Hilltoppers finished second in the league in pass defense last season by allowing just 176.1 yards per game, and held opponents under 100 yards passing four times during the regular season. The Hilltoppers were third in the league in turnovers gained in 2024. Merritt coached linebacker Darius Thomas to All-Conference USA Honorable Mention Honors in the 2024 season.
Merritt joined WKU in March of 2023 as Inside Linebackers Coach, after a successful two-year run at Georgia where he helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back National Championships.
In his first season at WKU, Merritt helped lead one of the top defenses in the country when it came to producing takeaways. The Hilltoppers recorded 26 turnovers gained, which led Conference USA and ranked tied for seventh nationally. WKU's 11 fumble recoveries were seventh nationally and the 15 passes intercepted were 15th in the country – marks that ranked first and second in CUSA, respectively.
At Georgia, Merritt served as a Defensive Quality Control Coordinator while helping assemble one of the most dominant defenses in all of college football.
In 2022, Georgia went a perfect 15-0 with a win over LSU to claim the SEC Championship before moving on to the Peach Bowl where the Bulldogs beat Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal to move on to the National Championship. The Georgia defense provided an elite performance in the championship game, limiting TCU to just one score in a dominant 65-7 victory.
Under Merritt's leadership, Georgia's defense was just as good the year before when they defeated Alabama, 33-18, to claim their first of two-straight National Championships. The 2021 Bulldog defense surrendered just 6.7 points per game, including three shutouts and eight games in which they allowed seven points or less. Following that dominant season, Georgia saw eight defensive players drafted into the NFL, including five first-round picks in the 2022 draft. Two of those eight draft picks were Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean who both played linebacker under Merritt.
Before his time at Georgia, Merritt spent the 2020 campaign at Ole Miss as a Senior Defensive Player Personnel Analyst. That was after a three-year stint at Florida Atlantic as a Defensive Quality Control Assistant. FAU won two Conference USA Championships and two bowl games during that span.
Merritt began his coaching career at Mississippi State as a Student Assistant, working primarily with defensive backs from 2011-13. He then went to Ole Miss for his first run with the Rebels where he was a Volunteer Assistant for the 2013 campaign before serving as a Graduate Assistant from 2014-16. During his time at Ole Miss, the Rebels won the 2015 Sugar Bowl against No. 16 Oklahoma State. Originally from Hattiesburg, Miss., Merritt owns a bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Mississippi State. He is joined in Bowling Green by his wife, Kathleen, and two daughters Molly and Ellie.
Reeder joins the Hilltoppers as a veteran Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach both nationally and in CUSA.
Reeder most recently served as the Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach at Middle Tennessee for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and has also served in that role at the Division I level at Northern Iowa from 2022-23, at Utah State in 2020, at North Texas in 2019 and at Eastern Washington from 2017-18, producing some of the top offenses in the country. He has also worked as an Offensive Analyst/Interim Quarterbacks Coach at Auburn in 2021, in an Offensive Quality Control/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach role at Oklahoma State from 2014-16 and as the Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach at Wisconsin-Stout from 2011-13. He started his coaching career as a Defensive Graduate Assistant at Eastern Illinois in 2010.
Reeder coached a Middle Tennessee offense that finished second in CUSA both years in passing offense, behind only WKU. In 2025, the Blue Raiders averaged 266.1 yards per game through the air, and quarterback Nicholas Vattiato led the conference in completions per game with 24.22, as well as passing yards per game with 238.9 under Reeder. Reeder's team averaged 261.1 passing yards per game in 2024, and he again coached Vattiato to the top of the league in completions and passing yards per game with 22.42 and 257.7, respectively. Vattiato finished his career as the second player in Middle Tennessee history to record multiple 3,000-yard passing seasons. Reeder coached an offense that produced First Team All-CUSA members Holden Willis, who was also on three different All-American teams, and Omari Kelly.
In 2023, he helped Northern Iowa rank ninth nationally in red zone efficiency, 15th in passing offense and 39th in total offense. Quarterback Theo Day ranked 15th nationally in passing yards while receiver Sam Schnee earned All-American honors after ranking seventh nationally in receiving yards with 1,041. Day, a First Team All-MVFC player, led the conference in pass efficiency (169.0), passing touchdowns (26), passing yards (3,121) and total offense (289.7) as UNI posted the most efficient offense in the league with 444.9 yards per game and the MVFC's best third down conversion percentage (52%).
At Auburn in 2021, Reeder helped coach Bo Nix, who went on to set the program's career all-purpose yardage record, and he took over as the program's Quarterbacks Coach for the Birmingham Bowl.
Before helping Utah State navigate the COVID-19 pandemic-impacted season in 2020, Reeder spent the 2019 season at North Texas, where his offense finished with 30.3 points per game and ranked 27th nationally. The Mean Green finished second in Conference USA in passing (283.3 yards per game) and led Conference USA with 33 touchdown passes, which ranked 15th nationally. He coached several players to All-CUSA honors, including First Team wide receiver Jaelon Darden, Second Team quarterback Mason Fine, Second Team offensive lineman Elex Woodworth and All-Freshman receiver Jyaire Shorter.
Reeder produced some of the top offenses at the FCS level while at Eastern Washington from 2017-18 and helped lead the Eagles to the FCS National Championship Game in 2018. His 2017 Eastern Washington squad was eighth in the FCS in passing (320.5 per game), fifth in total offense (476.7), 14th in scoring (34.5 points per game) and 11th in third down conversions (46.1%). In the national runner-up 2018 season, Reeder helped Eastern Washington win the Big Sky Championship by scoring 45 or more points in seven games. The Eagles averaged 528.2 yards and 43.1 points per game that season, ranking third and fourth in the nation, respectively. Reeder coached 10 offensive players to All-Big Sky honors that season.
At Oklahoma State, Reeder was responsible for helping coach some of the top quarterbacks in the nation. The Cowboys ranked seventh nationally in passing, 19th in total offense, 10th in red zone scoring, 16th in passing efficiency and 12th in scoring. He coached Mason Rudolph, who ranked seventh nationally in passing in 2016 with an average of 314.7 yards per game, completed 63% of his passes for a total of 4,091 yards, 28 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
Reeder is a native of Mahomet, Illinois. He began his college playing career as a quarterback at Wyoming in 2005 and finished his career at Eastern Illinois from 2006-09, before opening his coaching career as a Graduate Assistant with the Panthers. Reeder and his wife, Ashley, have two children, Crew and Vaeda.
Bernardi has been promoted to Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach after serving as WKU's Offensive Line Coach during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
In 2025, Bernardi helped produce the top scoring offense in CUSA at 29.5 points per game. The Hilltoppers ranked third in the league in sacks allowed and were first in passing at 272.2 yards per game, despite replacing four starters along the offensive line from the 2024 season. Left guard Laurence Seymore was named Football Writers Association of America All-America Second Team following the season, while Seymore and left tackle Marshall Jackson represented WKU's offensive line on the All-CUSA teams and Elijah Williams was named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team.
In 2024, during his first season with the program, Bernardi helped the Hilltoppers to an 8-6 record and berths in the Conference USA Championship Game and the Boca Raton Bowl. He coached four offensive linemen that finished with All-Conference USA recognition. Earning All-CUSA Second Team Offense honors were right tackle Marshall Jackson and left guard Quantavious Leslie, while left tackle Travon Taylor and center Evan Wibberley were voted All-CUSA Honorable Mention. Bernardi's 2024 offensive line helped protect CUSA Offensive Player of the Year Caden Veltkamp, and the Hilltopper offense finished first in the league and 25th nationally in passing.
Bernardi made the move to WKU in 2024 after stops at Troy and Auburn the two seasons prior.
He served as Troy's Offensive Line Coach during the 2023 season and as an Offensive Analyst for most of the 2022 season at Auburn, before taking over as the program's Tight Ends Coach for the final four games that season.
Prior to this time in Auburn, Bernardi served as the Athletics Director and Offensive Line Coach for Immanuel Schools in Reedley, California.
Bernardi spent three seasons at San José State (2017-19) as the Offensive Line Coach and Run Game Coordinator. In his first season with the Spartans, tackle Nate Velichko was a National Football Foundation (NFF) Campbell Trophy semifinalist and was inducted into the NFF's Hampshire Honor Society.
Returning to his alma mater in 2016, Bernardi served as a Tight Ends Coach at Fresno State.
At Oregon (2013-15), Bernardi served as a Graduate Assistant, working with both the offensive line and tight ends. He coached four first-team All-Pac-12 offensive linemen while the Ducks would go on to win 33 games during his tenure, including competing in the first College Football National Championship game against Ohio State in 2015.
Between hits tenures at Oregon and San José State, five of Bernardi's offensive linemen signed contacts with NFL teams: Jack Snyder (San José State), Jeremiah Kolone (San José State), Chris Gonzalez (San José State), Hroniss Grasu (Oregon), and Jake Fisher (Oregon).
Bernardi began his coaching career at the University of Tennessee (2011-12) as an Offensive Line Quality Control Coach, assisting in all phases of coaching and recruiting the offensive line and tight ends. In his second season with the Volunteers, Tennessee led the SEC and was fifth nationally for fewest quarterback sacks allowed per game (0.67).
A member of the Fresno State football team from 2006 until 2010, Bernardi started 32 games on the Bulldogs' offensive line and competed in four bowl games. Bernardi was named to the Rimington Award Watch List for the best center in college football twice during his playing career. In his senior year, he received the Paul Schechter Award for Courage given annually to a Fresno State student-athlete who overcame a physical challenge to become a champion.
Bernardi graduated from Fresno State in 2010 with a degree in communications. He and his wife, Lindsey, were married in June 2017 and have a daughter, Quinn, and a son, John.
Metcalf comes to WKU from Georgia, where he worked in an Assistant Quality Control – Defense role, assisting with the team's safeties.
He helped the Bulldogs to back-to-back College Football Playoff berths the last two seasons. In 2024, Georgia went 11-3 and fell to eventual national runner-up Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and in 2025 the Bulldogs went 12-2 with an SEC title and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl.
Metcalf coached on a defense in 2025 that finished 10th nationally in scoring, allowing just 17.6 points per game, and 14th in total defense with 298 yards allowed per game. The Bulldogs ranked in the top 40 nationally in team passing efficiency defense and third down defense, and fourth nationally in rushing defense.
In 2024, Metcalf helped coach a defense that was strong in the fourth quarter, holding opponents to a total of 60 points. The Bulldogs held then-No. 14 Clemson to just three points in the first game of the season, and also took down then-No. 1 Texas 30-15 in Austin. Junior safety Malaki Starks was a Thorpe Award finalist and earned First Team All-America honors for the second season in a row in 2024, while true freshman safety KJ Bolden was a Freshman All-American and a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award. Fifth-year safety Dan Jackson received All-Southeastern Conference Third Team honors thanks in part to his 64 tackles – which ranked third on the team – and two interceptions.
Metcalf was part of Georgia teams that won the 2023 Capital One Orange Bowl, as well as the 2022 SEC Championship and College Football Playoff National Championship.
Metcalf worked at Division III McMurry University from 2019 until the 2020-21 season. He joined the McMurry Football coaching staff in August of 2019, assisting with the safeties during his first season before becoming the Defensive Backs Coach.
Prior to McMurry, Metcalf spent four seasons as an Assistant Coach at Texas Southern. After spending the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a Graduate Assistant, Metcalf was promoted to Assistant Coach working with outside linebackers in 2017 and safeties in 2018. He was also responsible for recruiting at California junior colleges and parts of East Texas while at TSU.
Metcalf, a Compton, California, native, played two seasons at Citrus College in California. He then moved on to Prairie View for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, where he played safety.
Metcalf graduated from PVAMU with a degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology. He earned his Master's in 2017 from Texas Southern University, majoring in Educational Administration.
LeBlanc joins the Hilltoppers after spending one season at Eastern Kentucky, where he served as Defensive Line Coach.
He helped coach a Colonels defense that ranked tied for first nationally and first in the UAC in defensive touchdowns with five during the 2025 season. EKU was in the top three in its league in passing yards allowed, rushing defense, red zone defense, team passing efficiency defense, turnovers gained, total defense and scoring defense. EKU's 24.3 points allowed per game were second-best in the UAC.
Prior to the 2025 season at EKU, LeBlanc was at Georgia as an Assistant Defensive Line Coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons under Head Coach Kirby Smart. With the Bulldogs, he helped in the development of All-SEC sections Nazir Stackhouse and Mykell Williams, and helped the program to a Capital One Orange Bowl victory in 2023 and an SEC Championship.
In the 2023 season, the Bulldogs had the top defense in the SEC and ninth-best in all of FBS for total defense, allowing only 289.1 yards per game, and 15.6 points per game, the fifth-best mark in the country. On the ground that season, UGA allowed only 113.6 yards per game – the 18th-best figure in the FBS.
Before Georgia, LeBlanc served as a Defensive Line Student Assistant at North Texas in 2022, helping the Mean Green to a 7-7 record and appearances in the CUSA Championship game and the Frisco Bowl.
LeBlanc played for the Mean Green from 2018-2021 and was named to the CUSA All-Freshman team in 2019 with 30 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack, appearing in all 12 games that season. LeBlanc graduated from North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2021 and a Master's degree in Sports Management in 2022.
LeBlanc is a native of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2018, where he was rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports.
Kramme will be entering his sixth season at WKU in 2026. He previously served as WKU's Director of Scouting and as the program's primary NFL liaison.
Kramme has been instrumental in WKU's recruiting efforts since his arrival on The Hill, and has been a part of five Hilltoppers drafted by NFL teams since his arrival. DeAngelo Malone was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2022 Draft and Bailey Zappe was picked in the fourth round that year by the New England Patriots, while Brodric Martin was taken by the Detroit Lions in the third round in 2023, Malachi Corley was picked by the New York Jets in the third round in 2024 and Upton Stout was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. WKU is the only non-Power Conference program to have a player selected within the first three rounds in each of the last four NFL Drafts.
Prior to his arrival at WKU, Kramme served as the Director of Recruiting for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program. While there, he served as the Pro Liaison and oversaw the execution of the team's Pro day. He also orchestrated the signing of the top recruiting class in the SOCON (20th in FCS) for the 2020 season, which included a school-record seven three-star prospects.
Before joining the UTC staff, Kramme graduated from Georgia Southern in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Sport Management. While he was a student at Georgia Southern, Kramme worked as a Recruiting Assistant for the football team – a position he held for two years. While in that role, he identified, evaluated and collected data and video on prospects to provide direction to the coaching staff. Kramme also helped the Eagles achieve the No. 1 recruiting class in the Sun Belt in 2018.
Malone joins the Hilltoppers after working as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Kentucky since 2019.
He was an intern in the football weight room for two seasons prior to being hired in the full-time position, and Malone also spent one season as a Student Strength and Conditioning Coach for EKU's women's basketball and football programs.
Kentucky won 47 games during Malone's time with the program and claimed wins in the 2019 Belk Bowl, the 2020 Gator Bowl and the 2021 Citrus Bowl, which capped off a 10-win season.
Malone is a certified strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and has an AED/CPR certification.
He was a three-year letter winner with the EKU football program from 2013-17, playing tight end for the Colonels. He was a two-time Colonel Scholar – an award given to athletes with a 3.0 GPA or higher. He was a spring qualifier in the Covert Barbell Olympic Lifting competition in 2017.
Malone is a native of Indianapolis. He graduated from EKU in 2017 with a degree in Sports Management and earned a master's degree in Sport Leadership at Kentucky in December 2022. He is married to Amber Murray, a former softball student-athlete at EKU. The couple has two sons, Griffin and Carter, and a daughter, Maizie.
Terhune makes her return to The Hill after previously working as a Student-Athlete Development and Name, Image and Likeness Graduate Assistant from 2023-24.
After her work as a Graduate Assistant at WKU, Terhune served as the Associate Director of On-Campus Recruiting and Operations at Michigan. The Wolverines won eight games during the 2024 season, including a victory over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl, and nine games in 2025 with an appearance in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
Prior to her time at WKU as a Graduate Assistant, Terhune worked as a Recruiting and Operations Intern and a Student Manager at Purdue from 2017-23. She also spent time as a Ticket Sales Intern in Purdue's athletic department during that time. She graduated from Purdue with a degree in Economics in 2020.
WKU Football will host the 2026 Red & White Spring Showcase, presented by SA Recycling, at Houchens-Smith Stadium on Saturday, April 11, at noon. The event will be free for fans to attend. More information on the 2026 Red & White Spring Showcase is available HERE.
The Hilltoppers are scheduled to open the 2026 season at Nevada on Saturday, Sept. 5. The full 2026 schedule will be released at a later date.
WKU Football 2026 season tickets are on sale now! Season tickets start as low as $50, and there are several options for different season ticket levels. For more information or to purchase 2026 WKU Football season tickets, click HERE. Are you interested in purchasing 2026 WKU Football tickets but don't know where to start? Fill out this form and a member of the WKU Ticket Office will be in touch soon! All season tickets require an HAF donation.
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