RUSTON ? Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley announced Friday that he has hired former North Texas defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Kenny Evans as part of his Bulldog defensive staff.

Evans? hiring is pending approval by the Louisiana Tech Athletic Council and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.

?Kenny had phenomenal success as a defensive coordinator at North Texas, and his expertise and knowledge will be a great addition to our defensive staff,? Dooley said. ?In addition, he has recruited throughout Texas for almost a decade, and his ties in that state will add tremendous value to our program.?

Evans, who was named a National Assistant Coach of the Year by the Football Foundation in 2005, comes to Louisiana Tech after spending the past nine seasons at North Texas, helping lead the Eagles to four straight Sun Belt Conference titles (2001-2004) and four appearances in the New Orleans Bowl.

The Warner, Okla., native directed some of the most prolific and highly-decorated defenses in North Texas history during three years as the Mean Green?s defensive coordinator (2003-2005). He also served as the program?s recruiting coordinator for two years.

His 2003 North Texas defense ranked first in the Sun Belt Conference in total defense and boasted seven all-conference selections, while his 2004 version ranked second in the conference and placed five members on the all-league team.

Evans, who served as North Texas? assistant head coach in 2006, also coached the Mean Green linebackers for seven years, placing seven on the all-Sun Belt Conference teams since 2001, including the 2003 Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the year in Chris Hurd.

Two of Evans prot?g??s Brad Kassell and Cody Spencer both played with the Tennessee Titans of the NFL in 2005 and the New York Jets in 2006

?I?m very excited for the opportunity to come to Louisiana Tech,? Evans said. ?The program?s tradition made this job very enticing for me. The fact that the university was able to bring in someone with Coach Dooley?s background and character made this a great opportunity.?

Evans coached North Texas? leading tackler in four of his seven seasons with the linebackers, and during his two years as tight ends coach (2001 and 2002) he helped develop Jeff Muenchow into a two-time first team all-conference pick.

Prior to joining the North Texas staff in 1998, Evans served as an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State College for nine years where he helped lead the Lions to a 55-31-1 mark and the 1993 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association title.

He also served as the defensive coordinator at Southeastern Oklahoma State from 1986 through 1988, the wide receivers coach at Florida in 1985 and three years as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma from 1982 through 1984.

In addition to the four New Orleans Bowl appearances, Evans also coached in the 1982 Fiesta Bowl and the 1985 Orange Bowl.

Evans earned bachelor?s degree in both physical education and biology from Northeastern State in 1982 and his master?s degree in physical education from Oklahoma in 1985.