Maryland football adds pair of assistants, including former All American

Ahmed Ghafir
Apr 3
2 min read

Updated: Apr 4

With spring ball nearly halfway over, Maryland has added a pair of assistants, including one who fills a key vacancy on special teams.

Maryland added Cameron Lyons as a special teams assistant under coordinator Matt Barnes, rounding out the special teams coaching staff after a pair of offseason moves. Andre Powell initially joined the program as the new special teams coordinator in 2025, but he'll now take over the running back unit in 2026 as Louis Swaba, who served as the running backs coach in 2025, is now a quality control coach working with the offensive line.

Head coach Mike Locksley initially turned to Chili Davis to replace Powell as coordinator in 2026, one season after Davis joined the program as an assistant special teams coordinator, but those plans failed to materialize after he accepted a position with the Minnesota Vikings. While the arrival of Barnes filled the coordinator role, the addition of Lyons filled Davis's initial assistant role that he served during the 2025 season.

Lyons began his college career at Akron where he started in 30 games before transferring to Charlotte, becoming an honorable mention All American selection as a longsnapper. He also briefly played in the NFL where he signed a futures contract with the Chicago Bears and suited up in preseason, while he also worked out with the Miami Dolphins and signed with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent.

Lyons is one of two assistants to join the program after Griffin Brewster announced his arrival in College Park as the new assistant tight ends coach, filling the role previously held by Jarrod James, who is now in the NFL. Brewster's arrival comes weeks after Clint Trickett made the move to College Park. Brewster previously served as the wide receivers grad assistant at Jacksonville State in 2025.

Brewster, a Georgia native, spent two seasons at Kent State before transferring to Jacksonville State as a walk-on in 2024, then transitioning into coaching in 2025. While he heads to College Park with familiarity with the scheme under Trickett, he also spent time working alongside several former Maryland assistants while at Jacksonville State including Brian Williams, who served as the defensive coordinator, and Quincy Kahlert, who followed Williams to become the new safeties coach.

The reshuffling and two new additions round out the coaching staff with Maryland football approaching the midway point of spring ball with Saturday's practice marking the sixth of 15. Maryland also saw a longtime recruiting analyst depart the program in late March after Ebenezer Mesfin was named the new assistant director of player personnel at Georgia Tech, ending his four years with the program.

Related Links