Lamar will go into spring football drills knowing who its new defensive coordinator will be.

The university announced Tuesday that former Texas Tech All-America wide receiver Trey Haverty, who was safeties and linebackers coach in Lubbock the past three seasons, will take over the Cardinals’ defense for the retiring Craig McGallion. Lamar has been without a permanent DC since McGallion left the Cardinals in the wake of a 30-28 homecoming loss to Nicholls State in November.

“Lamar University is the right place for me,” Haverty said in a release. “Being a defensive coordinator at the Division I level is something that I want to do. I’ve been around some good coaches in my career, and I believe the timing is right for me. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Beaumont and the university, and I’m ready to get to work.”

Haverty earned the job from a pool that also included Lamar interim DC Mark Criner, who had the position for the Cardinals’ final two ballgames. Under Criner, Lamar held Incarnate Word to 46 rushing yards (and 359 yards total) in a 28-21 road victory, and followed that by holding then-No. 2 and unbeaten McNeese State to 37 passing yards (but allowing 406 rushing yards) in a 20-14 home loss.

McGallion had been with the Cardinals since the football program was relaunched in 2010, becoming defensive coordinator in 2014. He took over a defense that had lost nine starters from 2013 and helped the unit hold opponents to 354.2 total yards per game in an 8-4 season, Lamar’s only winning mark since the resurrection.

But at the time of his retirement, Lamar struggled in the run defense and had given up 451.8 total yards through nine games.

Haverty will get to work with some pretty important pieces to the Cards’ defense, as eight of the projected starters for the McNeese State game are returning. One of them, rising senior defensive end Larance Hale, was named to the watch list for the College Football Performance Awards Defensive Lineman Award.

After finishing his career at Texas Tech as a third-team Associated Press All-American in 2004, Haverty began his coaching career at Midlothian High in 2005 and worked with receivers at Cisco Junior College in 2006 before going to TCU as a graduate assistant on defense for the next three seasons. He was then hired as defensive coordinator at Millsaps College in Mississippi for the 2010 season and returned to TCU for two years, mentoring two all-conference players and a freshman who made 17 tackles in a game against BYU, the most by a Horned Frog since 2004.

At Texas Tech, Haverty worked with the safeties for the first two seasons and moved to outside linebackers for the third. One of his safeties, J.J. Gaines, finished with 63 tackles and two interceptions and is ranked 31^st out of 116 free safeties who could be drafted by the NFL this spring, according to NFLDraftScout.com.

“Trey has got a very good background,” Lamar coach Ray Woodard said in the release. “He gained experience at TCU under Gary Patterson, coached at Texas Tech and has served as a coordinator. He has coached with some very good people and is very knowledgeable about the sport. He is eager to be defensive coordinator at this level, and I think he is going to bring some enthusiasm into our defense.”