Former NFL and college football standout Cory Hall has been officially named cornerbacks coach for Oregon State University, Beaver head coach Gary Andersen announced Tuesday. Hall returns to Oregon State, where he was briefly a graduate assistant coach for spring football last year, after one season as the secondary coach at Weber State University. He helped the Wildcats to their first winning season in five years and the defensive unit led the Big Sky Conference for the fewest yards allowed.

He played six seasons in the NFL as a defensive back, 1999-2002 with the Cincinnati Bengals and 2003-04 with the Atlanta Falcons. He was a third round pick in the 1999 Draft by the Bengals, starting for the team all four years and earning NFL All-Pro Rookie honors. In his final year with the Falcons the team won the NFC South title. For his career he played in 87 NFL games, starting 70.

“Coach Hall brings a unique wealth of experience to the program ranging from the high school level to NFL player and will relate well to the young men in the program,” Andersen said. “He is excited to take the next step in his coaching career and he will be a tremendous asset to the program.”

Hall began his coaching career as a student assistant at Washington State in 2006. From 2008-11 he was the director of football at Clovis High School in California, before being elevated to head coach from 2011-13. Clovis won the division and section titles all three years during Hall’s head coaching tenure.In 2014 he joined the Wisconsin staff under Andersen as a graduate assistant and followed the head coach to Oregon State.

Hall played cornerback, strong safety and free safety at Fresno State from 1995-98 and completed his requirements for a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from FSU in 2010. In addition, the Bakersfield, Calif., native is the founder of the non-profit charity New Beginnings.