BOISE — The Boise State football team lost a second defensive assistant coach Wednesday when cornerbacks coach Jeff Popovich left for the same role at Georgia Tech.

Defensive line coach Chad Kauha’aha’a left for USC in December.

Both Popovich and Kauha’aha’a were only at Boise State for one season. Popovich joined the Broncos in February after two seasons as an assistant with the Indianapolis Colts, while Kauha’aha’a arrived after three seasons at Oregon State.

Popovich, a native of Tucson, Arizona, was a graduate assistant at Miami from 2005-06, was the defensive backs coach at Florida International from 2007-12 and coached cornerbacks at UTSA from 2013-15. He spent two seasons with the Colts, one as an assistant to head coach Chuck Pagano and another a as a defensive quality control coach, before joining the Broncos.

“I want to thank Coach Harsin and Mr. Apsey for giving me the opportunity to be part of the Boise State program,” Popovich said in a statement released by Boise State. “This is a place with a long tradition of success, but has even greater expectations for the future.

“The young men that come into this program leave as better people and football players, something Bronco Nation can be and should be proud of. Thank you to everyone for welcoming me and my family with open arms. This is a special place, a great staff and an outstanding football team. The future is bright for Boise State.”

Senior Tyler Horton was a first-team All-Mountain West selection under Popovich in 2018. Boise State’s starting cornerbacks, Horton and Avery Williams, combined for three defensive touchdowns and three interceptions this season.

Boise State is still searching for a replacement for Kauha’aha’a, and now will have to add a new corners coach to the list. One good thing for Boise State is that safeties coach Gabe Franklin has been with the Broncos since 2015, which will help smooth the transition to another new cornerbacks coach.

The new corners coach will be the fourth in five years for the Broncos.