Al Pogue.

Al Pogue is headed back to his home state.

Auburn Undercover can confirm the Mobile native will join the Auburn Tigers football staff to fill the vacancy that opened when secondary coach Marcus Woodson left for Florida State last month. He was outside linebackers coach at West Virginia last season but has coached in the secondary -- and played there in college.

Pogue has strong Auburn connections.

He spent three years at the school, first as offensive quality control coach (2011), then as special teams quality control coach (2012) and director of high school relations (2013).

Before that, Pogue was head coach at Montgomery (Ala.) Carver High from 2008-10, Montgomery St. Jude High from 2006-07 and Calhoun High in 2002. Carver went undefeated in 2008.

In his previous stop before going with head coach Neal Brown to West Virginia, Pogue was part of a very successful run under Brown at Troy.

According to his West Virginia bio, "From 2016-18, Troy’s defense allowed 20.8 points per game, ranking No. 4 nationally among non-power 5 schools. From 2015-18, the Trojans were No. 2 nationally among FBS schools in takeaways (106) and tied for No. 7 nationally with 63 interceptions. One of Pogue’s defensive backs, Blace Brown registered 12 interceptions over the last three years, tying for No. 3 nationally for active career interceptions.

In 2018, Troy’s defense gave up 22.0 points per game, ranking No. 28 nationally and 347.9 yards per game, ranking No. 31 in the nation. The Trojan defense was No. 3 nationally in turnovers gained (31), No. 5 in interceptions (18) and fumbles recovered (13), No. 11 in turnover margin (0.77), No. 16 in tackles for loss (7.6), No. 21 in red zone defense and tied for No. 28 in first-down defense (240).

Troy also led the Sun Belt Conference in sacks, interceptions, turnovers, red zone defense and was No. 2 in rushing defense, total defense and No. 3 in scoring defense.

The Trojans led the nation in red zone defense in 2017 as the Trojans set a school record for wins, won the Sun Belt Championship and ended LSU’s 49-game non-conference home winning streak. Troy was No. 3 in tackles for loss (8.6), No. 7 in sacks (3.23) and rushing defense (105.7). The Trojans were No. 15 nationally in interceptions (17), No. 16 in turnovers gained (26) and No. 26 in turnover margin (0.54).

The 2016 Trojans posted a 10-3 record and earned a victory in the Dollar General Bowl, the first top-25 ranking in school and conference history and tied for the best win-improvement in the country.

Troy finished No. 2 nationally in passes intercepted, No. 4 in turnovers forced, No. 9 in passes defended per game (5.9), No. 17 in rushing defense, No. 21 in scoring defense (22.1) and No. 28 in third-down defense.

The 2015 defense finished with the No. 2-best turnaround nationally in opponent third-down percentage, No. 4-best turnaround in yards per play allowed, No. 5-best improvement in tackles for loss and No. 16-best improvement in total defense.

Troy scored five defensive touchdowns, third-most in the country and most by a Trojan team since 2004 and finished No. 5 in the nation with 13 fumble recoveries. Troy forced 16 turnovers over the final six games of the season after registering just three in the first six games.

In 2014, the Trojans finished with 11 interceptions, most by a Troy team since 2010 and improved its pass defense by 105.7 yards per game from the previous season."

Pogue graduated with a degree in special education from Alabama State in 1998. He was a three-year starter as a safety and cornerback and was All-America and All-SWAC at free safety.

*More coming.