Brandon Shelby

Bio

Brandon Shelby joined the Kansas Football staff in 2024, working as an analyst with the Kansas defense. Shelby spent the previous 13 seasons at Indiana, previously coaching the IU cornerbacks.

While at Indiana, Shelby was the fourth-longest tenured assistant coach in IU history, the longest-tenured cornerbacks coach in the Big Ten East, and the second-longest in the conference overall. Over his time in Bloomington, four of Shelby’s cornerbacks led the league in pass breakups and three have paced the B1G in passes defended.

In 2020, Tiawan Mullen became the first cornerback in program history to earn first-team All-America honors and just the second (Tim Wilbur, 1980 second-teamer) in school history to achieve All-America status. Mullen also became Indiana’s first first-team All-Big Ten selection since Tracy Porter (2007), while Jaylin Williams collected second-team all-league recognition.

It marked the first time in program history two cornerbacks received All-B1G honors in the same season. Mullen (Chargers) and Williams (Vikings) signed NFL free-agent deals following the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Hoosiers led the conference and finished second nationally with 17 interceptions, eight of which were accounted for by corners (Williams – 4, Mullen – 3, Reese Taylor – 1). Williams shared fourth in the league (T-23rd nationally) with 11 pass breakups en route to honorable-mention all-conference in 2021.

Mullen became the fourth Shelby protégé to lead the Big Ten (T-11th nationally) in PBUs with 13 in 2019. He earned first-team The Athletic Freshman All-America honors, first-team 247Sports True Freshman All-America accolades, and honorable-mention All-B1G.

Rashard Fant (2014-17), a Chicago Bears free-agent signing, closed his career as the program’s all-time leader in passes defended (58) and breakups (53). In 2017, Fant collected second-team all-conference honors for the second-straight campaign. He led the Big Ten in pass breakups (17, T-2nd nationally) and passes defended (20, 3rd nationally) for the second-consecutive season in 2016.

Bennett topped the nation with 20 PBUs and 21 passes defended en route to 2013 honorable-mention All-B1G recognition, and Fant added 22 and 23, respectively, in 2015. The Hoosiers 2017 passing defense ranked 17th in the country allowing 179.7 yards per game, an improvement of 40.0 yards from 2016. IU ranked first nationally in 2016 surrendering 94.1 fewer passing yards per game.

Playing alongside Fant, true freshman A’Shon Riggins claimed 2016 honorable-mention BTN.com All-Freshman accolades. Shelby tutored first-year starter Brian Williams in 2012. Williams made 58 stops with a half-sack, one INT, one fumble recovery, and eight PBUs, which tied for the team lead.

Greg Heban started all 12 games in 2011 and led the team with two picks, shared the lead with six pass breakups, finished third with 62 tackles and added one sack, 1.5 TFLs, and one fumble recovery.

Shelby spent 2010 as cornerbacks coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Robert Nelson, a six-year NFL veteran, finished with 55 stops, two interceptions, seven PBUs, five tackles for loss, one sack, and one fumble recovery.

In 2009, Shelby coached the secondary at Portland State University and managed the defensive backs at the University of San Diego in 2008.

Shelby mentored eight-year NFL veteran DeShawn Shead at Portland State. Shead signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012 with the Seattle Seahawks and was a member of their 2013 Super Bowl championship team.

Shelby began his coaching career at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, as a defensive assistant in 2006. The Sooners won the Big 12 Championship and went on to play in the Fiesta Bowl that season. Shelby spent the 2007 campaign as a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona before moving on to San Diego.

Shelby participated in the inaugural Future Coaches Academy in San Antonio in January 2007, a workshop held in conjunction with the NCAA, American Football Coaches Association, the Black Coaches Association, and the National Football League. He also completed a Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship with the Houston Texans in June 2017.

Shelby was a standout defensive back at Oklahoma, where he participated in two BCS National Championship games and three-straight BCS bowl games. As a four-year letterman (2001-04), he earned both All-Big 12 honors and Academic All-Big 12 honors. In 2002, he tied a then-Oklahoma record with four sacks for a defensive back.

Shelby graduated from Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 2004 and a master’s degree in human relations in 2005. Brandon and his wife, Jennifer, have one son, Kaysen, and one daughter, Londyn.