FLORENCE -- The University of North Alabama football program will be looking to fill two assistant coaching vacancies with the departure of defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Karl Morgan and linebacker, special teams and strength coach Sean Cannon.

Morgan, who joined the UNA program in the spring of 2005, will be the new head football coach at at Mississippi Valley State University. Cannon, who spent the past four years at North Alabama, has resigned to become the defensive coordinator at Itawamba (Miss.) Community College.

Morgan put his stamp on the UNA defense, installing an aggressive style that stressed creating turnovers. The Lions were annually among the nation's leaders in total defense and in turnovers.UNA was 55-10 during his tenure. This past season the Lions led the Gulf South Conference in scoring defense, total defense and passing defense.

Cannon helped UNA become one of the top defenses in the nation as well. UNA had a 44-7 record in his four seasons at the school and won two Gulf South Conference championships.

"When you have good coaches, other schools come after them," Bowden said. "We've lost two really good ones in Karl and Sean. I think many people were surprised that I kept all of these coaches, but after working with them for a year I saw that they were all outstanding coaches.

"I'm proud of Karl for getting this opportunity. We talked a lot about his window of opportunity, and this was an opportunity he could not pass up. It's a tough job, but also a good opportunity for him."

Bowden said he the search for replacements will being immediately, but he won't make a quick hire. He hopes to find a defensive coordinator with a similar aggressive philosophy.

"I don't want our defense to be any different than it was in the past under Karl," he said. "We want to continue to be aggressive and cause turnovers. I want the best guys possible because we are losing two quality coaches."