Dennison comes to Idaho from Missouri State where he served as the linebackers coach. During his short stint in Springfield, he coached three linebackers who earned post-season honors.
Tahj Chambers was named a second-team Missouri Valley Football Conference honoree at Linebacker. Freshman Dallas Winner-Johnson earned First-Team Freshman All-America team honors from FCS Football Central and Stats Perform while Michael Teason earned Second-Team All-American FCS Football Central honors.
Prior to coming to Springfield, he served as a defensive quality control assistant at Utah during the 2023 season.
Before his return to his hometown of Salt Lake City, Dennison spent two stints at Louisville where served as defensive coordinator from 2019 until 2021. He also served four years on the Louisville staff from 2014-17 in a variety of coaching roles, including defensive graduate assistant (2014), director of on-campus recruiting (2015), assistant secondary coach and recruiting coordinator (2016), and inside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator (2017).
Highlighting his time at Louisville, he coached ESPN Freshman All-America LB Dorian Etheridge in 2017 who had a team-high 83 tackles in his rookie season. In 2016, Dennison led the Cardinals to a No. 14 national ranking in total defense (322.2), No. 22 ranking in interceptions (15), and No. 37 in pass defense (207.1).
“Cort Dennison is a real ball coach,” Ford said. “He has a phenomenal understanding of defensive football and knows how to adjust the scheme to fit his players. Cort has the ability to build relationships with everyone around him and cares about his players. He has never been a part of a losing season anywhere he’s been as a coach or player and will bring a winning attitude to Moscow!”
Dennison coached one season at the University of Oregon as an outside linebackers coach for the 2018 Redbox Bowl champions. He mentored NFL Draft selections Justin Hollins and Jalen Jelks who both earned first-team All-Pac 12 accolades during his stint there.
He was a football legend at Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City where the standout tight end and linebacker was named Utah Athlete of the Year by The Salt Lake Tribune his senior year. He went on to a collegiate career at Washington where he started all 13 games at inside linebacker as a senior (2011), including a 15-tackle performance in the Alamo Bowl against Baylor. He earned All-Pac-12 second-team honors after posting 128 tackles in his final season.
He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Communications in 2011. He later earned his Master’s in Sports Administration from Louisville (2015).
