CHARLOTTE (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) -- A former UNC football star player and coach is joining Biff Poggi's Charlotte 49ers staff, the team announced on Wednesday.

Dre' Bly, an NFL cornerback for 11 years, will be a defense analyst for the Niners. He spent last year as the Detroit Lions' cornerbacks coach and held the same position with the Tar Heels the four seasons prior.

Known for his recruiting prowess on coach Mack Brown's UNC staff, Bly was named Rivals.com's ACC Recruiter of the Year in 2022. That year three of the top five players in the state went to Chapel Hill, and the year before, three of the top four signed with the Heels.

Bly started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Myers Park High School in Charlotte from 2015 to 2017. He then became a minority coaching intern with the New Orleans Saints in the 2017 preseason and then with the Miami Dolphins in the 2018 preseason.

As a player, Bly was a second-round NFL Draft pick to the St. Louis Rams. There, he was a two-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl XXXIV champion.

Bly had quite the playing career at UNC. As a freshman in 1996 he led the nation with 11 interceptions and went on to be the first freshman in ACC history to earn consensus first-team All-American honors, and just the fifth freshman in NCAA history to be named to the AP All-America first-team. Carolina finished No. 10 in the AP Top 25 with a 10-2 record that year.

Bly would go on to earn First Team All-America honors the following two seasons, becoming the first player in ACC history to earn that honor on three occasions.

One of Bly's sons, Trey, was a defensive back for the 49ers for four years and is currently a defensive student assistant for the program.