Football | 1/14/2015 4:23:00 PM

SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State head football coach Dennis Franchione announced Wednesday that former NFL standout player and veteran coach Ashley Ambrose has joined his staff as a cornerbacks coach.
 
Ambrose comes to Texas State after serving in the same capacity at Idaho during the 2014 season. He also was a secondary coach at California and Colorado.
 
Ambrose played 13 seasons in the NFL with Indianapolis (1992-95), Cincinnati (1996-98), Atlanta (2000-02) and New Orleans (1999, 2003-04).
 
He began his collegiate coaching career at Colorado in 2008 as a defensive technical intern before serving as a receivers coach in 2009 and defensive backs coach in 2010. Ambrose also served as a secondary coach at California during the 2011 and 2012 campaigns.
 
During his lone season working with Colorado's defensive backs in 2010, Ambrose coached senior Jimmy Smith to All-Big 12 First-Team honors. Smith was a first-round selection (No. 27 pick overall) by Baltimore in the 2011 NFL Draft.  Another cornerback, Jalil Brown, earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors and tied Smith with five pass breakups before being selected by Kansas City in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
 
While at Cal, Ambrose coached a pair of first-time All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selections in Josh Hill and Steve Williams. In addition, both safeties that Ambrose coached in 2011, D.J. Campbell and Sean Cattouse, earned All-Pac-12 honors before moving on to the NFL with Carolina and San Diego, respectively. Cal's defensive backs recorded 10 of the team's 12 interceptions in 2011 and 12 of the team's 14 interceptions in 2012.
 
As an NFL player, Ambrose was the 1996 AFC's Defensive Back of the Year and an All-Pro selection after recording a career-best eight interceptions with the Bengals. His eight interceptions tied for second among NFL leaders, and was one back of the league leaders.
 
He ended his career with 42 interceptions and returned three interceptions for touchdowns. He also had 178 passes defended and 514 tackles (464 solo) in 192 games and 141 NFL starts before retiring after the 2004 season.
 
Following his playing career, Ambrose began his coaching career as an intern with the Falcons in 2006 and was a minority intern with New Orleans in 2013.
 
Ambrose earned his bachelor's degree in industrial technology in 1992 at Mississippi Valley State, where he was a four-year letterman and had 17 interceptions, 40 passes defended and 110 tackles in his career. He also scored touchdowns on four punt returns and three kickoffs during his collegiate career.
 
A native of New Orleans, Ambrose lettered in football, basketball and track and field at Alcee Fortier High School. He and his wife, Melanie Zaharias-Ambrose, were married on May 25, 2012. He is the father of three children, Aisha, A.J. and Konner.