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2024 Texas Football Coaching and Support Staff Thread


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1 hour ago, realgreggym said:

I am not sure that Spain had invented the Spanish flu yet There was a disease that was transmitted through dinosaurs from China so he may have been infected with the China dinosaur flu/. 

NO ONE expects the Spanish Flu!

edit: I would like a DL coach soon

Edited by jeevsie
relevant content for no vacationing
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7 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

There’s also the case that Nielsen can’t go anywhere until the Falcons hire someone new and he’s released from his contract. 

Yeah one of the recenet 9.95 updates was worded in a way that made me think it could be a situation like that. 

Probably can't apply to college teams but I also read the Falcons are blocking interview requests for Nielsen.

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19 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Probably can't apply to college teams but I also read the Falcons are blocking interview requests for Nielsen.

for lateral moves i believe - the jags and someone else asked to interview him

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37 minutes ago, Tex-19 said:

Yeah one of the recenet 9.95 updates was worded in a way that made me think it could be a situation like that. 

Probably can't apply to college teams but I also read the Falcons are blocking interview requests for Nielsen.

Yes - they are going to give whoever the next coach is the option to retain him.

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Nielsen reportedly has multiple interviews for DC candidates - is Sark now pulling sitting NFL DC’s for CFB position coaches? 
 

that’s bigger balls than pulling Nansen out of his position

Don’t get me wrong, Nielsen’s a cool candidate; Rod Wright seems to be lacking in…. resume?   OL and DL coach seem to be exceptionally high on Sark’s list in regards to “hire-a-BAMF”.  He slapped the OC title on Flood to make sure he would get paid and Davis was a Top 3 paid assistant coach in all of college football.  So he’s going to Wright?  A former Horn who has done well at… UTSA?  I’m skeptical here but would want Wright to kick all kinds of ass if it was him. 

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49 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

There’s also the case that Nielsen can’t go anywhere until the Falcons hire someone new and he’s released from his contract. 

I read too much about this yesterday and you're right. Assistants have to wait on teams to inform them of their status - fired, retained, etc. So even if he eventually doesn't stay, he still might not be able to talk with anyone until the Falcons decide.

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2 minutes ago, horny_gunman said:

Nielsen reportedly has multiple interviews for DC candidates - is Sark now pulling sitting NFL DC’s for CFB position coaches? 
 

that’s bigger balls than pulling Nansen out of his position

Don’t get me wrong, Nielsen’s a cool candidate; Rod Wright seems to be lacking in…. resume?   OL and DL coach seem to be exceptionally high on Sark’s list in regards to “hire-a-BAMF”.  He slapped the OC title on Flood to make sure he would get paid and Davis was a Top 3 paid assistant coach in all of college football.  So he’s going to Wright?  A former Horn who has done well at… UTSA?  I’m skeptical here but would want Wright to kick all kinds of ass if it was him. 

The Clint Hurtt / Pete Carroll connection is interesting as you know Sark takes advice from him.

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1 hour ago, Codaxx said:

Starting to think R Wright is the new DL coach.. Keep hearing they have their guy and are waiting to announce. I think he is the only candidate mentioned that is still in the playoffs. 

I want to know soon, but if this is true, "We had to wait to announce because he was coaching in the Superb Owl" is a pretty good excuse, as those go.

Not that I expect anyone to get past Baltimore or anything.

59 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

There’s also the case that Nielsen can’t go anywhere until the Falcons hire someone new and he’s released from his contract. 

interesting

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1 hour ago, Codaxx said:

Starting to think R Wright is the new DL coach.. Keep hearing they have their guy and are waiting to announce. I think he is the only candidate mentioned that is still in the playoffs. 

Green Bay Packers coach. They thought he’d be free by now. ☹️

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7 minutes ago, cafe society said:

Apologies if this has already been discussed ad nauseum, but if Harbaugh moves on and Kelly just happened to be tabbed to succeed him, what of Bo Davis & Son?

I think the premise of Kelly to Michigan falls apart when they promote Sherrone Moore to Head Coach.

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1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

There’s also the case that Nielsen can’t go anywhere until the Falcons hire someone new and he’s released from his contract. 

Arthur Blank is obsessed with Bill Belichick and really wants to hire him. Belichick is waiting to see what jobs come open from playoff teams who decide to move on from their coaches. If/When Jerry fires McCarthy there's a more than good chance Belichick ends up in Dallas. If Belichick does take the Atlanta job, he'll bring in his own people. If he doesn't, it would not be surprising at all if the Falcons hang on to Nielsen. He did a really good job with that defense this year.

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15 minutes ago, cafe society said:

Apologies if this has already been discussed ad nauseum, but if Harbaugh moves on and Kelly just happened to be tabbed to succeed him, what of Bo Davis & Son?

Michigan doesn't want Kelly, Kelly's agent put that report out

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10 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

Arthur Blank is obsessed with Bill Belichick and really wants to hire him. Belichick is waiting to see what jobs come open from playoff teams who decide to move on from their coaches. If/When Jerry fires McCarthy there's a more than good chance Belichick ends up in Dallas. If Belichick does take the Atlanta job, he'll bring in his own people. If he doesn't, it would not be surprising at all if the Falcons hang on to Nielsen. He did a really good job with that defense this year.

I don’t follow pro football but Belichick and Goober Jones sounds like fun. 

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32 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Green Bay Packers coach. They thought he’d be free by now. ☹️

Forgive me is this was just a Cowboys joke - but are you talking about Jerry Montgomery (former Oklahoma DL coach)?  They also have a Defensive Analyst, Wendel Davis, who spent a year at Texas under Strong as an analyst working with the DL before going to Georgia as a Grad Asst and then eventually Green Bay.  Played at Arkansas.

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47 minutes ago, ATLLonghorn said:

Arthur Blank is obsessed with Bill Belichick and really wants to hire him. Belichick is waiting to see what jobs come open from playoff teams who decide to move on from their coaches. If/When Jerry fires McCarthy there's a more than good chance Belichick ends up in Dallas. If Belichick does take the Atlanta job, he'll bring in his own people. If he doesn't, it would not be surprising at all if the Falcons hang on to Nielsen. He did a really good job with that defense this year.

 

Bill and Jerry together... I can't imagine that lasts even through the preseason. Think of how little Belichico can bear stupid questions from the press; now imagine it's your boss asking those questions.

 

43 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

tony-soprano-the-sopranos.gif

 

No no no no, I'd take him back. Definitely.

 

20 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Forgive me is this was just a Cowboys joke - but are you talking about Jerry Montgomery (former Oklahoma DL coach)?  They also have a Defensive Analyst, Wendel Davis, who spent a year at Texas under Strong as an analyst working with the DL before going to Georgia as a Grad Asst and then eventually Green Bay.  Played at Arkansas.

 

OU and Strong? Uhm... that's not a very encouraging resume.

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4 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

OU and Strong? Uhm... that's not a very encouraging resume.

Agreed.  But Sark's WR coach hire's resume was nearly non-existent.  Chris Jackson had one year as a WR coach and a couple years as an asst WR coach (with no college experience) before Sark picked him to lead his WR room. 

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7 minutes ago, Rimbo said:

 

Bill and Jerry together... I can't imagine that lasts even through the preseason. Think of how little Belichico can bear stupid questions from the press; now imagine it's your boss asking those questions.

Yeah it does seem like a disastrous combo, but there was a report out there that Bill has forged a good relationship with Jerry and Stephen over the years at the Owners meetings and other league functions and if Bill is trying to break the wins record and coach a team in win now mode it makes sense. Still skeptical it doesn't blow up, but it seems like a very real possibility.

To keep it on topic, I'd be surprised if Nielsen is the guy for Texas. He was relatively obscure as a position coach in Nola, but his work this year in Atlanta was good enough for him to get another DC job somewhere.

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Scipio Tex: On A Barcalounger Watching Musical Chairs

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Texas is currently in the enviable position of reclining comfortably with its feet up, behind a velvet rope, holding a pitcher of margaritas, watching the music play and the portalers dance. The Longhorns have already invited some quality players to join them at their table and not all will accept, but the ripple effects of coaching hires and how they impact the portal has still not yet been fully felt.

The unscheduled 30 day transfer window triggered by a head coach leaving their job has further energized the dance floor and it’s an element with impacts that could last until the Longhorn Spring game. Nick Saban was the giant GOAT thrown into the koi pond. The fish are still stirring and the waves haven’t stopped. That’s how Texas landed future NFL receiver Isaiah Bond from Alabama.

Saban’s ripple effect to Seattle is why Texas is in the Final Two for standout cornerback Jabbar Muhammad. Two players Texas coaches know well, both up for contract seasons and guaranteed potential starters. Those are the known impacts so far. The unknown are still being sorted. The vacated Washington position could have its own impacts beyond a cornerback prospect. Let’s get nuts for a moment.

The Huskies have circled Arizona’s Jedd Fisch as their top candidate. The two schools were once PAC brethren and somewhat comparable jobs (though Washington has always had a much richer history and had better overall commitment), but Washington’s entrance to The Only Other Conference That Matters and Arizona’s accounting department misplacing a zero or three over the last fiscal decade means that the future earning potential of each job (and the ability to build out winning resources) is now distinct.

The question is how Fisch sees it. Here’s where it gets really fun, stupid and speculative.

Arizona opening up would start the portal clock on standout QB Noah Fifita (not a Texas target, see current QB room) and Tetairoa McMillan (very much a Texas target, my favorite WR in the country). Not to mention a handful of other decent Wildcat players that a certain Duane Akina and Johnny Nansen just might have good internal scouting reports on.

McMillan stands above them all. Like, really. He’s 6-5 and had 90 catches for 1402 yards last year. McMillan is my #1 receiver I want Texas to tamper with. McMillan and Fifita are former high school teammates and might be attached at the hip, but following Fisch to Washington may not be in the cards for both. McMillan might have a strong interest in a high level college offense with a proven QB, a quality OL, familiar Wildcat coaches on staff and the requisite national spotlight to guarantee his NFL draft stock.

Would you like to know more? OK. Let’s speculate even more wildly and irresponsibly. Arizona would need to hire someone and who better than fellow desert denizen Barry Odom, fresh off of a rejuvenating 9-5 campaign at UNLV. UNLV just lost their starting QB Jayden Maiava to USC and the best player on the roster – returning senior wide receiver Ricky White (#2 on my national tampering favorite receivers list) would be without both a QB and a coach.

If you’re not familiar with his game, White finished the season with 88 catches for 1483 yards last year and was one of the best half dozen WRs I saw last year. Think of a 185 pound Xavier Worthy clone with ball-winning traits. So should the music end just right, he’s potentially in play. While UNLV feverishly passes the hat in the Circa poker room.

What of Michigan if Harbaugh leaves? What ripple effects could that set off? The Wolverines are expected to promote OC Sherrone Moore – if he’ll stop sobbing uncontrollably and cursing on national television – and their most likely pivot – DeBoer -was just taken off of the game board by Bama.

Michigan probably wouldn’t have obvious impacts that Texas might benefit from, but as I outlined above, impacts aren’t obvious until they are and the music doesn’t stop. Until it does. None us know the impact that will trigger the next ripple that is relevant. Meanwhile, this lounger is comfy and a pleasant buzz makes the wait bearable and the speculation even more fun.

 

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37 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Agreed.  But Sark's WR coach hire's resume was nearly non-existent.  Chris Jackson had one year as a WR coach and a couple years as an asst WR coach (with no college experience) before Sark picked him to lead his WR room. 

Yeah, but Sark has demonstrated he knows what he's doing.

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I’m guessing the choice is Tracy Rocker. Spent over 20 years coaching and developing DL in college. 6 years in the league and was headed back to college before he got the offer from the Eagles two years ago. Lots of SEC experience. 
 

Clint Hurt would be awesome but I don’t see Hurt or Nielsen coming when they will have DC opportunities in the NFL. 
 

let’s go Tampa Bay so we can see if my guess is correct. 

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3 minutes ago, FreeHorn said:

I’m guessing the choice is Tracy Rocker. Spent over 20 years coaching and developing DL in college. 6 years in the league and was headed back to college before he got the offer from the Eagles two years ago. Lots of SEC experience. 
 

Clint Hurt would be awesome but I don’t see Hurt or Nielsen coming when they will have DC opportunities in the NFL. 
 

let’s go Tampa Bay so we can see if my guess is correct. 

Fun fact - Tracy is the dad of Kumar Rocker, Rangers first round pitcher

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9 minutes ago, FreeHorn said:

I’m guessing the choice is Tracy Rocker. Spent over 20 years coaching and developing DL in college. 6 years in the league and was headed back to college before he got the offer from the Eagles two years ago. Lots of SEC experience. 

Dl coach at Arkansas, Ole Miss, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  

 

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Ian Boyd: What will Duane Akina bring to Texas?

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Johnny Nansen will be bringing a familiar character with him when he joins the Texas football staff under Steve Sarkisian for the 2024 season. Arizona’s “senior defensive analyst” in charge of the secondary, Duane Akina, is going to take on the same role with the Texas Longhorns. Since exiting the Texas program when Mack Brown resigned, Akina has worked in the Pac-12. From 2014 to 2022 he was the defensive backs coach for Stanford and then at 66 years old took on a lighter “Gary Patterson at Texas” sort of analyst role at Arizona in 2023.

As Longhorn fans who recall the 2000s will relay, Akina knows defensive back play and was an important fixture in the Mack Brown era while crafting two of the best secondaries in program history in 2005 and 2009. Now he returns to lend his expertise to a Texas staff which is overflowing with young talent in the secondary but has yet to see it materialize into an elite unit.

Akina’s Texas secondaries

Akina was known for three main features at Texas back in the 2000s.

  •     A “four corners” recruiting philosophy
  •     Excellent man coverage
  •     Building NFL pipeline and developing “DBU”

The “four corners” philosophy meant Texas primarily recruited defensive backs who projected to play cornerback and moved some of them inside to safety as needed. The 2005 secondary is a terrific reflection of this approach. This unit started the following defenders:

  •     Right cornerback: Cedric Griffin, 2nd round pick and 7-year NFL veteran.
  •     Free safety: Michael Griffin, 1st round pick, 10-year NFL veteran, two-time Pro Bowler.
  •     Strong safety: Michael Huff, 1st round pick, 8-year NFL veteran.
  •     Left cornerback: Tarell Brown, 5th round pick, 7-year NFL veteran.
  •     Nickel (not a starter back then): Aaron Ross, 1st round pick, 7-year NFL veteran.

Michael Griffin was an elite athlete despite eventually checking in at 215 pounds. Michael Huff was a track star who could be a dominant box safety or erase a slot in man coverage as the situation dictated. Everyone in the lineup could run and cover and Akina made sure they all know how to play man, which created flexibility across the unit. If you hadn’t heard, this unit won the National Championship.

Between Texas recruiting some of the best skills athletes within the state and Akina teaching them how to play defensive back and man coverage, the school began to claim status as “Defensive Back University” due to the volume of players sent to the NFL and their success after arriving. From 2001 to 2013 while Akina was the defensive backs coach, Texas had 13 defensive backs drafted including five 1st round picks.

The approach evolved some over time. Akina was made co-defensive coordinator for the 2007 season and the Longhorns had some issues in pass defense, leading to the hire of Will Muschamp for 2008. Muschamp brought a base nickel and quarters coverage philosophy which was maintained by his successor Manny Diaz. This approach was scrapped before the end, in part due to Akina’s preference for playing single-high coverage. The Mack Brown Longhorns went out in 2013 blending Cover 1 (single-high man coverage) and Cover 3 (single-high zone coverage) under Akina’s direction.

After arriving at Stanford, Akina continued in that direction of teaching single-high defense with an emphasis on man coverage. Over his nine seasons in Palo Alto the Cardinal sent six defensive backs to the NFL, most notably safety Justin Reid who played a lot of nickel (man coverage on the slot) for Akina. The Arizona Wildcats had a similar philosophy.

Akina as a defensive analyst at Texas

Nansen is the new co-defensive coordinator at Texas and he’s coming from a background of utilizing single-high safety coverage on the back end. He’s bringing back Akina to serve in the same role at Texas he held at Arizona, as an analyst overseeing the secondary. This simply begs the question of what sort of input Akina is likely to have on the Texas secondary.

The Wildcats intended for Akina to be able to be hands on with their players and even moved him to an on-field role for a spell when the NCAA didn’t approve rules allowing analysts to coach players directly. A an analyst he can be a resource but obviously isn’t allowed to be an extra position coach, which means he’ll likely have more of a role in overseeing the vision and coaching of the secondary.

In that regard, he’s certainly not coming to update or upgrade their command of the quarters coverages which have defined their approach for the last few seasons. It’s possible Akina could supplement their overall approach to coverage and man coverage in general with the focus remaining on a base, two-high coverage system. He could work within that scheme as he did under Muschamp or Diaz but he’s not going to be offering fresh vision for a two-high defense and certainly not vision better than what Patterson brought in 2022. Given some of the issues Texas had with that approach this season, the historical preference for single-high coverage shown by an increasing number of coaches on staff (including both coordinators), and Akina’s hire it seems likely they may adapt a new approach.

So this role may serve to help change the schemes on the back end of the Longhorn defense to something more akin(a) to what co-coordinators Nansen and Kwiatkowski ran at previous stops. This coming spring should be an interesting and important one for a talented and retooling Longhorn secondary.

 

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Maybe there is little difference, but it feels like an assistant DL coach in the NFL could be a little more flexible in departing before the conclusion of the season compared to the main position coach. Or at minimum announce the hire and let him finish out his duties. Of course this is assuming it is Rod Wright.

Pretty important hire and we have junior days coming up/2024 dudes in limbo.

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3 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Maybe there is little difference, but it feels like an assistant DL coach in the NFL could be a little more flexible in departing before the conclusion of the season compared to the main position coach. Or at minimum announce the hire and let him finish out his duties. Of course this is assuming it is Rod Wright.

Pretty important hire and we have junior days coming up/2024 dudes in limbo.

I think it probably depends on the head coach.  I'm sure there are plenty of coaches who don't want any distractions - not even an assistant DL coach leaving.  Someone is going to have to replace the work the leaving assistant was doing and I doubt a Head Coach in the playoffs would be thrilled by the idea of changing things up.

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1 hour ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Agreed.  But Sark's WR coach hire's resume was nearly non-existent.  Chris Jackson had one year as a WR coach and a couple years as an asst WR coach (with no college experience) before Sark picked him to lead his WR room. 

I argue that Sark is willing to do that because he knows that a better hire at DL coach is more important than the WR coach.  
 

17 minutes ago, Hiphopopotamos said:

Dl coach at Arkansas, Ole Miss, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  

 

Rocker is my bet.  Hurtt apparently has been an awful DC so he’s likely looking back at a position level.  Wouldn’t he have been announced by now?  
 

anyway don’t forget Karl Dunbar at Pittsburgh. He was thr DL coach at Bama with Sark there in 2016. He also has SEC experience and coached a NCG line.  I think him and Rocker make more sense than Wright. 

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1 hour ago, satyanash said:

Scipio Tex: On A Barcalounger Watching Musical Chairs

 

Interesting article. As much as I would absolutely LOVE to get McMillan to replace Mitchell (and I would REALLY love to get him. He's that type of talent), you have to think we're done at WR now, right? Especially if we get Bolden to be an even better, more versatile Keilan replacement. In any case, our kick returns and 4 WR sets should be absolutely filthy next season

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1 hour ago, FreeHorn said:

I’m guessing the choice is Tracy Rocker. Spent over 20 years coaching and developing DL in college. 6 years in the league and was headed back to college before he got the offer from the Eagles two years ago. Lots of SEC experience. 
 

Clint Hurt would be awesome but I don’t see Hurt or Nielsen coming when they will have DC opportunities in the NFL. 
 

let’s go Tampa Bay so we can see if my guess is correct. 

 

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