Texas Football: What Longhorns Fans Need to Know About New Offensive Coordinator
It took some drama, but Texas got its offensive coordinator in former Tulsa assistant Sterlin Gilbert.
Now what?
Charlie Strong introduced Gilbert as the play-caller and offensive coordinator, along with offensive line coach Matt Mattox, on Monday. Just getting to that point was an adventure for the Horns, who had to send Strong, president Greg Fenves, athletic director Mike Perrin and special teams coordinator Jeff Traylor to Tulsa to get the deal done.
The end result of the circus is a three-year deal for the Art Briles disciple worth $850,000 per year. Mattox will earn $550,000 per year over the same span. These two replace Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline, who were essentially demoted in 2015 so the offense could be given to receivers coach Jay Norvell and the aforementioned Traylor.
In Gilbert, the Horns get a coordinator who is well-versed in the spread offense with a track record of developing a quarterback. He also brings some experience within the Texas recruiting landscape, which the program needed in a big way.
Will this give Strong and his team the boost it needs? It will take some time, but it should certainly be better than what we saw from the previous offensive staff.
He's Well-Versed in Art Briles' Offensive System
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The primary motivation in hiring Gilbert is his proven ability to implement Art Briles' offense.
Gilbert first became familiar with the current Baylor head coach's system in 2005 as a graduate assistant at Houston during Briles' tenure. He then moved through the high school ranks before working as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Illinois under Dino Babers, another member of the Briles coaching tree, in 2012.
Gilbert then followed Babers to Bowling Green for one season in which his offense piled up more than 430 yards per game. That caught the attention of longtime Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery, who took the Tulsa head coaching job prior to the 2015 season.
Under Gilbert, the Golden Hurricane averaged 35.9 points, 502.8 total yards and 329.5 passing yards per game, all of which ranked in the top 25 nationally.
The big numbers got the up-and-comer on Strong's radar and, ultimately, hired on at Texas to implement his version of Briles offense for the fifth time.
"New #Texas OC Sterlin Gilbert says he has installed the Briles offense four times now, so he thinks he's got it down. #hookem
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We'll dive more into what this attack will look like at Texas, but Briles' offense works like a supercharged version of your typical uptempo, spread attack. The receivers use the entire field, there's diversity in the run game, and when it's all working in concert, it's "the greatest play-action spread offense" that Smart Football's Chris B. Brown has ever seen. That all translates to the nation's best offense in terms of points scored and total yardage.
By hiring Gilbert, Texas is hoping to turn some of its own skill players into that sort of production.
He's a Proven Quarterback Developer
2 of 5Due to his work with Trevone Boykin, TCU's Sonny Cumbie emerged as the early favorite for Texas' offensive coordinator position.
Texas fans will have to settle for the guy who turned Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo into a second-round pick.
In his first three seasons as college coordinator, Gilbert took Garoppolo from a solid starter to the best player in the FCS. Per Inside Texas' Ian Boyd, Garoppolo's passing yardage and touchdown-to-interception ratio improved each year under the former Briles assistant. Garoppolo's yards per attempt also spiked from 7.1 to 8.9 from his first to his second year piloting the attack.
The following year, Gilbert's offense at Bowling Green put up less significant numbers without starting quarterback Matt Johnson. But he was able to pick things back up at Tulsa, with the Golden Hurricane putting up top-20 numbers in passing yardage and yards per attempt.
The question is which Texas quarterback will win Gilbert's favor.
Jerrod Heard, due to his running ability and deep-ball prowess, will get the first look. His dual-threat ability makes him a nice fit for this system, especially if Gilbert can coach up his accuracy on the short to intermediate routes.
If Heard can't grasp those routes, then senior Tyrone Swoopes will get one final look before Texas turns to redshirt freshman Kai Locksley or a possible junior college transfer. There's also a chance the Horns give Matthew Merrick a shot.
Without a doubt, early enrollee Shane Buechele has the highest ceiling in this offense. He's mobile, deadly accurate and has ample arm strength, which are all key for this system.
Buechele will be on campus for the entire spring. So if Heard struggles, look for Gilbert to get an early start on the future of the program.
He's Ready to Unleash the Run
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Gilbert is known for his work in the passing game, but make no mistake—he knows what he has in his new backfield.
During Monday's introduction, Texas' new offensive coordinator left the talk about philosophy to offensive line coach Matt Mattox, who made it clear Monday that he wants a physical identity:
"We lean on some power schemes, gap schemes, some zone schemes. I had a coach one time tell me that we're going to run a play and it's going to be called "Momma;" when all else fails and you don't know what to do, your girl breaks up with you, you go home and you call "Momma." And that's going to be power, we're going to run it. So that's what we're going to do, and we're going to be physical in whatever we do, whether it's running or pass blocking.
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Inheriting the nation's 20th-ranked rushing offense, Gilbert and Mattox have the personnel to do just that. Projected lead backs D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren each comes in at over 6'0", 230 pounds and averaged more than 6.6 yards per carry in 2015. As a one-two punch, these two are going to have a field day running against six- and seven-man fronts.
Foreman and Warren will be running in what Inside Texas' Boyd calls "the easiest offense to play offensive line for in all of college football." As Boyd notes, the Golden Hurricane were almost totally bereft of real talent up front in 2015 but were still able to grade out as an average line, according to Football Outsiders.
In Austin, Mattox has a couple of NFL talents to build around.
Left tackle Connor Williams was named a Freshman All-American by USA Today. On the inside, Patrick Vahe, Williams' 2015 classmate, was an honorable mention for All-Big 12 honors. Senior Kent Perkins is also no slouch as a guy who can play either guard spot as well as right tackle.
Starting this spring, Texas' offense will be built around the strengths of these five players. With effective quarterback play, the Longhorns will be able to do some serious damage on the ground.
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He'll Be Able to Recruit
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Texas didn't just need an offensive coordinator. It needed a guy who could immediately make an impact on the recruiting trail, especially with the in-state talent.
Both a high school player and coach in the Lone Star State, Gilbert gives the Horns that firepower.
Gilbert has deep roots in Texas high school football. He played quarterback at San Angelo Lake View, where he was named the West Texas High School Coach of the Year in 2008. Sandwiching his three years there, Gilbert spent two years at Abilene Cooper and one season at Temple before heading to Eastern Illinois.
This kind of wide-ranging experience is exactly what the Horns need on the trail. As noted by SB Nation's Wescott Eberts, Strong and his staff have been criticized for their interactions with Texas high school coaches, a likely contributing factor to the school's low recruiting ranking at 247Sports.
According to Horns Digest's William Wilkerson, Gilbert is well-liked in these circles as a "passionate, confident and competitive" offensive coordinator. In tandem with Jeff Traylor, whom he praised in his introductory press conference, Gilbert should make some noise as we near signing day.
"Gilbert says he "loves" current UT assistant Jeff Traylor: "I don't know who's accent's heavier, mine or Traylor's."
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Expect Gilbert, Traylor and offensive line coach Matt Mattox to get turned loose as soon as the dead period ends on January 14.
Outlook
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Texas checked just about every box it had to when it hired Gilbert. The Horns got a guy who can implement an effective spread offense with a potent run game, develop a quarterback and recruit.
But how long will it take before this hire pays major dividends on the 40 Acres?
First off, there's workable talent on this offense. We've already gone over the talent up front and at running back, but there's also some explosive talent at receiver, as noted by Inside Texas' Boyd. Specifically, rising sophomore John Burt has a chance to be a monster on the outside.
Still, Gilbert is getting two years to turn around the nation's No. 118 passing attack. His ability to do that will depend on the quarterback and how much ground Texas can make up on the recruiting trail.
We can't assess this first element until the spring game at the earliest. No quarterback on the roster has been able to get reps in a functional offense, and all four of Heard, Swoopes, Locksley and Merrick are best suited for the spread. It's too early to say whether or not one will emerge in this new system.
Recruiting, on the other hand, won't have to wait as long. Starting on January 14, the staff can start back with the face-to-face interaction in a mad dash toward signing day.
The Longhorns need at least two more offensive linemen, along with one or two JUCO recruits who can provide immediate depth. Running back also remains a need, while it would make sense to feel out what's available on the transfer quarterback market.
And that's just the offense.
The good news is Texas absolutely got better with this hire. After the demotion of Shawn Watson, the offense was run by a position coach and the special teams coordinator, and it was still better than what the former did in his 14 games.
Gilbert brings a proven offense that kids want to play in, and he has the resume of a rising star. If he puts it all together, he'll take Texas back to the top while becoming a hot name for a head coaching job.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats and information courtesy of TexasSports.com.
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