Texas Football: Mack Brown Goes With Youth Movement on Coaching Staff
After a long and disappointing season, change comes to the Texas Longhorn coaching staff. Mack Brown made changes, some that were a long time coming and others that were forced by staff defections. The hiring process was slow, perhaps more than fans were comfortable with. Rumors abounded of different coaching names from all over the country. Coach Brown has now announced all of the new hires, so let's go over each one and introduce the youth movement of coaches on the 40 acres.
Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers
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With the departure to Florida of Will Muschamp, Mack Brown was forced to looked for a new Defensive Coordinator. After several names emerged including Teryl Austin and Justin Wilcox, Brown finally settled on Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator from Mississippi State. The 37 year old Diaz graduated from Florida State in 1995 and started his career in coaching there under Mickey Andrews in 1998. He spent the last five seasons as a defensive coordinator, four at Middle Tennessee and last year at Mississippi State. Last season with the Bulldogs, Diaz' defense ranked 22nd in the nation in scoring defense (19.9 ppg), 17th in rushing defense (214.9 ypg) and 17th in tackles for loss (7.0 pg). The season prior to his arrival, 2009, the MSU defense finished 71st in scoring defense, 62nd in rushing defense and 89th in TFL. Mississippi State also finished ranked 13th in red zone defense (.73) and 22nd in turnovers forced (28) nationally this season. In his 4 years at MTSU, his defenses led the conference in sacks and tackles for loss twice, and finished no lower than third in the league in either category during his tenure. In 2009, the Blue Raiders finished second nationally in tackles for loss, stopping more than eight and a half plays per game behind the line of scrimmage. His defense also ranked sixth nationally in sacks that season, posting nearly three per game.
Mack Brown said throughout his search that Manny Diaz' name kept coming up and ultimately led to his hiring. His presence keeps the youthful energy going that Will Muschamp brought in 2008. He will run a variety of defenses (both 3-4 and 4-3) that will be aggressive and fast. He inherits a talented group of players at Texas and expectations will be high.
Bryan Harsin, Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks
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This was perhaps the most anticipated and debated hire for Coach Brown. Many wanted Major Applewhite or Paul Chryst among others, but Mack Brown settled on Bryan Harsin as the Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach. Harsin will have play-calling duties while Applewhite will share in the game-planning. The 34 year old Harsin is a 2000 graduate of Boise State and has been on the Boise coaching staff for 10 seasons. The last 5 seasons he spent as the Offensive Coordinator and play-caller for Coach Chris Petersen. In those 5 seasons, the Bronco's offense was in the top five nationally in scoring four times, including ranking first in 2009 (42.2 ppg) and second in 2010 (45.1ppg). Boise State has averaged 41.4 ppg in his time as OC. He also boasts two BCS bowl victories in that time, 2006 vs. OU and 2009 vs. TCU. In terms of total offense, the Broncos have ranked in the top 10 in total offense in 3 of his 5 seasons and no lower than 18. In 2010 BSU averaged 521.3 ypg and has averaged 459.9 ypg over the last 5 years.
Harsin has a reputation for developing Quarterbacks and running multiple formations with lots of movement. His specialty is putting players in space and exposing mismatches. He will spread you out on one drive and then run power formations the next. Given the athletes at Texas, it should be interesting to see what comes out next season.
Jerry Gray, Defensive Backs and Assistant Head Coach
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Duana Akina's departure to the University of Arizona left another void in the Texas coaching staff. Mack Brown hired Jerry Gray away from the Seattle Seahawks to coach the secondary. The 48 year old Gray was a 4 year letterman from 1981 to 1984 at UT and has spent 23 years as a player and coach in the NFL. His coaching stops include the Titans, Redskins, Bills and Seahawks among others. He was the defensive coordinator at Buffalo for 5 seasons and had the NFL's #2 ranked unit in 2004. He coached defensive backs for Seattle this past season. NFL player such as Sean Taylor, Carlos Rogers, LeRon Landry and Earl Thomas have been tutored by Gray. He brings a wealth of NFL experience to the college game and has instant credibility with the players.
This may be the best hire Mack Brown made this offseason. Not only does Gray possess the knowledge, but he also brings the pedigree of a Pro Bowl player to Austin. He made no secret his desire to get back to Austin and coach for his alma mater and he jumped at the opportunity when it came. As a former player, he gives Texas a loyal soldier along the lines of Major Applewhite and his future may be as the eventual defensive coordinator. In the meantime he will work with Manny Diaz to continue the success that Will Muschamp brought defensively to the Longhorns.
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Darrell Wyatt, Wide Receivers and Co-Recruing Coordinator
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With the departure of Bobby Kennedy to Colorado, Mack Brown hired Darrell Wyatt to coach the wide receivers as well as head up recruiting. The 43 year old graduate of Kansas State brings 21 years of coaching experience to Austin, Texas. He comes from Kansas where he was the Co-offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers coach. He spent the previous two seasons as Offensive Coordinator at Southern Miss where his offenses were among the nation's best. He has spent time at Oklahoma and Arizona as well as time in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. His reputation as a recruiter is excellent. He was the lead recruiter in 2004 getting Adrian Peterson to commit to the Sooners and has extensive experience recruiting North and East Texas.
Coach Wyatt was brought to Texas to coach up a talented but underachieving group of wide-outs. His biggest job will be maximize the talents of Mike Davis, Darius White and Jaxon Shipley among others. As a recruiter his job will be to keep the momentum going. Keeping the 2011 class together is job one and so far he has done well.
Bo Davis, Defensive Tackles
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Mike Tolleson's retirement led to the hiring of Bo Davis as the Defensive Tackles coach for the Longhorns. The 39 year old Davis spent 8 of his last 9 seasons coaching under Nick Saban with LSU, the Miami Dolphins, and Alabama. He worked the last 4 seasons at Alabama as the defensive line coach and helped the Tide consistently finish as a top 10 defense. In recent years, he has coached the likes of Terrance Cody, Marcel Dareus, and Wallace Gilberry. He has Texas ties going back to his stint coaching Cory Redding at Galena Park Northshore High School from 1997 to 2002.
He brings a toughness to the defensive tackle position that is much needed at Texas. His extensive experience recruiting the Houston area and East Texas will certainly help continue the success Texas has enjoyed in this area. Grabbing a coach from Nick Saban's staff is certainly is good move going forward as Texas tries to fix the problems in defensive middle.
Stacy Searels, Offensive Line Coach
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This has been an underachieving group for several years at Texas and with the retirement of offensive line coach Mac McWhorter, Texas has made a change. Mack Brown hired Stacy Searels from the University of Georgia as his new offensive line coach. The 45 year old Searels is a graduate of Auburn where he was an All American in 1987. He started coaching in 1992 and has spent time at Appalachian State, Cincinnati, LSU, and Georgia. In his 4 years at LSU under Nick Saban, he won a national championship in 2003 and coached several All Americans, including Stephen Peterman and Ben Wilkerson. Since 2007, Searels has been the offensive line coach under Mark Richt at Georgia and added run game coordinator duties in 2009.
The timing of this hire is a little late for Longhorn fans, but it is finally done. The loss of Christian Westerman may be directly tied to the struggles UT had in finding the right coach. All that said, there may be no more important coach than this one in terms of turning the Longhorn offense around. The talent is there for Coach Searels to work with and he will likely field a young group next season. How they come together on the line will determine much of what Texas can get done in Brian Harsin's new offensive system.
Bennie Wylie, Strength and Conditioning Coach
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Perhaps the most underrated of positions is the strength and conditioning coach. With Jeff "Mad Dog" Madden taking on more responsibility as the Assistant Athletics Director for Strength and Conditioning, Mack Brown brought in 34 year old Bennie Wylie to run the football S&C program. Wylie spent one season at Tennessee and the five previous seasons at Texas Tech. The Mexia,Texas native is known as a high intensity trainer who participates with his players in every workout.
Wylie will spend more time with the players than any one coach and is the basis for what Texas will do on the field. His biggest job is to improve the physicality and stamina of the team, especially on the front lines, where Texas has been pushed around in recent years.
Conclusion
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Mack Brown has responded to a disappointing 2010 season by retooling his coaching staff. He went to the SEC for many of the coaches, which is definitely a good move considering it's success over that past 5 seasons. The obvious trend is the relative youth of the coaches brought in as replacements. His hires all look like young, solid coaches with great upside. The job at hand is to have this staff gel quickly and establish a new identity at the University of Texas. Texas looks to become a faster and more physical football team and only time will tell if that can be achieved. This has the feel of a new head coach taking over a program and I believe Mack will coach several more seasons (his contract runs through 2016). Assuming he returns to the success of season's past, it should be interesting to see what this team becomes over the next few years.
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