Texas Longhorns Football: Jerry Gray Named New Defensive Backs Coach

Well, that didn't take long.

As anticipated, the Texas Longhorns have announced that former Longhorn All-American and Seattle Seahawks defensive backs coach Jerry Gray has been hired for the same position on Mack Brown's staff.

Gray brings a wealth of NFL and collegiate coaching experience to Texas and will be a welcome addition to a unstable coaching staff which has recently endured a great deal of turnover.

He spent a total of nine years in the NFL as a player and another 14 as a defensive backs coach for several teams, most recently the Seahawks. Gray's name had been mentioned early on in the search for a defensive coordinator to replace Will Muschamp upon his departure for Florida, but quickly faded from candidacy for that position.

By almost all accounts, Gray is a perfect fit for the job. With his NFL experience, Texas will have the luxury of having another coach on staff to mold young talent into NFL-caliber players, much like Duane Akina was able to do during his time at Texas.

As a player, Gray was a tenacious, ball-hawking, athletic defensive back who always played to the highest of his abilities, earning two consecutive consensus All-American honors in 1983 and 1984. It's certain that these are the type of players he will actively seek to pursue as Texas' new secondary coach.

Gray's quick hire begs the question: Did Texas know more about Akina's departure to Arizona than we were all originally led to believe?

Did Akina's departure or Gray's hire come first?

We'll likely never know, but the facts stand that Mack Brown is back to focusing on the offensive line coaching hire with Gray's quick addition.