Longhorns Fill Out Coaching Staff With Hot New Hires

By Lynn Freehill in Blog on January 10, 2011 at 10:20 am | No Comments

The season was harsh. The staff was ravaged. But as of now, a younger and more aggressive Longhorn football coaching staff is set for the coming fall.

Texas Athletics yesterday swiped Bryan Harsin from Boise State, naming him co-offensive coordinator along with holdover running backs coach and favored Longhorn son Major Applewhite.

Last week, the department snagged Manny Diaz from Mississippi State to become defensive coordinator.

Call it UT Football: The Next Generation. Harsin is 34. Diaz is 36. They’re more than 20 years younger than head coach Mack Brown, who turns 60 this year.

But while coaches like Florida’s just-retired Urban Meyer tore up their health with the pressure of a top-tier head coaching job — which requires the abilities of a CEO, a general, and the ultimate sports analyst put together — Brown keeps on ticking.

Despite last year’s 5-7 season and the subsequent retirement of offensive coordinator Greg Davis and upsetting departure of defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, Brown told recruits not to worry. He planned to hire the best coaching staff in America. He asked that no players leave until they at least saw the new guys.

Then Brown made more calls than ever before, he said in a press conference last week, and everywhere he called, Manny Diaz’s name came up.

Bryan Harsin, meanwhile, had run an offense Texas always admired, and he and Major Applewhite have already clicked, Brown said in another press conference today at noon.

The new announcements already are being gushed about. Harsin’s Boise State offense was praised as always prepared. Diaz’s Mississippi State defense was called aggressive and attacking. Some have gone so far as to say Brown is making the “biggest comeback since Jesus.”

While that may be just a touch of sports hyperbole, the talk around Athletics is that the process has rejuvenated Brown — and he says so himself. 

“This process has re-energized me. I’m so excited about the addition of these young, talented coaches and all of their fresh new ideas,” he says. “I can’t wait to get all of us together and move forward.”

See the full list of new coaching hires here.

Top: Bryan Harsin. Below: Manny Diaz. Photos courtesy UT Athletics.