Texas Football: Frank Okam passes on Longhorns, joins Carolina Panthers
A coaching candidate for the Texas football program, to fill their DL coach opening, will now be headed for the NFL with Frank Okam joining the Panthers.
A coach that reportedly interviewed with the Texas football program heading into the 2020 offseason, former Baylor Bears defensive line coach Frank Okam, looks to be headed for the NFL coaching ranks. Okam was a former Texas defensive lineman himself that took home Freshman All-American honors back in 2004.
Okam had a solid college football career on the Forty Acres playing for the Texas Longhorns football program from 2004-2007. After his time with the Longhorns was over, Okam took his talents to the next level as a fifth round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft of the Houston Texans. He then played for five different NFL teams in a span of six seasons before his professional career ended in 2013.
However, Okam is now taking his coaching talents to the next level as he will reportedly join the Carolina Panthers as an assistant coach. Okam will be coaching on the staff under the same head coach he was with at Baylor. Former Bears head coach Matt Rhule took the Panthers job opening earlier this month after Ron Rivera was fired. Rivera will now be the head coach for the Washington Redskins in the NFC East.
I’ve learned Frank Okam will join Matt Rhule’s staff with the @Panthers. Okam, who was with Rhule at #Baylor, also interviewed with his Alma mater at Texas but is headed to the #NFL and will be an assistant defensive line coach. #Sicem
— David Smoak (@DavidSmoak) January 20, 2020
The report that Okam will be joining the Panthers coaching staff under Rhule came from David Smoak of ESPN-Central Texas on Twitter. Okam will be an assistant defensive line coach with the Panthers in the NFL now.
Since one of the biggest remaining job openings on the Longhorns coaching staff is the defensive line coach, Okam was considered a big candidate to be hired. But this was a big opening at the next level for him to coach with the Panthers.
Previous to taking this job with the Panthers, Okam held assistant coaching positions with two college football programs. He was the assistant defensive line coach for Baylor in 2018 and 2019. Before that, he was a graduate assistant with the Rice Owls from 2014-2015. His first role as a defensive line coach came with Rice in 2015 and 2016.
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Okam was a breakthrough position coach with Baylor last season. He led a stout Baylor defensive line that really rose to the occasion in 2019. According to Football Outsiders, Baylor’s defensive line ranked at No. 28 in the FBS in line yards and No. 11 in the nation in standard down line yards. That’s very solid for a Big 12 defensive line.