Texas Football: Grading Sark’s coaching staff hires so far
3) Grading Sark’s Texas football staff hires so far
Blake Gideon
The most recognizable name that Sark added to his Texas coaching staff thus far is a former Longhorns safety and ex-Ole Miss Rebels special teams coordinator Blake Gideon. Known both for his reliability, at most times, at the safety position on the Forty Acres and for that dropped pick in the Halloween Week loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders back during the 2008 season, Gideon is still a popular name among this fan base.
He played for Texas under the direction of former head coach Mack Brown (currently in the same role with the North Carolina Tar Heels) from 2008-2011. And then he had a brief stint in the NFL before taking on a career in the college football coaching ranks. His first major FBS role came back during the 2014 season, as a defensive assistant coach with the Florida Gators.
Gideon has spent a lot of time coaching as an assistant in various roles in the SEC. Following his one year run with the Gators coaching staff, he took a couple of graduate assistant jobs with the Auburn Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks in the following two years.
And then Gideon’s first positional coach role in Division I came during the 2016 season with the Western Carolina Catamounts. For two seasons, Gideon was the cornerbacks coach with the Catamounts. And then he was the cornerbacks coach for one year with Georgia State, and the safeties coach with the Houston Cougars in 2018 and 2019.
The final position that Gideon held prior to getting hired by the Longhorns this offseason was the special teams coordinator with Ole Miss under head coach Lane Kiffin for 2020.
The recruiting job that Gideon did in his one year on the Ole Miss coaching staff was pretty solid. But his development as a recruiter consistently improved in the last few years.
Moreover, the particular role that Gideon will hold on the Texas coaching staff still largely seems to hinge on if Sark can get the Alabama special teams coordinator Jeff Banks to the Forty Acres.