Texas Football: 5 early candidates for UT to replace DL coach Bo Davis

Elijah Robinson, Syracuse Associate head coach/DC

The former Texas A&M defensive line coach and new Syracuse Orange associate head coach/defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson would be the definition of a home run hire for the Longhorns. If Texas found a way to lure Robinson away from his new post at Syracuse to be Davis' replacement as the defensive line coach, that would be arguably the biggest win of a coaching hire we've seen from Sarkisian during his time in Austin.

But Robinson is someone that you have to at least call to gauge his interest in taking this position if you're Texas.

You won't find a defensive line coach who is a consistently better recruiter or a bigger rising star among big-time defensive coaches in college football than Robinson. During his few years in College Station as Texas A&M's DL coach (and most recently the interim head coach after the firing of Jimbo Fisher), Robinson recruited and coached up one of the top defensive fronts in college football.

It's noteworthy that Robinson landed the top-ranked defensive line recruit in the nation in the 247Sports Composite in every year he was at Texas A&M as the DL coach.

While it's unlikely that Robinson would be willing to leave his post at Syracuse to take a title demotion at Texas, it would be foolish for the Longhorns not to at least consider the idea of giving him a call.

Freddie Roach, Alabama DL coach

Another realistic potential hire the Longhorns could make to replace Davis as the next defensive line coach from a big-time program is fourth-year Alabama Crimson Tide defensive line coach Freddie Roach. The former Alabama linebacker Roach has emerged as one of the nation's top recruiters of elite talent among defensive linemen in the last few years on staff with the Tide.

Roach has helped develop four Day 1 and Day 2 picks in the NFL Draft during his three previous seasons with the Tide. And Alabama could be sending more talented defensive linemen to the NFL Draft in 2024. Redshirt sophomore Damon Payne Jr. and senior Tim Smith have both garnered at least middle-round NFL Draft hype in the 2024 class.

What makes Roach such an obvious candidate now for the Longhorns to target to be their next defensive line coach is the news of longtime legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban's retirement. It was reported on Jan. 10 that Saban is retiring after spending 17 seasons as Alabama's head coach.

We've already seen one big-time Alabama defensive coach, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, retire. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that Roach wants to join some of his former staff mates (i.e., Sarkisian, Jeff Banks, and Kyle Flood) if he wants to leave Alabama this offseason.