Per Horns247's Chip Brown, former longtime defensive backs coach Duane Akina is returning to Texas football after the departure of secondary coach Terry Joseph earlier today. Akina was going to join Texas's staff as a defensive analyst last offseason, but he ended up remaining in Tucson with the Arizona Wildcats for another season.
Texas football finds its replacement for Terry Joseph with former Longhorns' DB coach Duane Akina
This news comes as Joseph is expected to take a job on staff with the New Orleans Saints in the NFL in his home state of Louisiana.
Akina coached with Arizona in the Big 12 last season under then first-year head coach Brent Brennan. He was originally hired at Arizona as an analyst ahead of the 2023 season. Akina was named the defensive coordinator for the Wildcats for this past season in 2024.
He coached with Texas co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Johnny Nansen on Arizona's staff during the 2023 season. Nansen's was Arizona's defensive coordinator in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Akina will coach defensive backs for head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns, replacing recently departed Texas assistants Blake Gideon and Joseph early this offseason. Gideon was coached up by Akina in the late 2000s and early 2010s at Texas.
Under head coach Mack Brown, Akina coached defensive backs at Texas from 2001-2013. He coached up and helped develop some of the best defensive back talent in college football for over a decade with the Longhorns, including Nathan Vasher, Earl Thomas, Aaron Ross, Cedric Griffin, and Kenny Vaccaro, among many others.
After Charlie Strong was hired in the 2014 offseason, Akina wasn't retained on the coaching staff. He coached defensive backs for the Stanford Cardinal under head coach David Shaw from 2014-2022.
Akina has well over three decades of experience as a college coach. He started his coaching journey in college with the Washington Huskies as a graduate assistant in the late 1970s. Akina has also held various roles with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Arizona for multiple stints, and the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in the mid-1980s.