Longhorns Coaching Staff Takes Shape
With the recent hiring of former LSU defensive line coach Brick Haley, who will fill the same position at Texas, and former Gilmer High School head coach Jeff Traylor as the new tight ends coach, the Longhorn coaching staff is likely now complete.
Before spending the past six seasons with LSU, Haley was an NFL assistant with the Chicago Bears.
“Brick [Haley] is a guy we’re so excited to be bringing to our staff,” head coach Charlie Strong said. “He has such a great reputation for developing defensive lineman and has developed so many great players over the years.”
Seen as one of Texas’ strengths, last year’s defensive line coach, Chris Rumph, left Texas to coach at Florida. Replacing Rumph will undoubtedly be a tall task for Haley, but he seems excited about the challenge.
“It’s a great day,” Haley said. “Growing up it was always a dream to coach college football in [Texas], and the greatest accomplishment would be to coach college football at The University of Texas, which now I have the opportunity to do, and I can’t wait.”
Traylor’s experience at the high school level does not match Haley’s college and NFL experience, but with three state championships in his 15 seasons at Gilmer, and never posting a losing record, Traylor has an impressing track record coaching players on the field.
“Honestly, I was extremely happy in my hometown (of Gilmer),” Traylor said. “There were only a couple of schools I would consider leaving for, and one of those schools called. Having an opportunity to coach at The University of Texas is a dream come true.”
Given Traylor’s success at Gilmer, one of the state’s marquee football programs, Traylor might also play a crucial role in recruiting in-state football players. Strong alluded to as much when speaking of Traylor.
“Jeff’s a tremendous football coach who has built a program at Gilmer that has had unbelievable success,” Strong said. “He has a great deal of knowledge and experience and having coached in this state for so long, really knows Texas. East Texas has so many great players that it really helps us to have a guy like Jeff on staff that knows the area so well.”
