By now, we get it.
Mack Brown likes what he sees in terms of the quality of coaching in the SEC.
Who in the SEC hasn’t the Texas head coach reached out to, talked to or tried to woo to Austin to be a part of the Longhorns’ staff?
Texas might play in the Big 12, but the Longhorns’ staff will have a distinct SEC flavor next season.
And they’re paying some serious cash.
Georgia’s Stacy Searels is reportedly getting more than $400,000 to coach Texas’ offensive line. As recently as two years ago, that would have been considered a handsome salary for an offensive or defensive coordinator.
Of course, nobody in the SEC can say anything about paying outrageous salaries to assistants. Five of the 12 defensive coordinators in the league are poised to make $700,000 or more next season, and Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn will rake in a cool $1.3 million.
Still, think about all the coaches in the SEC that Brown has come after since the end of the Longhorns’ disappointing 2010 season.
He hired Manny Diaz away from Mississippi State to be his defensive coordinator. That’s after LSU’s John Chavis said thanks, but no thanks. Tennessee’s Justin Wilcox was also in play for the Texas defensive coordinator’s job before withdrawing his name from consideration, and there were reports that Florida’s Teryl Austin was part of that whole process, too.
Unless there’s some late snag, it looks like Searels will leave Georgia to coach the offensive line at Texas. That’s after Auburn’s Jeff Grimes interviewed for that same job last week, but elected to stay on the Plains.
Brown also hired Bennie Wylie away from Tennessee to be his strength and conditioning coach and hired Bo Davis away from Alabama to be his defensive tackles coach.
If you throw in Major Applewhite, who went from Alabama to Texas following the 2007 season, that means five of the Longhorns’ assistants next season will have come from the SEC.
Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, hire ‘em away.