Tag: associate head coach

Oklahoma Softball promotes J.T. Gasso to Associate Head Coach

Sooners Softball assistant J.T. Gasso was promoted to Associate Head Coach as Oklahoma prepares for the 2024 season.

The Oklahoma Sooners offense has become the most explosive lineup in the nation over the last decade.

Since joining the Sooners staff, Oklahoma has been downright dominant at the plate. One of the people that deserves a lot of credit for the Sooners’ success swinging the bat is J.T. Gasso. Gasso was elevated to associate head coach as the Sooners get ready for the 2024 campaign. He joins pitching coach Jennifer Rocha with associate head coach titles under Patty Gasso.

According to Oklahoma Softball, the Sooners have hit .350 with 800 home runs and have averaged 7.8 runs per game in eight seasons with Gasso on staff. In 2023, four Sooners hit over .400.

During Gasso’s tenure, Jocelyn Alo was a two-time national player of the year and became softball’s all-time leader in home runs.

A big reason the Sooners are expected to contend for a fourth-straight national championship is their offense. Despite the loss of Alo, Oklahoma led the nation in batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage, each by more than 30 percentage points in front of the second place team. They were once again first in home runs per game at 1.89 and runs per game at 8.07.

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Seahawks: Get to know defensive associate head coach Sean Desai

Get to know Seattle Seahawks associate head coach – defense, Sean Desai, who spent the last nine years with the Chicago Bears.

The Seattle Seahawks added associate defensive head coach Sean Desai to the staff this year from the Bears where he had spent nearly a decade, first as Chicago’s defensive quality control coach, then safeties coach, then finally one season as the defensive coordinator.

Asked by reporters last week what drew him to the Emerald City to work with head coach Pete Carroll, his answer was quick.

“I mean, jeez, what doesn’t attract you?” Desai said Tuesday. “I’m a young coach, he’s a guy that I’ve studied from afar for a long time, his philosophies, his approach, from his books to his podcasts, everything that he has done throughout his career. For me, the tangible things were USC and then here when I was coming up. It’s just been remarkable, the sustained success that he’s had over time and to be able to learn from someone like that is hard to pass up on.”

Desai is no dummy himself, having earned his master’s and then doctorate in educational administration before entering the full-time coaching ranks. A student of the game, he will never stop trying to learn new tricks.

“Yeah, obviously one of the big things is the culture and the energy that Coach has always talked about,” Desai explained. “From an outside perspective, being around a lot of different coaches, you always wonder, ‘Hey, is that thing real? Is the juice real? Is what he’s talking about real?’ Then you sit in here on day one of meetings and you realize how real it is, and you realize how and why he’s had the success that he’s had in his career.”

As a defensive-minded coach, his plan is to be a resource for defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, bringing his own experiences in the NFL over the last nine years to the table.

“To me, it’s about bringing information down that’s relatable to the player,” Desai said. ‘We have to try to make some complex things simple, but they have to understand the depth of it. You have to open their eyes and their ears and give them different looks and try to relate to them, so they understand the information you’re trying to get to them. Then give them the ‘why.’ 

“I don’t think you can get messages across without giving them the ‘why.”

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Darrell Royal, Barry Switzer among top college football coaching rivalries

“Royal accused Switzer of spying on the Longhorns’ practice.” Here’s a look at Paul Myerberg’s top 10 college football coaching rivalries.

What makes college football rivalries so exciting isn’t just the banter between opposing fan bases. Continue reading “Darrell Royal, Barry Switzer among top college football coaching rivalries”

Report: Bert Watts heading to the NFL with the Denver Broncos

Bert Watts will leave Auburn as return to the NFL.

Associate head coach Bert Watts appears to be on the move from the Auburn Tigers. He joined the staff after arriving from Memphis after just one season there. Watts also spent three seasons at Fresno State as the linebackers coach.

It appears that now head coach Bryan Harsin will have another assistant on this staff. Watts served as the associate head coach, special teams coordinator, and outside linebackers coach for the Tigers.

Dan Graziano of ESPN is reporting that Watts will head to the NFL to join the new staff with the Denver Broncos.

This will make the sixth coordinator to be replaced on the staff during the tenure of Harsin. The team has yet to place offensive coordinator Austin Davis, who stepped down from his post less than two months on the job.

Watts now returns to the Broncos where he helped them to the top seed in 2012. The hunt begins for his replacement. Safe to say that head coach Bryan Harsin has plenty of work to do.

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Seahawks announce 3 additions to coaching staff

The Seattle Seahawks have now formally announced three new additions to the coaching staff: Carl Smith, his son Tracy, and DeShawn Shead.

The Seattle Seahawks have announced the hiring of three assistant coaches. The additions were first reported earlier this week by The Athletic.

Former Seahawks defensive back DeShawn Shead will be taking on the role of defensive assistant/defensive backs coach. This marks Shead’s first coaching job in the NFL.

Another familiar name is Carl Smith, who was previously with Seattle from 2011-2018, when he spent seven seasons as the quarterbacks coach and one as the associate head coach. He returns to the associate head coach position after two years with the Houston Texans.

Smith’s son Tracy has also been added to the staff as assistant special teams coach. He held the position of special teams coordinator with the Texans last year.

Finally, Larry Izzo has been promoted to special teams coordinator after assuming the role midway through last season.

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Texas football officially announces new associate head coach

The Texas Longhorns officially announced Mark Hagen as the new associate head coach for defense/defensive line coach.

The final piece to the puzzle.

After an underwhelming 2019 season, head coach Tom Herman began reshaping his coaching staff. After nearly a three month process, the transformation is complete.

The Longhorns announced on Friday that former Indiana Hoosiers co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Mark Hagen is now the final addition to Herman’s staff.

Texas has officially hired two new coordinators and five new assistant coaches this offseason. Hagen was named associate head coach for defense/defensive line, where he is expected to work with the defensive tackles while assistant coach Oscar Giles focuses on the defensive ends.

Hagen will also bring welcomed experience and success to the recruiting trail, as he was formerly named one of the nation’s best recruiters by Rivals.com.

Along with several stints at Indiana, Hagen also spent time at Texas A&M and Purdue.