Tag: tight ends coach

Roll Horns? Texas adds top Alabama assistant, recruiter to coaching staff

Steve Sarkisian has made the biggest move during his stint as the Texas head coach. Jeff Banks will be heading to Austin to join his staff.

Steve Sarkisian has made the biggest move during his short stint as the Texas head coach.

According to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Fox Sports, Jeff Banks will head to Austin to join Sarkisian’s staff. He will serve in multiple roles as the assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach.

More importantly, Banks is one of the best recruiters in the country. He has very strong ties to the state of Texas, dating to his time working at Texas A&M. According to 247Sports, Banks is responsible for landing 12 top 200 blue-chip prospects, including three five-stars.

Banks is the latest coach from the Alabama staff to move to Texas. Former Crimson Tide offensive line coach Kyle Flood will keep the same position with the Longhorns while adding the offensive coordinator title.

This is the type of hire that will take Texas’ recruiting to another level. Banks was one of the key contributors to Alabama’s 2021 class, which has the chance to become one of the best ever. He, Flood and Sarkisian working together will bring the same pedigree to Austin as they did in Tuscaloosa.

A name to watch with Banks moving to Texas is Camar Wheaton. The five-star running back committed to Alabama after early signing day but has not signed his letter of intent. Banks was the lead recruiter for Wheaton and will look to flip him to the Longhorns.

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Michigan State, Mel Tucker hire Ted Gilmore away from Wisconsin as tight ends coach

Gilmore is the fifth assistant coach hired by Mel Tucker this week

Mel Tucker’s first staff at Michigan State is rounding into form with the latest addition coming from a Big Ten rival.

The school has announced that Tucker has tabbed Ted Gilmore as his new tight ends coach. Gilmore spent the last five seasons as wide receivers coach at Wisconsin, in addition to being the Badgers’ passing game coordinator for the last three years.

Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

“Coach Gilmore is a great teacher and excellent motivator who brings high energy,” said Tucker in a release provided by the school. “He’s a proven developer of players and a very effective recruiter. He’s a true difference maker.”

Prior to Wisconsin Gilmore was the wide receivers coach of the Oakland Raiders in the NFL. Before that he was associate head coach, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for Nebraska, spending six seasons in Lincoln. Gilmore has coached tight ends twice in his career: Kansas during the 1999 season and at Wyoming from 1994-1996.

Gilmore joins Jay Johnson (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Chris Kapilovic (offensive line coach/run game coordinator), Courtney Hawkins (wide receivers) and Harlon Barnett (defensive backs) as new additions to Tucker’s staff this week.

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Texas officially hires Jay Boulware from Oklahoma

The Longhorns have officially hired Texas alum Jay Boulware as the tight ends coach and the associate head coach for special teams.

The Longhorns have officially hired Jay Boulware as the tight ends coach and the associate head coach for special teams. Playing offensive tackle for the Longhorns in 1991 and 1992, Boulware is a Texas alum from Irving, Texas.

Starting his coaching career in Texas, Boulware was a graduate assistant for the Longhorns from 1994-1996. Also coaching tight ends, over two decades later, he is back in Austin to the same position.

Hiring him from Oklahoma, he was with the Sooners for seven years as their running back coach and special teams coordinator. Boulware has coached all across the country, coaching at Northern Illinois, Arizona, Stanford, Utah, Iowa State, and Auburn.

After hiring Mike Yurcich as the offensive coordinator, the Longhorns have almost made all of the hires to wrap up their offensive staff. With a lot of starters coming back for Yurcich, there will be a lot of expectations on the offensive side of the ball. Boulware will help the tight ends become a threat for Sam Ehlinger.

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Doug Nussmeier expected to replace Jon Kitna as Cowboys QB coach

The Cowboys appear to be leaning on an internal candidate to be Dak Prescott’s new position coach, but who will coach the tight ends?

Doug Nussmeier and Jon Kitna both played integral roles in the revamping of the Cowboys offense under first-time offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Their contributions to a scheme that strove to be more versatile and multidimensional resulted in one of the top offenses in the league. Dallas finished 2019 ranked tops in the NFL in yards per game and scrimmage yards per offensive play, and they placed 6th across all teams in points per game.

But those rankings didn’t translate to enough wins, and a change at head coach has brought the inevitable reshuffling of staff, regardless of the year’s statistical success. Kitna now looks to be headed out of Dallas, according to reports, with tight ends coach Nussmeier taking his place as quarterbacks coach under new skipper Mike McCarthy.

Nussmeier came aboard in early 2018, after serving in the college ranks since 2008 with the programs at Fresno State, Washington, Alabama, Michigan, and Florida. Nussmeier was charged with the development of the Cowboys tight ends, who were suddenly without veteran Jason Witten as the 2018 season approached.

The former college, NFL, and CFL quarterback stayed on in that role with the Cowboys when then-quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore was promoted to offensive coordinator and Kitna was brought in just prior to the 2019 Pro Bowl, where the Dallas staff coached the NFC squad.

Kitna had been a journeyman quarterback with several pro teams including the Cowboys before transitioning into coaching at the high school level. He then accepted a position as the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, but took the Dallas quarterbacks coaching job before that league began play.

Kitna was known for a detailed approach to mechanics- especially footwork- and is credited with playing a major role in the dramatic uptick in the play in 2019 of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. In one year under Kitna, Prescott enjoyed his best season as a pro in terms of passing yards, yards per attempt, touchdowns, and sacks.

As a collegiate quarterback at Idaho, Nussmeier built an impressive body of work. He is one of only five quarterbacks in NCAA history to amass 10,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards, on a list that includes Steve McNair, Daunte Culpepper, and Colin Kaepernick.

As ESPN’s Todd Archer points out, Nussmeier would be Prescott’s fourth position coach in five NFL seasons.

And as many Cowboys fans are pointing out, Nussmeier’s move would leave an opening for a tight ends coach. And the Cowboys already have in the building a veteran tight end- a future Hall of Famer at the position- who has shown a proclivity for breaking down the nuts and bolts of the game and a strong allegiance to the franchise that drafted him in 2003. Could this be the toppling of the first domino that eventually brings Witten to the coaching staff?

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