Second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian has put together a strong coaching staff at Texas.
A few assistant coaches such as Jeff Banks, Brennan Marion, Tashard Choice and others are bound to become head coaches one day. There are also a few assistants on the staff that are not full-time assistants right now, but could become one in the near future.
Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports recently took a look at 65 rising support staffers across the college football landscape. He gathered feedback from around the coaching world to identify the top up-and-comers that are currently in support staff roles.
Texas had three assistants included on the list in offensive analyst John Dozier Dean, senior defensive analyst Henry Fernandez and offensive analyst Ray Pickering.
Zenitz noted that Dean assists with Texas’ quarterback and wide receiver units and was hired by Steve Sarkisian after working with him as a student assistant at Alabama. “He was the only Crimson Tide staffer that Sarkisian took to Texas with him aside from full-time assistants Kyle Flood, Jeff Banks and A.J. Milwee,” Zenitz said.
In regards to Fernandez, he currently assists with Texas’ secondary. He followed Pete Kwiatkowski to Texas after spending the 2019 and 2020 seasons as a graduate assistant under Kwiatkowski at Washington. Zenitz mentioned that Fernandez is a former Sacramento State linebacker and recorded 106 tackles as a senior in 2014.
Pickering joined the Texas staff after one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Lane. Prior to his Division II stint, Pickering had a 12-year run as a high school offensive coordinator in Mississippi.
Each of the three support staffers are widely respected around the Texas football program.
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