With Gary Patterson stepping away from his special assistant to the head coach, Steve Sarkisian has decided not to fill his role with one coach -- but three.
Word broke on Saturday the longtime NFL special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has come aboard as a special assistant to the head coach for special teams, and he's since been added to the UT online staff directory. But that's not all.
Texas also lists Payam Saadat as a special assistant to the head coach (defense) on its online staff page. It's unclear when Saadat's name was added; his hire has not been formally announced by the university.
Nevertheless, Saadat brings an expertise in the double eagle flex defense with him to Austin. Like coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and co-coordinator Jeff Choate, most of Saadat's career has been spent out West; he spent the past five seasons coordinating Portland State's defense. He also has coordinator experience at Cal Poly, Army, and Central Washington.
“Payam has been known in the profession as being a player’s coach and a great teacher,” Portland State head coach Bruce Barnum said upon his hiring in 2018. “When I was (offensive coordinator) at Idaho State, he was the defensive coordinator at Cal Poly and he had the most difficult defense we went up against. He brings a unique system of putting pressure on the quarterback and stopping the run.”
Texas showed massive improvement from 2021 to '22 in most defensive areas (102nd to 18th in yards per play, 99th to 28th in scoring) but only bumped from 98th to 77th in sacks per game. Generating a consistent pass rush will be the difference between the Longhorns fielding a championship-contending defense and a championship-winning defense in Sarkisian's all-important Year 3.
Additionally, FootballScoop can confirm former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst will come aboard as a special assistant (offense) to Sarkisian. The news was first reported over the weekend by Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.
Prior to his seven and a half seasons leading Wisconsin and three seasons at Pittsburgh, Chryst was an offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Oregon State, Illinois State, Wisconsin-Platteville and the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The obvious areas for improvement for Texas's offense are two-fold: consistency of performance and technique for quarterback Quinn Ewers, and an overall unit that too often ran hot and cold during games, especially in the second half.
Despite ranking in the top 25 nationally at nearly 35 points per game, the Longhorns scored 10 points in the second half and overtime of a loss at Texas Tech, 10 second-half points in a squeaker of a win over Iowa State, three second-half points in a 7-point loss at Oklahoma State, three second-half points in a win at Kansas State, three total points in a dud of a loss to TCU, and three first-half points in their Alamo Bowl loss to Washington.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.