What Chris Gilbert’s return to Texas means for the Longhorns

Chris Gilbert is back at Texas after a spending a year at North Texas serving as the tight ends coach and assistant head coach for Eric Morris. Gilbert was a key piece in helping the Mean Green land a talented recruiting class relative to the American Athletic Conference and go 5-7 during the program’s first season as part of the AAC after previously being a member of Conference USA.

Gilbert was highly respected at North Texas and a UNT source mentioned how sad of a day it was when the program in Denton learned Gilbert was heading to Austin. The source mentioned Gilbert will be hard to replace because he provided so much to the program both on and off the field. He was key in helping North Texas land Texas transfers BJ Allen Jr. and X’avion Brice, and continuing the pipeline of DFW kids staying home and attending UNT.

It was officially announced that Gilbert will serve as special assistant to the head coach. What does that role entail and what are some of the tasks Gilbert will handle? A lot of different things, including player personnel, daily operations, gameday advice, and representing the UT football program to key constituents.

Brandon Harris was recently promoted from director of recruiting to general manager. But Gilbert has so much experience, to not include him in the talent evaluation and roster construction process would be a waste. Gilbert, in a jack-of-all-trades role like he had when he was director of high school relations, will work with Harris and Steve Sarkisian to identify talent, build the roster, and sign top class after top class. Gilbert is incredibly respected in the DFW Metroplex and will be a strong voice for Texas in a talent-rich area critical to Texas’ recruiting efforts.

Gilbert can help Sarkisian in some of the operational aspects of running a program, too. He can assist with practice and gameday schedules. He can welcome NFL scouts and make sure they have a place in Austin to watch film, speak to the medical staff, and view practice. A number of other stakeholders would have Gilbert’s number as well, including high school coaches around the state.

An experienced football mind like Gilbert allows Sarkisian to focus more time on coaching and improving his team as opposed to certain off-field duties. There’s also the benefit of adding someone with almost two decades of gameday experience at some of the best programs in the state to the Longhorn sideline.

Gilbert will no doubt be a valuable member of the Texas football program. He can help Jahmal Fenner, the current director of high school relations. He can help the recruiting department mine connections not just in the Metroplex but also state wide. He can assist Sarkisian with a number of the operational aspects of a Power 4 college football program.

All in all, Gilbert’s return to Austin is a huge benefit to the Longhorn football operation.

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