Texas hires Sterlin Gilbert as offensive coordinator

UPDATE (3:45 p.m. ET Dec. 12)

 

It's official: Texas has hired Tulsa's Sterlin Gilbert as offensive coordinator. The program announced that Gilbert has agreed to a three-year contract that will pay him $850,000 annually.

"I feel extremely blessed by this opportunity," Gilbert said in a statement. "I've been looking forward to an opportunity like this for a long time, and we're finally here. I'm excited to be on campus, and to get around our kids and our coaching staff. Coach Strong has been great through this process, and I just can't wait to meet and see our kids."

Matt Mattox, who coached the offensive line at Tulsa, will also join the Texas staff as offensive line coach and run game coordinator. He has agreed to a three-year contract that will pay him $550,000 per year.

"Obviously this is one of the greatest institutions in the United States, and it's the football capital of the world being in the state of Texas," Mattox said. "Getting an opportunity to be here and coaching at The University of Texas, I'm very honored and very excited to get here and get to work."

With the addition of Gilbert and Mattox, Texas announced that the contracts of Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline will not be extended.

"We just made two great hires for our staff," Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong said. "They're outstanding coaches who will do a great job of not only developing our players, but also representing this university and doing things the right way. We did a lot of research on both of them and we know they will be the right fit for our staff. I really feel we have two quality coaches who work well together, and they'll do an outstanding job.

"Sterlin is an outstanding coach, and he's done a great job developing quarterbacks everywhere he's been. He has a great mind for the offense and will do a great job leading it. Matt will handle the running game. He's an unbelievable coach himself, who has shown great ability in coaching offensive lines in the places he's been."

 

UPDATE (10 a.m. ET Dec. 12)

It looks like the deal is finally done to get Tulsa co-offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert to Tulsa.

After a day of conflicting reports on Friday, Texas president Greg Fenves, athletic director Mike Perrin and coach Charlie Strong flew to Tulsa to talk to Gilbert. The plan of attack worked according to Orangebloods.com, which reported at 10:25 p.m. CT Dec. 11 that Gilbert had agreed to become the new offensive coordinator of the Longhorns.

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Texas has reportedly found its new offensive coordinator. Possibly.

According to Horns 24/7, the Longhorns will hire Tulsa co-offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert. He won't be the only offensive coaching change either, per the site:

When he starts at Texas, Gilbert will likely have to hire at least two assistant coaches as Horns247 has been told by multiple sources that assistant head coach for offense/quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson, offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Joe Wickline and running backs coach Tommie Robinson will not be retained in their current roles.

Orangebloods.com also reported Gilbert is expected to be announced as the team's offensive coordinator on Friday.

However, the Tulsa World disputed the report that Gilbert had agreed to become the Longhorns' new offensive coordinator.

Wickline, you may remember, has been involved in a lawsuit with Oklahoma State, his previous employer. The suit involved a buyout clause in his contract that hinged on play-calling duties. Assistant coach Jay Norvell was the team's playcaller when the season ended.

Gilbert has been with Tulsa for a season. He worked as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Bowling Green in 2014. He moved to Bowling Green with now-Syracuse coach Dino Babers from Eastern Illinois.

Gilbert, 37, was hired by Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery when Montgomery took over the program after the 2014 season. Montgomery, who served as the team's primary playcaller, is a former Baylor assistant coach and Babers is also a former assistant at Baylor. Both Bowling Green and Tulsa run similar offensive systems to the Bears and Texas will likely be incorporating a lot of similar concepts to Baylor if Gilbert is indeed the Longhorns' new offensive coordinator.

Texas struggled throwing the football in 2015. Quarterbacks Jerrod Heard and Tyrone Swoopes combined to throw for 1,751 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions in 2015 while the Golden Hurricane totaled nearly 4,000 yards passing.

The Longhorns reportedly offered the offensive coordinator position to TCU co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie earlier in the week but Cumbie elected to stay with the Horned Frogs.