Jeff Choate Officially Named Nevada Wolf Pack Head Coach

Jeff Choate has left the Texas Longhorns, being named the Nevada Wolfpack head coach on Monday.

Matt Galatzan | Dec 4, 2023

AUSTIN, TX -- Just 24 hours after winning their first Big 12 Championship since 2009, the Texas Longhorns earned their first-ever trip to the College Football Playoff on Sunday, edging out the Florida State Seminoles and Georgia Bulldogs along the way.

In other words, it was as good a weekend as any Longhorns fan could have hoped.

However, it wasn't all good news on Sunday for the Horns.

According to reports from college football insider Bruce Feldman, Texas co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jeff Choate emerged as the top target for the head coaching job with the Nevada Wolfpack.

Now, that report has become official, with Choate officially being named the head coach of the Wolfpack on Monday.

The Wolfpack are coming off of the firing of former head coach Ken Wilson, who went 4-20 in Reno during his time with the program.

Jeff Choate — Choate with Longhorns linebackers David Gbenda and DeMarvion Overshown / USA Today Sports

Choate, meanwhile, is coming off of a regular season in which the Texas defense emerged as one of the top units in the country, with the play of his linebackers unit playing a major role in that success.

Under the tutelage of Choate and lead defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, the Longhorns have finished with the No. 23 scoring defense, No. 13 total defense, and No. 4 rush defense in all of college football.

Choate has also played a major role in the Longhorns' recruiting success, helping to land big names such as Anthony Hill Jr., Jelani McDonald, Derion Gullette, Tausili Akana, S'Maje Burrell, and many others on the defensive side of the ball.

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Published Dec 4, 2023

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.