Steve Sarkisian Details New Longhorns Special Assistant Hires

Chris Gilbert, Scotty Hazelton, and Bill Rees all join Sarkisian after all three positions saw departures in the wake of last season.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian watches the play in the Longhorns' spring Orange and White game at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, April 20, 2024. / Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA

After the departure of all three members of Steve Sarkisian's special assistants ahead of the 2024 season, the head coach has been busy filling out those roles and has finally made his decisions.

Sarkisian will bring in UNT football coach Chris Gilbert, Michigan State defensive coordinator Scotty Hazelton, and Wake Forest Director of Player Personnel Bill Rees to complete his staff.

He spoke on the impact his new hires will have on the team coming into a lofty first year in the SEC at the Texas High School Coaches Association Convention, where he spoke as a guest.

Texas Longhorns Head Coach Steve Sarkisian during spring practice at the Frank Denius practice fields in Austin, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

"I'll start with Chris Gilbert. I hated it when he left," Sarkisian said. "I knew the type of impact that he had in our program. And his relationship with the high school coaches, his relationship with the recruits and their families, and his relationships with the current players on our roster. He has a really good eye for me. Even in practice, I'll bounce things off of him post-practice, post-game. Just kind of the mindset where we're at as a team, so I do lean into Coach Gilbert that way, and it's great having him back, for sure."

Gilbert served as the Director of High School Relations at Texas from 2021-2022, making significant strides in the Longhorns' recruiting track. He helped in signing the No. 5 consensus recruiting class of 2022 and the No. 3 class of 2023 before being picked up by North Texas as the head coach and tight ends coach.

Another crucial addition for Sarkisian was Scotty Hazelton, someone who looks to bring confidence back into the Texas defense.

"Scotty Hazelton, you know, when you assess our season last year, one area where I think we all could agree where we can improve is in pass defense," Sarkisian said. "As I said, pass defense has layers to it. If you want to be a really good pass-defensive team, you've got to have the ability to affect the quarterback, sack the quarterback, and put pressure on the quarterback, make him uncomfortable.."

"I've always admired Scotty from a distance. I've known his history, his track record, and his connection to Gus Bradley and Monte Kiffin and the Tampa-2 stuff. You know, his connection to get involved in kind of the system that I knew at Alabama of a lot of the combo coverage stuff. So to bring in a guy like that maybe can give us a little bit more variety coverage-wise, that was big."

Hazelton was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for Michigan State for four seasons but has 28 total years of football coaching experience, including one stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Sarkisian's last pick came as Bill Rees, a veteran in the scouting world. He carries 16 years as a college scout for the NFL under his belt, most recently leaving his position at Wake Forest for Texas.

With the amount of Longhorn talent being pumped into the NFL in recent history, Rees should only enhance that production further.

"Bringing Bill Rees on board, just the expertise that he has, he's been doing it a long, long time," Sarkisian said.

These three hires will make all the difference as Texas enters a new era of competition, and Sarkisian has full faith in their role to make success happen.