Texas football and Steve Sarkisian needed to find an immediate defensive assistant replacement. Blake Gideon is off to Georgia Tech, but “Coach Sark” now has Gideon's replacement coming in.

Texas is luring in Rutgers cornerbacks coach Mark Orphey to replace the former safeties coach, per Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods.

“According to my sources, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has hired Rutgers CB coach Mark Orphey to replace Blake Gideon,” Richardson shared on X.

Orphey is more than Gideon's replacement, though. His hire is expected to keep one pivotal recruiting pipeline going.

“Orphey, a North Shore grad, had strong ties to Houston,” Richardson added. “He's viewed as an excellent hire for the Longhorns.”

Sarkisian locked himself into Austin by signing a new contract extension in January. Texas prevented Sarkisian from entertaining NFL options in the process. Now, Sarkisian makes a major February hire on the defensive side.

New Steve Sarkisian assistant brings decorated resume to Texas

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Sarkisian is bringing in an experienced defensive coach to bolster his staff. Plus a head coach who's worked with some legendary coaching names.

Orphey helped end a long bowl dry spell at Rutgers. He helped coach a 2023 unit that ranked 16th overall nationally. The Scarlet Knights additionally produced the 32nd ranked scoring defense that season. Max Melton emerged as one of his star pupils, who went on to the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Christian Braswell is another past Orphey player, who's now with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a 2023 sixth rounder.

Before his stop in Piscataway, New Jersey, Orphey landed in Tuscaloosa. He spent 2021 as a player personnel assistant under iconic head coach Nick Saban. Orphey was on the Alabama coaching staff that played in the national championship against Georgia, falling 33-18.

Orphey also experienced the Mountain West Conference in two different stints. He coached the Utah State cornerbacks in 2018-19 before leaving for Montana State, then returned to the Aggies for the 2020 season. Orphey also had a previous stint for the Big Sky Conference school MSU in 2017.

South Carolina (2013 to 2016) represents one more power conference stop for Orphey. He got his coaching start at Texas Southern in 2011 at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.