Steve Sarkisian announces final hire of his new staff

Steve Sarkisian has already filled out his Longhorns staff. Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Sarkisian announces final hire of his new Texas coaching staff

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 1/29/21

Steve Sarkisian was only recently announced as Texas’ new head football coach, and he has already filled out his staff.

Sark officially announced on Thursday the hiring of Jeff Choate. Choate, who was Montana State’s head coach, will be the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Choate called the decision to leave for Texas a “slam dunk.”

The 50-year-old was a linebacker in college and coached Montana State from 2016 to 2020. He led the team to the FCS semifinals in 2019.

News of his hiring was reported last week but was not made official until Thursday.

In addition to Choate, Texas announced a few more hires. Jason Grooms will be the football chief of staff. Four strength and conditioning staffers were announced as well.

Texas officially announced Jeff Choate as co-Defensive Coordinator and Inside Linebackers Coach and Jason Grooms as Chief of Staff. In addition, Isaiah Gonzalez, Markus James, Joe Vaughn, and Cory Castro will work under Torre Becton as strength and conditioning coaches.

— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) January 28, 2021

Now it’s all systems go for Sarkisian, who will have to validate Texas’ decision to dump Tom Herman for him. Sarkisian raided Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama in order to fill out his staff in Austin. This marks Sark’s third stop as a college head coach following stints at Washington and USC.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: