With
Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis no longer the guy who will be
coaching the Longhorns’ quarterbacks and calling plays, the list of
potential successors includes the following names:
Bryan Harsin, Boise State offensive coordinator
Visited with
Texas coaches during spring drills, when Davis and Brown picked the
brains of Boise staff members for ideas.
Chad Morris, Tulsa offensive coordinator
First-year coordinator
at Tulsa coached Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert during his days at
Lake Travis High School.
Dana Holgorsen, Oklahoma State offensive coordinator
Did wonders
with the Cowboys’ offense in 2010 and is a Mike Leach protege. But he
may have too many of Leach’s “mad scientist” personality traits to
entice Texas.
Gus Malzahn, Auburn offensive coordinator
Proven commodity has
directed prolific attacks at Auburn, Arkansas and Tulsa. But with the
top-ranked Tigers (13-0) playing for the national championship, it seems
unlikely that Malzahn _ if interested _ would be available until after
the Jan. 10 BCS National Championship Game. And that’s a long wait.
Major Applewhite, Texas running backs coach
A former UT
quarterback who remains a hero to fans, Applewhite served as offensive
coordinator at Rice (2006) and Alabama (2007) before joining the Texas
staff in 2008. He could slide into Davis’ job, with a fresh hire taking
over as running backs coach.
Norm Chow, UCLA offensive coordinator
A potential fallback
candidate, more than a front-runner. He did wonders in stops at BYU and
USC, not so much in his last two gigs with the Tennessee Titans and
UCLA. But the Bruins did beat Texas, 34-12, which caught Brown's
attention.
Todd Dodge, former North Texas coach
His spread offense was a
terror at the high school level (Southlake Carroll) and produced points
for the Mean Green. Just not enough points to offset a porous defense,
which led to Dodge's ouster at mid-season. As a former Texas QB, he
figures to be on Brown's list somewhere.