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Texas has reportedly found its replacement for Blake Gideon.
After Gideon left to become Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian needed a new safeties coach. According to Texas insider Anwar Richardson of Orangebloods, Sarkisian is poaching Mark Orphey from Rutgers, where he coached cornerbacks for the past 3 seasons.
According to my sources, Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian has hired Rutgers CB coach Mark Orphey to replace Blake Gideon. Orphey, a North Shore grad, had strong ties to Houston. He's viewed as an excellent hire for the Longhorns. pic.twitter.com/FTUzufcdQM
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) February 13, 2025
It’s a homecoming to the Lone Star State for Orphey. A Houston native, Orphey graduated from Texas Southern, where he was all-Southwestern Athletic Conference at cornerback as a junior and senior, in 2010.
Orphey got his start in coaching at his alma mater as cornerbacks coach. He then went to South Carolina, where he earned his master’s degree in 2015. Orphey was with the Gamecocks from 2013-16 as a quality control assistant and grad assistant.
Orphey had 2-year stops at Montana State (2017-18) and Utah State (2019-20). He then took a position as senior defensive analyst on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff in the 2021 season, a year after Sarkisian left Tuscaloosa.
After the Alabama analyst gig, Orphey landed an on-field gig as Rutgers’ cornerbacks coach ahead of the 2022 campaign.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
