Texas reportedly close to hiring NFL wide receivers coach

Texas is trending toward hiring Jacksonville Jaguars wide receivers coach Chris Jackson to the same post, according to a report from Bobby Burton of Inside Texas. 

The Longhorns had a vacancy in the wide receivers room pop open after Brennan Marion took the UNLV offensive coordinator job last week, filling a job that came open when Bobby Petrino U-turned out of Vegas to become Texas A&M's offensive coordinator.

Whomever it is, the new wide receivers coach will be the third in Steve Sarkisian's three seasons. Andre Coleman manned the position in 2021, one of two holdovers from Tom Herman's staff. 

If completed, Jackson's path to Austin would be an interesting one. 

Jackson and Sarkisian have a connection through powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Southern California; both Jackson and Sarkisian's son Brady attended or attend the school. From there, Jackson started a journeyman career at Orange Coast College. He then moved to Washington State, where he was a key target of Ryan Leaf for a Cougars team that reached the Rose Bowl in 1997.

Jackson played parts of six seasons in the NFL, then spent more than a decade in the Arena Football League, retiring after the 2014 campaign. He was a decorated player in that league, winning two ArenaBowls, two AFL Offensive Player of the Year awards, and making three All-Arena teams. He left the Arena league with more than 1,000 catches and 325 touchdowns. 

Jackson started coaching at a Phoenix-area high school before joining the NFL in 2018 as a Bill Walsh Diversity Fellow. He turned that fellowship into a job, rising to assistant wide receivers coach in 2020-21. 

Jackson joined Doug Pederson's staff in 2022 as wide receivers coach, where he has been a part of one of the best one-season turnarounds in recent NFL memory. For most of Saturday night it appeared Jackson would be free to join the Texas staff as soon as Sunday, but the Jags mounted a 27-0 comeback to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 on a walk-off field goal. Jacksonville will now face the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional playoffs on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

Sarkisian and the offensive brain trust will be under immense pressure to improve the Texas passing attack in 2023 to compensate for the loss of Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson. Texas returns quarterback Quinn Ewers and an intact wide receivers room. The new Texas receivers coach will be tasked with coaching Xavier Worthy to a bounce-back 2023 after a disappointing 2022 along with finding a reliable third receiver to pair with Worthy (60 catches for 760 yards and 9 TDs), slot receiver Jordan Whittington (50-652-1), and tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders (54-613-5). Casey Cain finished third among Texas wideouts with just eight catches. 

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.

Update: Jackson has commented on the report.

Jan. 24 Update: A report out of Jacksonville confirms Jackson is headed to Austin.