Jeff Choate is one coach with two teams as Nevada's new boss finishes out Texas' season
After three seasons as Texas' co-defensive coordinator at Texas, Jeff Choate has been tasked with leading Nevada's football program.
Still, despite being named Nevada's 28th head coach in program history on Dec. 4, Choate has chosen to remain on the Longhorns' coaching staff through the end of the season. That means he'll coach the inside linebackers at the Sugar Bowl on Monday and if the Longhorns beat Washington to advance to the national championship game on Jan. 8, he'll be there to help run the defense as well.
More: From A to Z, a Sugar Bowl breakdown of the Texas and Washington teams
Last week, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about Choate juggling his responsibilities at both Texas and Nevada. Since he took over at Nevada three weeks ago, Choate has hired assistant coaches to help fill out his staff and also signed six recruits in the early signing period. Plus, the Longhorns have had plenty of prep work to do for the Sugar Bowl.
Said Sarkisian:
"First of all, I'm so fired up for him. I know (Nevada is) a little down on their times right now. We all get hired for a reason, and he'll do a heck of a job. I think the positive for him in being here with us right now is that I've had to do it twice, right? I did it when I was at USC and I took the head job at Washington in '09, I stayed at USC to coach the Rose Bowl for that month of December. When I got the job here, I stayed at Alabama for another 10 days or whatever it was to finish that national championship season before I came on board here. So he's got somebody there who's done it, who's lived it.
"I think compartmentalizing is the best way to go about it. When you're here and your feet are on the ground here and we're game-planning and we're in meetings and we're at practice, you're focused on those players. Coach Choate understands the value of that, the commitment that it takes in helping those guys win a championship and he wants to win a championship. It's hard to be in the College Football Playoff, especially when it's four teams. It's hard to compete for a national championship and we've earned this and he's committed to that.
"When he walks out those front doors, he's right back on the phone trying to hire a staff, trying to recruit for Nevada. I think one thing that COVID taught us: we can do a lot remotely nowadays. Zoom changed the world. FaceTime, phone calls, emails, whatever that is, you can get a lot of work done and you don't have to be at that spot at that time."
Choate is the second UT assistant off Sarkisian's staff to be hired as a head coach elsewhere. Former running backs coach Stan Drayton has gone 6-18 in his first two seasons at Temple.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football still has new Nevada coach Jeff Choate on staff for CFP
