Will Muschamp is back on the Forty Acres and now his former standout, Blake Gideon, is back as well, set to return to the Texas Longhorns as a defensive assistant after one season as the defensive coordinator for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, according to reports from Inside Texas and OnTexasFootball on Friday.
The exact role for Gideon is not clear as the news of his return broke, but Texas has openings at defensive pass game coordinator and nickel backs coach. Expect Gideon to add another title, like associate head coach or associate head coach for the defense, to reflect his professional ascension over the last year.
A Leander product, Gideon spent his first three seasons playing safety for Muschamp at Texas before becoming a four-year starter after Muschamp left to become the head coach at Florida. After Gideon spent two seasons in the NFL, Muschamp hired him as a defensive quality control assistant with the Gators in the final year of his tenure in Gainesville, then Gideon joined Muschamp at Auburn the following year as a graduate assistant.
Gideon went on to coach at Western Carolina, Georgia State, Houston, and Ole Miss before making his first. return to Austin as the safeties coach from 2021 to 2024, working in tandem with defensive pass game coordinator Terry Joseph.
During Gideon’s season in Atlanta, Georgia Tech ranked 58th in defensive SP+, ranking 10th in the ACC in scoring defense at 25 points per game, ninth in passing yards allowed per game, and 15th in rushing yards allowed per game.