Texas employs former NFL great defensive back. William Gay is an analyst.
The Louisville graduate spent 12 seasons in the NFL before working as a coaching intern with the Steelers and a year as Missouri State’s defensive backs coach.
Former Texas Longhorns defensive backs coach Duane Akina has remained with the Arizona Wildcats after flirting with a return to the Forty Acres, but head coach Steve Sarkisian did fill the post of defensive backs analyst by signing William Gay on Saturday.
Gay, at 39 years old and with less coaching experience, is at the opposite end of his coaching career as Akina, who is 67 years old, but he has an amazing playing resume.
Gay was a standout on both sides of the ball at Rickards High School in Tallahassee, as well as a track standout. He played college football at Louisville before being selected in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won the Super Bowl the following season after moving into the cornerback rotation.
After one season with Arizona in 2023, Gay returned to Pittsburgh for five seasons, returning five touchdowns for interceptions during his time with the team. Gay appeared in 176 games, including 101 starts, and recorded 577 tackles, 13 interceptions, and 10 forced fumbles.
Gay’s playing career concluded with a year on the New York Giants’ practice squad in 2018, followed by a year as a coaching intern with the Steelers. Gay spent a year as the defensive backs coach at Missouri State, reporting to his collegiate head coach, Bobby Petrino.
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Texas basketball was once again outmatched in the second half, losing 84-72 to No. 21 BYU on Saturday in Provo, Utah.
The Longhorns, now 3-4 in conference play, entered the second half trailing the Cougars by three points and somehow managed to turn that modest lead into a 17-point blowout for BYU with 8:30 left in the second. The explanation for this large spike is defense. A lack of defense, that is.
BYU appeared to find it far too simple to exploit the massive flaws in Texas’ defense. Multiple face cuts and a lack of coverage resulted in several easy scores for the Cougars.
Along with these unguarded scoring opportunities, BYU had a powerful offense, making 64% of their field goal attempts and 41.2% of their three-pointers. Five Cougars concluded the game with double-digit points.
Despite the setback, graduate forward Dylan Disu led both teams with 19 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Chendall Weaver had one of his greatest performances for Texas, scoring 15 points, grabbing 5 offensive rebounds, and stealing two. One of Weaver’s defining actions this season appears to be dunking the ball after a failed shot. Following the putback, he sprinted back to defense while kissing the BYU crowd.
The intensity of the Cougar arena was a big aspect that dampened the Longhorns’ performance. While Texas was aware of the enthusiasm of BYU’s crowd, going to play in it is a different story. The Cougar fan base packed the Marriott Center in a sea of blue and white. The crowd had big cutouts of hypnotic swirls that made it difficult to view, let alone score a free shot. Texas shot 62.5% from the free throw line, which is lower than average.
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The intensity of the Cougar arena was a big aspect that dampened the Longhorns’ performance. While Texas was aware of the enthusiasm of BYU’s crowd, going to play in it is a different story. The Cougar fan base packed the Marriott Center in a sea of blue and white. The crowd had big cutouts of hypnotic swirls that made it difficult to view, let alone score a free shot. Texas shot 62.5% from the free throw line, which is lower than average.
