After spending a season at North Texas, Chris Gilbert is making a return to Austin as an announcement on Wednesday revealed he was hired as a special assistant to head coach Steve Sarkisian

.Gilbert spent the two seasons prior to 2023 with the Longhorns as the director of high school relations. Ahead of 2023, he accepted an offer to be North Texas’ assistant head coach and tight ends coach. Thanks to his high school coaching background, which includes stops at South Oak Cliff, Terrell High, and Lancaster he helped Sarkisian in developing relationships with the programs around the area. Something the previous regime didn’t cultivate as much.

Gilbert’s contributions to the program have long been valued by Sarkisian, who even praised the former employee at early signing day in December.

When questioned about the significance of the director of high school relations post, Sarkisian responded, “Going back to when we first got hired, hiring Chris Gilbert, and the job that he did for two years with us in recruiting, A; B, the connection to the high school coaches.” “Coach Gilbert did a great job in my opinion as a new coach in the state of Texas with that connection to the coaches.” What outcome did it have? He was given the opportunity to coach full-time at North Texas.

Gilbert is back at a Texas club that is headed to the SEC in 2024, having just had their greatest season since 2009. Gilbert deserves recognition for contributing to the foundation’s establishment even though he wasn’t employed by the Longhorns, as they are attracting top talent.