AUSTIN, TEXAS (AP) - After a decade at Boise State, new Texas offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin promises one thing. He won’t try to change the color of the field.
A hundred yards of burnt orange would be a bit much.
Harsin was introduced Monday as co-offensive coordinator and he will share the title with former Texas quarterback Major Applewhite, the Longhorns’ running backs coach the last three seasons. Harsin will call the plays.
The pair is charged with revitalizing the Texas offense after the Longhorns went 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the first time in Mack Brown’s 13 seasons in Austin.
Harsin choked up when he talked about leaving behind Boise State and its famous blue field.
“Green is fine,” Harsin said of Texas’ turf. “I’m going to get used to it.”
Harsin played quarterback at Boise State and joined the coaching staff there as a graduate assistant in 2001. He was the offensive coordinator the last five seasons as Boise State went 61-5 with two undefeated seasons.
“We left a great situation at Boise. We knew we were going to come to a great place,” Harsin said. “When we got here, the first person we met was coach Brown’s wife, Sally. We knew right then it’s about people. …. We were sold at that point.”
At Boise State, Harsin was at a program that was fighting for respect no matter how many games it won. At Texas, Longhorns fans expect to win national championships, not just hope they get a chance to play for one.
“I know expectations here,” Harsin said. “It’s my job to put together a championship offense.”
He’s also at a place where fans were merciless in their criticism of 13-year offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who coached a Heisman Trophy winner (Ricky Williams) and two other Heisman finalists (Vince Young and Colt McCoy), won a national championship in 2005 and played for another one after the 2009 season.
“I told my wife this: There’s nobody in the country that puts more pressure on themselves than me,” Harsin said.
Brown has had to rebuild much of his staff after his first losing season since 1989, when he was still at North Carolina. He still has to hire an offensive line coach, which could take several more days.
Brown called Harsin and Applewhite two of the best offensive coordinators in the country.
Harsin, 34, and Applewhite, 32, are part of Brown’s youth movement to re-energize his program. New defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is 36.
“We were looking for someone who would move the ball with uptempo,” Brown said. “We looked for somebody who would be innovative, fun for the fans to watch, fun for the players to be involved with. When we started checking further, the name that kept coming up was Bryan Harsin.”
Texas fans will remember Boise State’s upset win over Oklahoma in the 2006 season Fiesta Bowl that saw the Broncos use two trick plays at the end of the game.
Applewhite was just impressed with how many formations Boise State would use during a regular game.
“They lined up 26 formations against Wyoming,” Applewhite said. “We lined up in six.”
Applewhite was a redshirt freshman in 1998 when Brown took over the Texas program.
“This is my university and I want to help get this fixed,” Applewhite said.
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