Duane Akina Returning to Texas Longhorns As Senior Analyst
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A familiar face is returning to the 40 Acres.
According to multiple reports, former longtime Texas Longhorns defensive back coach Duane Akina is returning to Austin after nearly a decade away from the program.
He is set to join the team as a senior analyst and is surely coming in to help find a solution to the Longhorns' woes in pass defense from this past season.
Bruce Thorson-Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports
Akina spent more than a decade with the Horns from 2001-2013, playing a huge role in developing one of the best secondary groups in the nation over that time frame.
Under Akina's tutelage, the Longhorns produced back-to-back Jim Thorpe Award winners in Michael Huff and Aaron Ross, as well as elite NFL talents like Earl Thomas, Nathan Vasher, Quentin Jammer, Michael Griffin, Cedric Griffin, Tarrell Brown, Aaron Williams and Kenny Vaccaro.
Over that time, Akina's elite secondaries also helped the Longhorns compete for two national titles - winning one - win two Big 12 championships, and put together nine straight seasons with 10 or more wins from 2001-2009.
During that stretch, the Longhorns also went 7-2 in bowl games.
This past season, the Longhorns Achilles heel was stopping the pass, where, despite excelling in creating turnovers, they ranked 116th in the country in pass defense, giving up 254.4 yards per game.
That wart was never more evident than when it mattered most in the Collge Football Playoff semi-finals at the Sugar Bowl, where Washington QB Michael Penix diced up the Horns secondary to the tune of 430 yards and two touchdowns while completing 76.3 percent of his passes.
The hope is that Akina - alongside a host of new blood in the secondary - can help fix that.
