Just when you thought the offseason story line couldn't get any more delirious, breaking reports stating Duane Akina is headed back to Austin. Hookem.com's Bobby Burton reports as per the University of Arizona's AD:
University of Arizona defensive back coach Duane Akina is returning to the University of Texas, according to Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne.
"Duane Akina alerted Coach Stoops & myself this morning that he would be returning to Texas due to family considerations," Byrne wrote on Twitter.
Akina left Texas roughly one month ago after a 10-year stint with Texas and coach Mack Brown.
At Texas, Akina coached two Thorpe Award winners, Aaron Ross and Michael Huff, and four first-round draft picks (Huff, Ross, Michael Griffin and Quentin Jammer).
With the first Junior Day under our belts, his returning is, well frankly, not a moment too soon.
Duane Akina's resume is chocked full of all-star effort. He has put more DB's in the league than arguably any current Assistant Coach in college football (someone check me on that, please). A fan favorite, his knowledge of the program and, more importantly, his relationship with Mack Brown, will settle the nerves of Longhorn faithful.
Update 12:45 a.m. EST 2/14/11 - While no official UT Athletics Department statement has been released on the news, it is interesting to note that the UT H.R. department has pulled the job posting originally reported here on this site earlier today.
Update 9:00 p.m. EST 2/14/11 - Mack Brown and Duane Akina met with the media this afternoon and the UT Athletics department posted a release. A jubilant Mack Brown stated, "We're so excited to have Duane back. Like everyone within our program, he will be starting out with a fresh, new, clean slate." Hopefully he is starting out with a couple hundred K more in compensation, too.
More information will be forthcoming. In the mean time, this is your celebration thread, I think.