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The Texas Longhorns will have to move on to Tulsa Golden Hurricane co-offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert after the school's top choice, TCU Horned Frogs co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, declined to accept the job as offensive coordinator at Texas, according to HornedFrogsBlitz.com and quickly confirmed elsewhere.
Cumbie: I want to thank Charlie Strong and everyone at the University of Texas for the opportunity to be the Offensive Coordinator there.
— Jeremy Clark (@JClarkHFB) December 9, 2015
Cumbie: It is a position that I have seriously considered and given much thought to.
— Jeremy Clark (@JClarkHFB) December 9, 2015
There are many factors that go into making decisions like this and after weighing them all, TCU is where my family and I want to stay.
— Jeremy Clark (@JClarkHFB) December 9, 2015
The news broke while Gilbert was in Austin and two days after Cumbie had made a similar trip. He picked up the job offer during a Sunday evening with with head coach Charlie Strong in Fort Worth, but was out recruiting for TCU on Tuesday before ultimately coming to his decision.
Despite the opportunity to take over play-calling duties at Texas, Cumbie will remain at TCU without that same ability, but in a situation where he clearly feels more comfortable.
Why did Cumbie opt to remain in his current position instead of taking the advancement offered by the Longhorns? There was certainly some speculation about that from the Texas side in the immediate aftermath:
I'm wondering if Sonny Cumbie was fearful of Charlie Strong's job security and couldn't round up own assistants to come with him.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) December 9, 2015
In any case, the search moves forward and could conclude quickly if Gilbert receives a job offer while in Austin and accepts, as seems possible.