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A portion of a San Angelo newspaper article....
Former Angelo State offensive coordinator Tim Reid said one of Gilbert's biggest assets is that he's always looking forward.
"When bad things happened, he never complained," Reid said of his former quarterback. "He was always looking for a solution instead of focusing on the problem. He was always about what can we do different or better.
"As a player, he had the quickness and the mind to get out of trouble. He was good at turning nothing into something."
Gilbert will get the chance to make something of nothing — or very little — with a Texas offense that last year ranked last in the Big 12 Conference in passing and 85th in the nation in scoring. Gilbert will get to install his system from the ground up in what's being called a "rescue" and a complete "redo" by the Austin media.
The new offense must have quick success at Texas, and Gilbert has a favorable track record in instant makeovers as an offensive coordinator. At Eastern Illinois in 2012 and 2013, he tutored Jimmy Garoppolo, who won the FCS version of the Heisman Trophy. Gilbert was named FCS Coordinator of the Year by the website FootballScoop for his development of Garoppolo, who is now Tom Brady's backup with the New England Patriots.
In 2014, Gilbert's offense helped Bowling Green win its first bowl game in 10 years. In 2015 at Tulsa, Gilbert's passing offense ranked No. 11 in the nation at 329.8 yards per game, and the Golden Hurricane ranked No. 25 in scoring at 39.5 points per game.
That's 15 points more than UT averaged last year.
Ernie Reynolds, who both played with and coached with Gilbert at Lake View, said no one will outwork Gilbert.
"Football is everything to him. He doesn't do much fishing. He's always looking for ways to improve and be more efficient — whether it's Tuesday morning or Saturday night," said Reynolds, now principal at Eldorado High School.
Gilbert practiced that same level of competitiveness as a player at Lake View and Angelo State, where despite standing only 5-foot-10, he twice earned All-Lone Star Conference recognition in 2000 and 2001.
Reynolds witnessed Gilbert implement his offense at Lake View.
"That offense is designed to get multiple players involved," Reynolds said. "It's not reliant on one running back or one receiver. They all get a piece of the pie. It's a complete buy-in by the players. It's explosive. It's fun. And it's a really easy offense to learn."
Or maybe Gilbert just makes it easy to learn.
"The guy's got a gift when it comes to teaching football. How he does it is beyond me, but he's just got a way with players and teaching them the game," said San Angeloan Bill Farmer, who has known Gilbert since kindergarten.
Gilbert thinks UT has the offensive players to be successful in his offense. Running backs D'Onta Foreman and Chris Warren, along with offensive linemen Connor Williams and Patrick Vahe, are potential cornerstones. They are the key reasons the Longhorns ranked No. 20 in the nation in rushing — the only bright spot for the offense last year.
Asked if he had the quarterback at UT to have instant success, Gilbert said:
"I don't know. I won't know until I see them on the field.
"Let me tell you a funny story. When I went to Eastern Illinois (in 2012), nobody told me that I would be coaching an NFL quarterback. Nobody saw that in Jimmy Garoppolo. In fact, some thought another quarterback we had was better.
"So if you'd asked me if we had the quarterback to be successful when I went to Eastern Illinois, I would have said no. But once we got him on the field that spring, we realized he (Garoppolo) had a chance to be pretty good. As time went on, we realized he was very good."
The presence of Foreman and Warren is key for Gilbert because he's schooled in the Art [Biles] version of the spread offense, which maintains a commitment to the running game.
"That's what makes us different," Gilbert said of running the football. "People say we're a spread team every year, but our offenses have been about 50/50 between the run and pass. We can throw it deep, but we can run the ball downhill and push people around when we need to."
That's what Strong has wanted to do at Texas, but has been unable to accomplish through his previous offensive coordinators [sic].
Implementing the running game in the spread was why Gilbert wanted Mattox to follow him to UT. Mattox learned the same offense while playing for [Biles] at the University of Houston.
Another factor for Gilbert to consider before taking the UT job was [Biles]. Gilbert was allowed into a small inner circle of coaches to learn the [Biles] version of the spread — first as a volunteer at a University of Houston summer camp in 2003 and 2004 and later as a graduate assistant coach for him at Houston in 2005.
"Not many get let in that circle," Gilbert said. "It's a tight-knit family underneath [Biles]. That's the way they prefer it."
Gilbert followed [Biles] disciples and new head coaches Dino Babers to Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green, and then Philip Montgomery to Tulsa. But now, Gilbert will be coaching against [Biles] when Texas plays Baylor.
"We'll only play them one time a year," Gilbert said. "Coach [Biles] played an integral part in me taking this (UT) job. He's a professional, and he realized this was a career decision. He leaned on me to take this job. That made me feel really good about it."
If he hadn't received [Biles'] blessing, would Gilbert have taken the job?
"I would have felt guilty about it, for sure," he said. "But that's just the kind of person [Biles] is. He understands our profession and that this is a career move."
No one who knows Sterlin Gilbert is surprised at his quick rise through the college assistant coaching ranks. In fact, most think he's headed for even bigger opportunities.
Reynolds, his former coaching colleague, said: "It's awesome to see this happen, but it's not surprising. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up coaching in the NFL someday."
[Full Standard-Times article]
