In keeping with a number of experiences, The College of Texas has employed Mark Orphey as its new safeties coach, bringing a seasoned defensive thoughts with deep ties to HBCU soccer. Orphey, a former standout at Texas Southern College, has constructed a formidable teaching profession that now lands him within the coronary heart of SEC nation underneath head coach Steve Sarkisian.
HBCU Roots: Texas Southern Standout
Earlier than embarking on his teaching journey, the Houston native was a three-year starter at cornerback at Texas Southern College, an HBCU program in Houston, Texas. As a defensive again, he earned All-Southwestern Athletic Convention (SWAC) honors in each his junior and senior years (2009-2010). As an HBCU soccer participant, Orphey developed the talents and soccer acumen that might later outline his teaching model. His time at TSU instilled in him a ardour for the sport, in addition to an understanding of what it takes to develop expertise on the collegiate degree. Taking part in within the Southwestern Athletic Convention (SWAC), Orphey confronted high-level competitors that ready him for the pains of teaching.
Teaching Journey: From HBCU Roots to the Energy 5
Orphey’s teaching profession started quickly after his taking part in days ended, with a trajectory that noticed him climb by way of varied faculty soccer ranks. His early teaching stops included roles at Texas Southern and different smaller applications earlier than gaining expertise at higher-profile faculties. Over time, he developed a fame as a powerful recruiter and defensive strategist.
Earlier than becoming a member of Texas, Orphey frolicked teaching at Rutgers, the place he served because the cornerbacks coach. His defensive items have been identified for his or her self-discipline and physicality, incomes him recognition amongst teaching circles. Previous to Rutgers, he additionally had stints at Mississippi State, Utah State, and Montana State, working with defensive backs and contributing to a number of profitable defenses.
In 2021, Orphey labored within the SEC on head coach Nick Saban’s workers at Alabama, serving to to develop the defensive recreation plan and helping with defensive backs. The Crimson Tide gained the SEC Championship Sport over Georgia, defeated Cincinnati within the Cotton Bowl Basic, and superior to the CFP Nationwide Championship Sport.
Impression at Texas
With the Longhorns, Orphey will take cost of the safeties, a essential function in Texas’ defensive scheme. Beneath Sarkisian, Texas has been striving to construct an elite protection, and Orphey’s experience in secondary play can be very important. His recruiting ties, significantly in Texas and the Southeast, are anticipated to spice up the Longhorns’ capability to draw top-tier defensive backs.
Orphey’s journey from Texas Southern to one of the vital prestigious applications in faculty soccer highlights the rising affect of HBCU soccer within the broader panorama of the game. His hiring is one other testomony to the expertise pipeline that HBCUs proceed to provide, each on the sector and in teaching ranks. As he takes on this new problem, Texas followers can be desperate to see how Orphey molds the Longhorns’ safeties into probably the greatest items within the SEC and past.
Teaching Historical past
2022-2025: Rutgers (cornerbacks)2021: Alabama (senior defensive analyst)2019-20: Utah State (secondary)2017-18: Montana State (secondary)2014-16: South Carolina (high quality management)2013: South Carolina (defensive graduate assistant)2011-12: Texas Southern (cornerbacks)
