Applewhite Names Five to Houston Staff
12/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON â€" New Houston Football Head Coach Major Applewhite named the first five members to his staff Thursday with the promotion of James Casey to a full-time assistant role in charge of tight ends and the addition of Clay Jennings and A.J. Blum as the program's co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach and defensive line coach, respectively.
On the operations side, Marcus Tubbs has been named the program's assistant athletics director for football operations while Nelly Gonzalez was named director of football internal operations.
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No stranger to the Houston campus, Casey spent the 2016 season on the Houston staff as an offensive football analyst following a seven-year career in the NFL. In his first season with Houston, the Cougars' offense finished the regular season ranked 15th in passing offense (310.9 yards per game) and 21st in scoring offense (38.0 points per game) as Houston scored at least 30 points in 11 of 12 regular season games.
An All-America tight end at Rice, Casey was drafted in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, and spent four seasons with the team at both tight end and fullback. He later spent two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and one with the Denver Broncos.
In just two seasons with Rice (2007-08), Casey set three program records (receptions in a season, receiving yards in a game and a season) en route to earning Freshman All-America honors in 2007 and First Team All-Conference USA honors in 2008. He was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2008 and received Rice's James W. Glanville Award, presented annually to the player who has achieved excellence in athletics, academics and integrity.
Having spent 13 season coaching in the state of Texas including a previous two-year stint at UH (2005-06), Jennings arrives in Houston after one season as Texas' defensive backs coach and two in the same position at Arkansas. In a defense that ranked 12th in the nation against the run in 2015, seven of Jennings' defensive backs ranked among the top 10 on the team in tackles. That group combined for nine tackles for loss, while producing nine interceptions and 30 pass breakups. For the second straight year, Jared Collins led the unit in breakups with nine after tying for the SEC lead with 13 in 2014.
That year, Jennings helped the Razorbacks finish 10th in the nation in both scoring and total defense, as the team allowed just 19.2 points and 323.4 yards per game. Arkansas finished in the top 40 in passing yards allowed for the first time since 2011, surrendering just 208.8 passing yards per game to rank 37th. The Razorback secondary helped hold Heisman Trophy finalist Amari Cooper of Alabama to just two receptions for 22 yards, his lowest output of the season.
Jennings also made an impact in his first season on Tevin Mitchel. The senior made the switch to nickel back and thrived, finishing second on the team with 10 passes defended and went on to be selected in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. Alan Turner, who was fourth on the team in tackles, signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Prior to Arkansas, Jennings spent six seasons (2008-13) at TCU as cornerbacks coach and was part of some of the most successful teams in school history. In his first three years from 2008-10, the Horned Frogs became just the third program in NCAA history to lead the nation in total defense in three consecutive seasons.
While there, Jennings coached two-time All-American and first-round NFL Draft pick Jason Verrett, who was taken 25th overall by the San Diego Chargers in 2014. Verrett picked up First-Team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) in 2013, in addition to being named the Co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He ranked sixth in the nation in passes defended with 16, including 14 pass breakups to earn unanimous First-Team All-Big 12 honors.
Also under Jennings tutelage, Kevin White accounted for 11 passes defended with three interceptions and was ninth in the nation with three forced fumbles. White was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection and signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons. The Horned Frogs defense ranked 11th nationally in pass efficiency defense that season.
In 2012, SI.com named Verrett first-team All-America, and the WCFF selected him Second-Team, while the San Antonio Express-News chose him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was also tabbed the nation's top cornerback by CollegeFootballNews.com. He led the Big 12 in interceptions (six) and passes defensed (22), the only player to rank in the top 10 nationally in both categories.
Verrett and Greg McCoy, a 2012 seventh-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears, earned All-Mountain West honors in 2011 when TCU posted an 11-2 record and ranked 28th in the nation in scoring defense. McCoy was also the MWC Special Teams Player of the Year as a return specialist.
Jennings was part of a TCU staff in 2010 that led the Horned Frogs to a 13-0 record with a victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. He helped craft the nation's top-ranked passing defense (128.8 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (94.9) that were part of the top-rated scoring defense (12.0 ppg) and total defense (228.5 ypg). Jason Teague, who led the team with nine passes defended, was a 2010 All-MWC Second-Team selection. Malcolm Williams moved to cornerback as a senior under Jennings and developed into a seventh-round pick by the New England Patriots.
Both Rafael Priest and Nick Sanders were First-Team All-MWC picks in 2009 when the Horned Frogs suffered their only defeat of the season against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 12-1. That season, Jennings helped the pass efficiency defense to fourth in the nation (92.3) and the passing defense to sixth (159.5 ypg) with the scoring defense also sixth (12.8 ppg) and the total defense first (239.7 ypg). Priest later signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
A year earlier, the same duo received All-Conference accolades as the pass efficiency defense was fourth nationally (97.9) and the passing defense was 11th (170.7 ypg). The scoring defense ranked second (11.3 ppg) with the total defense first (217.8 ypg) en route to an 11-2 season.
Jennings came to the Horned Frogs after serving as cornerbacks coach at Baylor in 2007. Prior to that, he worked two seasons (2005-06) as the safeties coach at the University of Houston. He helped the Cougars to back-to-back bowl appearances and the 2006 Conference USA Championship. In 2006, Cougars' free safety Will Gulley earned Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Brandon Brinkley was named to the league's All-Freshman squad.
In his first season at Houston, Jennings helped Rocky Schwartz earn Conference USA Third-Team honors, and Kenneth Fontenette to be named an Honorable-Mention Freshman All-America by The Sporting News.
Prior to his two-year stint at Houston, Jennings spent two seasons (2003-04) as the defensive backs coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he helped the Ragin' Cajuns to a No. 11 national ranking in pass defense. There he tutored C.C. Brown and Michael Adams, who each had seven-year NFL careers. Jennings also mentored Antwain Spann, who played three seasons for the New England Patriots.
Jennings worked two years (2001-02) as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at Sam Houston State. He helped the Bearkats to a share of the 2001 Southland Conference championship and the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs. He coached All-American and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Keith Davis, who played five seasons for the Dallas Cowboys.
Before SHSU, Jennings coached the secondary at Southern Arkansas (2000), Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa (1999) and Morehouse College in Atlanta (1998). At SAU, Jennings mentored Jordan Babineaux, a nine-year NFL veteran who played for the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans. At Morningside, Jennings coached First-Team All-American Matt Walker.
Prior to his time at Rice, Casey was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the seventh round of the 2003 MLB Draft and spent three years with organization.
Having developed 33 players that have advanced to the collegiate level, including 31 defensive linemen, since 2005, Blum makes the jump to the collegiate ranks after 14 years on the high school level, including 13 in the Houston area.
Blum most recently spent the last eight seasons as assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Westfield High School in Spring, Texas, where he worked specifically with the defensive line, developing several players into FBS level talent, including Houston's Ed Oliver who earned First Team All-America honors from six different outlets following his freshman year with the Cougars.
Oliver was one of three high school All-Americans developed under Blum's tutelage, joining Desmond Jackson and Hardreck Walker, who would both go on to play as true freshmen at Texas and Texas A&M, respectively.
Also in charge of Westfield's offseason program, Blum helped lead the Mustangs to seven playoff appearances including a current six-season streak.
Prior to his time at Westfield, he spent six seasons as the defensive line coach at Klein Forest High School where he helped lead the program to four consecutive state playoff appearances from 2005-08 including a run of three straight Class 5A area appearances. A graduate of Ashland University where he was a three-year captain for the Eagles' Football program, Blum received his coaching start at Livingston High School following a two-year stint as an offensive and defensive lineman in the Arena Football League where he earned Second Team All-AF2 honors in 2000 as a member of the August Stallions.
Tubbs joins the Houston program after spending the past eight seasons at the University of Texas, including the final four as assistant athletics director for football operations. He was elevated to that role after one season as the director of football operations and two seasons as special assistant for player relations. Tubbs joined the UT program in 2009 as a football operations intern after a four-year career with the Seattle Seahawks, who drafted him 23rd overall in the 2004 NFL Draft.
A two-time All-Big 12 defensive tackle at Texas, Tubbs was as a team captain in 2003 and closed out his career with 48 games played and 36 started, totaling 207 tackles, 41 TFLs, 15 sacks and five forced fumbles.
Gonzalez joins the Houston program after two seasons as TCU's assistant director of football operations. Prior to her time in Fort Worth, she spent one year as operations support coordinator and assistant to the head coach at Penn State and three years as assistant director of alumni relations at Vanderbilt.
A graduate of Auburn, Gonzalez worked three years with the football program as an undergraduate, assisting the director of football operations and recruiting coordinator.
