Houston Makes Big Move: Takes Doug Belk Off Table for Texas and Georgia
Georgia has an opening at the defensive back's coaching position and according to reports, one of its potential candidates is off the board.
Houston co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Doug Belk was a potential candidate to become the defensive backs coach at schools like Texas and Georgia this offseason, but Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen has apparently ponied up and is expected to promote Belk to the defensive coordinator position, as first reported by Footballscoop.com.
Belk has a strong Georgia background, as he originally is from Valdosta. After finishing college at Carson-Newman University, he then served as a defensive assistant at Valdosta State, a cornerbacks coach at West Virginia, and a cornerbacks coach at Alabama before eventually ending up at Houston as a co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.
Georgia is still in search mode for Warren's replacement and with Belk off the board, head coach Kirby Smart will set his eyes on LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond. However, Raymond has a history of turning down other opportunities like this in the past, most recently Georgia in 2018. When Smart last had an opening at the defensive backs position, Raymond turned him down to stay at LSU.
Raymond has remained loyal to his alma mater over the last nine seasons, remaining on that Tigers staff despite persistence from other programs trying to pull him out of Baton Rouge.
Other potential candidates still include Georgia defensive graduate assistant Nick Williams. Despite Williams having worked with the defensive line and outside linebacker groups since returning to Athens, he has a background as a defensive back himself and is an avid recruiter. He's also the definition of a player's coach, and Smart has expressed his need for that attribute at the position.
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