Texas' staff shakeup continues as special teams analyst Chris Forestier heads to Tulane.
Texas has spent the weeks after the regular season reshaping Steve Sarkisian's staff like it's a roster in the transfer portal era.
Running backs coach Chad Scott was fired and replaced by Jabbar Juluke. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski and defensive pass game coordinator Duane Akina are out.
Will Muschamp is in as the new defensive coordinator. And now the Longhorns are losing another piece of the puzzle.
According to reports from FootballScoop, Texas special teams senior analyst Chris Forestier is headed to Tulane to become the Green Wave's special teams coordinator under new head coach Will Hall.
Forestier also all but confirmed it himself, posting on X that he's excited to get started "back home in the boot," a nod to returning to Louisiana.
For Texas, it's a departure that won't stop the presses the way a coordinator hire does, but it still matters. Forestier worked closely with special teams coordinator Jeff Banks this season, and this move is a clean promotion from behind-the-scenes support role to owning an entire phase for the defending AAC champs.
That’s a ladder climb most analysts take every day jobs dreaming about.
The timing is notable, too, because Texas special teams in 2025 basically lived two lives, one as a highlight machine, the other as a cautionary tale.
On the highlight side, Ryan Niblett made himself the newest member of the Sarkisian-era "flip the game in one touch" club that's included names like Xavier Worthy, Keilan Robinson, and Silas Bolden.
Niblett delivered two punt return touchdowns in massive spots, one against No. 6 Oklahoma, a 75-yarder that pushed Texas ahead 20-6 in the fourth quarter, and another 79-yard return against Mississippi State that tied the game 38-38 with 1:47 left before the Longhorns won in overtime.
He finished the regular season with 19 punt returns for 448 yards, third-most in the country, and was one of only five players nationally with multiple punt return TDs.
Then came the other life. The kind of special teams moment that makes an entire sideline look like it lost the remote.
In the 35-10 loss at Georgia on Nov. 15, Kirby Smart dialed up a surprise onside kick after a fourth-quarter touchdown made it 21-10. Texas wasn't ready, Georgia recovered, and the game went from "maybe a rally" to "goodnight."
Now, with Forestier moving on, it's on Sarkisian to decide whether to replace him directly or redistribute duties, while Banks remains on staff with the Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan on Dec. 31 looming.
The staff turnover keeps coming. Texas just has to make sure the details don’t leave with it.