Houston’s 5-7 season under first-year coach Tony Levine (pictured) saw the departures of the Cougars’ offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and defensive ends coach.
With the addition of Vernon Hargreaves as the team’s new linebackers coach, Levine has now rebuilt his coaching staff heading into his second year. Houston made the announcement Tuesday morning.
“We are excited to add a coach of Vernon Hargreaves’ caliber,” said Levine in a statement. “When you look at his resume, his track record speaks for itself. He’s a veteran of the game and he’s been known to develop linebackers that excel on the college and professional level as evident with seven NFL Pro Bowl honors shared by players he coached. Just last night I watched Tavares Gooden, who he coached in college, playing in the Super Bowl for the 49ers.”
Hargreaves spent the last three seasons under Skip Holtz at South Florida and previously served under Holtz at East Carolina. But Hargreaves has deep roots to the Miami area with stints at The U and FIU.
“I’m excited to join the Houston family and am really looking forward to getting to work with Tony and the rest of the staff,” said Hargreaves. “I’m familiar with the program having coached against it in the past, so I know there is great potential in a great environment. The future for this program is definitely an exciting one.”
Hargreaves joins offensive coordinator Doug Meacham, defensive coordinator David Gibbs and offensive line coach Glen Elarbee as Houston’s new coaches.