Texas moved one step closer to filling up its coaching staff vacancies Monday, naming Jerry Gray assistant coach and defensive backs coach. Gray, a former Longhorn defensive back, played for nine seasons in the NFL and spent 14 years as an assistant coach in the league, including five seasons as a defensive coordinator.

“This is truly an exciting opportunity for me and my family,” Gray said Monday. “Not very many guys get the chance to come back and coach where they played, and to do that at a place that is as special as Texas. It’s just an unbelievable opportunity.”

Gray spent the past season as the defensive backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks.

Gray was the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2005, coaching the Bills to the second-ranked defense in 2002 and 2003. Gray then served as defensive backs coach for the Washington Redskins from 2006-2009 and was interviewed for the head coaching position in Washington before joining the Seattle staff.

The Lubbock native was a four-year letterman at Texas from 1981 to 1984, and is one of only seven Longhorns to be named a two-time consensus all-American, in 1983 and 1984. His 16 interceptions rank third all-time in school history, and he was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1996. Gray was selected 21st overall in the 1985 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams and made the Pro Bowl four times before retiring in 1993.