The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Football represented by quartet of Lettermen in Super Bowl LIV
01.20.2020 | Football
Texas has now had at least one representative in each of the last 15 Super Bowls.
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Football program will be represented in the Super Bowl for the 15th-straight year, as a quartet of former lettermen will take part in the game on Sunday, Feb. 2. That group includes San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, as well as Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Alex Okafor.
Shanahan, an Englewood, Colo. native, twice lettered at Texas as a non-scholarship wide receiver (2001-02). After graduating, he immediately began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCLA. From there, he moved on to the NFL where he spent two years in Tampa Bay (2004-05) as an offensive quality control coach. He was hired by the Houston Texas in 2006 as a wide receivers coach, and quickly rose through the ranks of the organization. In 2007, he took over coaching the team's quarterbacks and spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as the Texans' offensive coordinator. Shanahan held the same role for the next seven years at different stops before taking over as the 49ers' head coach in 2017. He joins Tom Landry as the only Texas Football lettermen to lead an NFL team to the Super Bowl as a head coach.
Hightower, a native of Houston, Texas, was a three-year letterman (2000-02) and special teams standout at Texas. He came to UT as an academic scholar, but later earned an athletic scholarship after walking on to the Football team. Following his senior season, former UT head coach Mack Brown and his staff honored Hightower with the D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award. Hightower is currently in his 13th season in the NFL and his third as the 49ers special teams coordinator. He returned to San Francisco in 2017 after previously serving as assistant special teams coach with the 49ers in 2015. He has also coached with the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and Houston Texans during his NFL career.
Goodwin, a native of Garland, Texas, has been a world-class Track and Field athlete, an Olympian and contributor on the Football team during his UT career. He played in 50 career games, including 22 starts at wide receiver, during his four years on the Forty Acres. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the 78th overall pick in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons in Buffalo before joining the San Francisco 49ers prior to the 2017 season. In his seven-year NFL career thus far, Goodwin has recorded 12 touchdown catches, eight of which have gone for 40-or-more yards. Away from the gridiron, he finished 10th in the long jump at the 2012 London Olympics, was a two-time NCAA long jump champion, a seven-time All-American and five-time Big 12 champion. He was the first Longhorn to ever reach the long jump final at the Olympics. Goodwin also still holds the school's indoor long jump record (26-8.5) and the No. 2 mark outdoors (27-4).
Okafor, a native of Pflugerville, Texas, appeared in 52 games on the defensive line, including 33 starts, as a Longhorn. He was a two-time first-team All-Big 12 choice (2011-12) and was named the 2012 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by CBSSports.com. Okafor was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the 103rd overall pick in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons (2013-16) in Arizona, and then called New Orleans home for two seasons (2017-18) before joining the Kansas City Chiefs this year. The Longhorn Letterman has appeared in 78 games, including 60 starts, during his seven-year NFL career thus far.
Goodwin and Okafor are both currently on injured reserve, meaning they will not see the field in two weeks.
Super Bowl LIV is set to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Feb. 2, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. The game will air on FOX.
