The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Defensive Line
Former Longhorn standout Oscar Giles enters his fourth year as defensive line coach under Tom Herman at Texas in 2020. A UT defensive end (1987-90), Giles previously spent a total of 10 seasons at Texas as both defensive ends coach (2005-13) and a graduate assistant (1999) before returning to the Forty Acres prior to the 2017 season.
Giles mentored the Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2018 in Charles Omenihu, who totaled 18 TFL and 9.5 sacks. It was the second straight season that Giles had coached the conference’s Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Giles’ group was one of the best in the Big 12, and nation, in 2017. Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year, Poona Ford, anchored the line. The defensive line was stout for the Longhorns all season, helping keep seven of 13 opponents under 100 yards rushing. In all, UT features the nation’s eighth-best rushing defense at 106.8 yards per game.
In 2016 at Houston, Giles helped UofH to a 9-3 record in the regular season, including wins over No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 3 Louisville. UH featured the nation’s second-ranked rush defense (99.7 ypg) in addition to the nation’s 14th-best defense in total yards allowed (325.0 ypg). They also ranked as one of the nation’s best in bringing pressure, ranking in the top 20 in sacks (12th) and tackles for loss (18th).
Under Giles, freshman DT Ed Oliver, an All-American, ranked 10th nationally with 19.5 tackles for loss. He also added seven quarterback hurries and led all defensive linemen nationally with his nine pass breakups.
The 2015 season at Houston saw DT B.J. Singleton receive postseason honors from the AAC as Giles’ line set the tone for the nation’s No. 8 rushing defense, allowing just 108.9 yards per game. Houston went to its first New Year’s Bowl in 30 years, registered a win over No. 9 Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, posted its second 13-win season in program history and its 11th conference championship to finish ranked No. 8 in both major polls.
In Giles’ lone season at Louisiana Tech, he helped to develop a Bulldog defense that led the nation in turnovers gained with 42 and led Louisiana Tech to at least nine wins for just the sixth time in school history, including a win over Illinois in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. The Bulldogs ranked second nationally with 114 tackles for loss and led Conference USA in rushing defense. Defensive end Houston Bates finished the year leading C-USA with 10 sacks, ranking 16th nationally. Bates received All-Conference USA honors, while fellow end Deldrick Canty was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.
During his time as defensive ends coach at Texas from 2005-13, Giles helped develop two Ted Hendricks Award winners in Jackson Jeffcoat (2013) and Brian Orakpo (2008). In 2013, Jeffcoat ranked first in the Big 12 and tied for third in the FBS with 13 sacks, while Cedric Reed tallied 10, making UT one of two teams in the nation to have two players with 10 or more. Jeffcoat also earned first-team All-America honors and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, while Reed was tabbed first-team All-Big 12. Both went on to careers in the NFL.
In 2012, Alex Okafor was a first-team All-Big 12 pick for the second-straight year and earned the CFPA’s Elite Defensive Lineman Trophy, while Jeffcoat was an honorable mention all-league pick despite missing the final six regular season games with an injury. Okafor led the Big 12 in sacks before being drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by Arizona.
In 2011, Okafor and Jeffcoat started all 13 games at defensive end with each ranking in the top 10 in the Big 12 in sacks and tackles for loss. Okafor was an AFCA All-American and unanimous first-team All-Big 12 selection after recording a team-high seven sacks to go with 14 TFL and 17 pressures. Jeffcoat was a second-team All-Big 12 choice and led the team with 21 TFL and eight sacks, while adding nine pressures.
In 2010, senior DE Sam Acho won the William V. Campbell Trophy, the Wuerffel Trophy and the ARA Sportsmanship Award, along with becoming UT’s seventh two-time Academic All-American, a second-team All-America selection by the WCFF, a member of the AFCA Good Works team and a Lott Trophy finalist, while recording 59 tackles, 17 TFL, nine sacks, 18 pressures, five forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. His five fumble recoveries led the nation and tied the UT single-season record. Acho was chosen in the fourth round of the 2011 Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
Giles helped mold senior DE/LB Sergio Kindle into the first player in college football history to be a finalist for both the Hendricks Award (nation’s top DE) and Butkus Award (nation’s top LB) in 2009, as he had 22 TFL and 36 pressures en route to first-team All-America honors. Junior Sam Acho led the team with 10 sacks and was named a semifinalist for the Lott Trophy.
Under Giles’ guidance, the 2008 season saw Brian Orakpo, an eventual first round pick of the Washington Redskins, become Texas’ 19th unanimous All-American and the winner of the Nagurski Trophy (nation’s top defensive player), Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman) and Hendricks Award. He was also the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Lott Trophy. Orakpo helped the Texas defense lead the nation in sacks, finishing the season with 11.5 sacks for minus-100 yards, 19 TFL, 30 pressures and four forced fumbles. Giles also helped senior Henry Melton make a successful transition from RB to a starting role at DE where he registered four sacks and 10 TFL and went on to be drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round.
In 2007, Giles led a group that helped Texas rank sixth in the nation against the run (93.4 ypg), while the 2006 season saw Giles’ defensive ends produce Texas’ first 10-sack season since 1998. Tim Crowder, who earned second-team All-America honors, was a finalist for the Hendricks Award and led the team with 10.5 sacks. Brian Robison also pitched in with 5.5 sacks and 15 pressures on his way to second-team All-Big 12 honors. Orakpo added 4.5 sacks and 11 pressures.
In his first season with Texas, Giles aided in the Longhorns No. 10 ranking in total defense (302.9 ypg) and a No. 8 ranking in scoring defense (16.4 ppg). Three of the defensive ends earned conference honors and UT won the Rose Bowl and national championship.
Giles spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Houston, where he worked with the Cougars’ defensive line. He joined the Houston staff prior to the 2003 season after spending three seasons at SMU.
Giles was a graduate assistant at Texas in 1999, after a year coaching the defensive line and serving as a strength and conditioning coach at Southwest Texas State (now Texas State) in 1998.
A four-year letterwinner at Texas (1987-90), Giles played defensive end and linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and went on to play in the Canadian Football League from 1994-97 and helped the Toronto Argonauts win the Grey Cup Championship in 1996.
A three-year starter at UT, Giles earned AP All-SWC honors as a senior when he helped the Longhorns to the 1990 SWC Championship and an appearance in the 1991 Cotton Bowl. He also helped the 1987 Longhorns to a No. 19 final ranking and a victory in the Bluebonnet Bowl. He led Texas in sacks in 1988 (6.5) and 1989 (7.0) and finished with 22 in his career (T-No. 10 on the UT all-time list). A semifinalist for the Outland Trophy and two-time GTE Academic All-SWC selection, his nine career fumble recoveries are tied for second on the UT all-time chart.
A native of Palacios, Texas, Giles earned his Bachelor of Science degree in speech communications from Texas in 1991. Giles and his wife, Kim, have two daughters, Olivia and Kourtney.
