Why Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk may very well be school soccer’s subsequent scorching head-coaching candidate

The 2015 Alabama Crimson Tide soccer workers is one that individuals look again on and surprise how so many elite coaches may have been on a single workforce.

That season, Nick Saban’s workers included six present Energy 5 head coaches in offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin (now at Ole Miss), defensive coordinator Kirby Good (Georgia), place coaches Mel Tucker (Michigan State), Mario Cristobal (Miami) and Billy Napier (Florida) and graduate assistant Dan Lanning (Oregon).

“All people messes with me about that somewhat bit,” present Houston affiliate head coach and defensive coordinator Doug Belk stated. “Like, ‘How they leaving you off the checklist?'”

Belk was one in all three graduate assistants on that Alabama workers. He’s now one of many greatest rising stars in school soccer’s teaching panorama. He joined Houston in 2019 as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach after leaving West Virginia together with head coach Dana Holgorsen.

Belk was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2021, main a unit that was sixth within the nation in whole protection (302.2 yards), tied for thirteenth in turnovers pressured (23) and nineteenth in factors allowed per sport (20.4). The success that Belk, 34, has had since leaving Alabama has made him a scorching commodity in teaching circles, together with with Saban himself, who has tried to carry Belk again to Tuscaloosa.

“I attempted to rent him a pair occasions,” Saban stated. “I have not been in a position to get to rent him. However he did a terrific job when he was [at Alabama] and he is having a terrific profession and would not shock me in any respect.”

Belk believes he is without doubt one of the luckiest folks on the earth for having the expertise of studying and rising underneath the coaches he labored with throughout his three years at Alabama.

“However, you realize,” he added, “I’ve type of obtained my very own ideas and various things I like to try this are completely different than them.”

THINGS DIDN’T GET off to the smoothest begin for Belk and Holgorsen in Houston. In 2019, the Cougars suffered important losses by way of the switch portal and with many gamers redshirting, most notably quarterback D’Eriq King, who transferred to Miami for the 2020 season.

“I used to have a look at a scout workforce in 2019, and our scout workforce was higher than the fellows we have been taking part in with,” Belk stated.

Within the COVID-impacted season of 2020, Houston was hit as arduous as anyone, with six of its video games canceled because of the virus. The Cougars completed a mixed 7-13 in 2019 and 2020.

After the 2020 season, Belk stated he had gives to grow to be the defensive backs coach at a number of SEC colleges. However for a similar causes he took the Houston job within the first place, he caught by the powerful occasions.

“I really feel like there’s numerous head coaches, and lots of people on this enterprise that do not spend money on folks,” Belk stated. “And I really feel like that is one in all my greatest passions. And I feel [Holgorsen’s] funding in me has been nice. And never simply based mostly off of, ‘OK, you’ve got earned promotions with him,’ however him really sitting me down and saying, ‘Hey, because of this I am doing this,’ or him strategically making roster changes and issues that he does. So I have been in a position to type of be taught and develop with him otherwise.”

Holgorsen stated that he appreciates Belk’s loyalty to him and to the Houston program.

“We knew after we took this, you realize, it is the rationale why I signed him to a three-year deal,” Holgorsen stated. “We knew there was gonna be numerous work and it is gonna take a few years, and it did. However we’re right here, we’re profitable now due to how arduous we work collectively doing this factor collectively.”

Whereas Holgorsen stated he did not consider Belk was able to be a defensive coordinator after they made the transfer to Houston, Belk was the primary individual he wished to carry with him to the brand new gig.

“The children simply gravitated towards him,” Holgorsen stated. “So he was the co-DC for a few years, and I simply had a intestine feeling that if I did not make him DC, he wasn’t going to be right here very for much longer. So I made that swap. I knew he was prepared.”

Because it seems, Holgorsen stated, a day after making Belk the defensive coordinator, Alabama and Georgia provided Belk place jobs. “So it was good for me to try this, clearly,” Holgorsen stated.

Belk admits that Holgorsen’s management type is completely different. “You realize, typically unorthodox simply from the skin trying in, and folks see the Purple Bull drinkin’ and the headset slammin’, and it would not correlate typically with the poise of different folks,” he stated. “However you realize, him and Coach Saban and Kirby and all these guys aren’t a lot completely different. He is a fierce competitor, extraordinarily clever and strategic. The best way he performs chess, the best way that he operates, it is enjoyable to be round, and he is given me numerous alternatives to develop.

“The one factor that I respect about Coach Hol essentially the most, and it is the identical type of lesson I’ve obtained from Mel [Tucker], is that ‘be who you’re.’ And he really permits me to be who I’m, and all the opposite folks round him.”

Belk likes to put on Lululemon or Nike sweats daily, with some Air Jordans or Air Maxes. He says he is even-keeled and never overly emotional. He instills a aggressive spirit and leads by instance along with his work ethic and element.

Belk’s ardour for folks and rising relationships, mixed with Holgorsen urging him to be himself and giving him higher obligations, has been the recipe for Houston’s defensive turnaround, which has been a terrific complement for the offensive-minded Holgorsen.

“I inform everyone, we have the identical gamers [from years past], we have simply obtained to vary the best way they suppose,” Belk stated.

He did that, partially by leaning into Houston and its tradition.

“We rebranded the protection,” he stated. “We’re in the course of Houston, and we’re within the Third Ward. So, you realize, we are saying it isn’t for everyone. So we introduced the Third Ward protection again.”

The Third Ward protection, a nickname first used about 10 years in the past on the faculty, has layers to it. The defensive backs introduced again the “Jack Boys” moniker utilized by Houston defensive backfields of the previous. After defensive lineman D’Anthony Jones, who led Houston with seven sacks, talked tons of trash at one apply, Jones dubbed the line of defense “Sack Ave.”

“All that stuff simply provides us a unique taste,” Houston linebacker and defensive captain Donavan Mutin stated. “I feel the rationale why we’re pretty much as good as we’re — I have been right here with Coach Applewhite, I have been right here for a minute — the one factor that actually took us to the following degree was our mindset. [Belk] gave us the mindset that we now have.”

However the greatest a part of the tradition change Belk helped carry goes again to his ardour for investing in folks. The gamers joke with him loads about being two completely different folks.

The primary one is the coach, and the final word competitor.

“When you mess up, he’ll inform you precisely the way you tousled. The identical manner we communicate on a regular basis, that is how he’ll speak to you,” Mutin stated. “He is not gonna get out of his physique with you and name you outdoors your title or do something like that. He would not should. However he is going to ensure he expresses what you probably did proper or what you probably did flawed, as equally as he is keen to present you reward.”

“If we do not see championship effort on tape, then that is how I am gonna problem them and coach them,” Belk stated. “I feel every man must be coached pretty. However I do not suppose each man must be coached the identical.”

Baltimore Ravens defensive again Damarion Williams, who was one in all three gamers drafted from Belk’s 2021 unit, stated, “[He’s good at] discovering out what buttons he can push for every participant, he coaches every participant completely different. He may get on me as a result of he is aware of he is gonna put some fireplace behind me and encourage me to go. However he may not yell on the subsequent participant as a result of that does not rock their boat and make them produce.”

The opposite aspect of Belk is the one which’s going to “love you tougher” as he places it.

“Folks discuss relationships, however till you actually get to know folks and till you dive into what strikes them, you actually do not know precisely methods to coach these guys,” he stated. “And I am not a specialist in any of these areas, however I really feel like I do know folks. I worth these relationships with our gamers and the way we are able to get the most effective out of them on and off the sphere.”

The synergy between Belk and his gamers is clear from speaking with them. Their messages are similar, to the purpose the place in the event you have been studying their phrases, it will be arduous to inform if it was the coach or his gamers who stated them. Mutin says Belk’s authenticity has been a key half not simply in Belk’s success, however in getting everyone on the Cougars protection to purchase in each on and off the sphere.

“He is the identical dude daily,” Mutin stated. “I feel that is what makes him particular. I’ve had numerous coaches since I have been in school and numerous them are simply pretend folks. They put the coach hat on after which they can not take the coach hat off, and they do not know methods to be a standard particular person. They do not know methods to meet you the place you’re, and have a dialog with you, it doesn’t matter what the small print and the topic of the dialog are. Man, Coach Belk, he is himself. And that is why he is as profitable as he’s.”

These two sides of Belk additionally end result within the final belief on the soccer area. Belk being himself, being sincere, constant and truthful, provides gamers the liberty to talk up.

“After I first got here into Houston,” Williams stated, “I would not say I used to be soccer silly, however I did not know an excessive amount of about soccer and the ins and outs. Then three years simply being underneath Belk, he helped construct my confidence that I get pleasure from speaking about ball and studying about ball and making errors, so I can repair it and discover ways to right my errors.

“He simply began constructing our confidence in conferences the place we take management.”

That management extends to the sphere, the place Belk will at occasions let the gamers change up a play name.

“I feel that is why we’re pretty much as good as we’re,” Mutin stated. “We’ll be on the sphere, and there are particular issues within the protection which are within the playbook as ‘That is what we will do. We’ll deal with this as this.’ However relating to we’re within the sport, he at all times says, ‘I do not play one snap, y’all are those taking part in the snaps. I do not play a down. So if y’all do not feel assured, if y’all do not like what we’re doing, then that is the difficulty.’

“I feel that units him aside, that that provides everyone confidence. As a result of we all know that we now have a coach that is on that type of web page with us. He understands that we’re solely going to be good if all of the gamers perceive what we’re doing.”

Within the closing minute of last December’s Birmingham Bowl, Houston led Auburn 17-13 with the Tigers going through fourth-and-2 by itself 33-yard line. Belk requested his gamers what play they wished to run with the sport on the road.

“They stated, ‘That is what we need to do.’ I stated, ‘Let’s do it.’ And we go win,” Belk stated. “It is them. I haven’t got to play these. I at all times say that, however I actually consider that. If I can get them to be snug, no matter we’re doing, then it is even higher.”

BELK WAS BORN and raised in Valdosta, Georgia. He obtained an early style of high-level soccer because the beginning quarterback at Lowndes Excessive College starting his sophomore yr, whereas additionally taking part in cornerback and on the punt return workforce.

Georgia highschool soccer is called among the greatest within the nation, however southern Georgia — particularly Valdosta and the encompassing areas — is on one other degree, as Belk will attest.

“No person actually from metro Atlanta needs to hit that journey down I-75,” he stated with a smile.

Belk led Lowndes to state championships in 2004 and 2005 (two of the college’s three state titles in 4 years) after dropping to rival Valdosta — the college he lived throughout the road from — in 2003, his sophomore season.

After taking part in collegiately at Division II Carson-Newman, Belk was going to play within the CFL in 2011, the yr of the NFL lockout. However Valdosta State head coach David Dean and co-defensive coordinators Seth Wallace and Earl Chambers recruited Belk to affix their workers, giving him his begin in teaching. It wasn’t one thing he initially noticed for himself.

“My main was laptop data and enterprise administration,” Belk stated. “So I had deliberate to get into some sort of tech know-how or into the gross sales world and had issues lined up earlier than I began teaching.”

The Blazers received a nationwide championship in 2012, when Belk was teaching defensive backs.

“I type of fell in love with the locker room,” Belk stated of his first teaching expertise. “Being a part of a locker room and a brotherhood was the half that intrigued me essentially the most with the folks. I type of obtained that at a younger age, and I type of nonetheless preserve that very same philosophy. And that is actually crucial half, greater than any brand, any sum of money.”

After the nationwide title win, Belk developed a relationship with Kirby Good, who additionally obtained his begin at Valdosta State.

“Form of randomly, he referred to as me and we linked up,” Belk stated. “He was telling me all the explanations I ought to come to Alabama to be a [graduate assistant] and progress my profession. He had performed that leaving Valdosta State going to Florida State. And I went and interviewed, and per week later, I used to be in Tuscaloosa working for him and Coach Saban.”

Belk’s tenure at Alabama introduced a wealth of studying experiences and relationship constructing, however issues actually obtained rolling when then-West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson referred to as him on Feb. 5, 2017, the day of Tremendous Bowl 51, when the New England Patriots staged a historic comeback to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

A lifelong Falcons fan, Belk stated, “I am going to always remember that one. That was a protracted night time for us.”

However Gibson’s name gave that day a extra optimistic which means to Belk, who flew as much as interview for the cornerbacks job with Gibson whereas Holgorsen, the Mountaineers head coach, was in another country.

“I can inform, you simply get round guys that you realize will probably be coordinators and preserve advancing within the sport,” Gibson stated. “And I knew from day one which he was that type of man.

“The factor that separated him from among the different guys after I was first digging into him and researching and all that was, you realize, his capability, the relationships he builds with the children and the recruiting side of it, that was the largest factor that caught out in my thoughts.”

Gibson provided the job to Belk, who, when finalizing his deal, slid the contract again throughout the desk to Gibson with out it.

“I did not care about cash, I’d have went without spending a dime at that time,” Belk stated. “I simply slid it again and stated, ‘I am in. I am gonna earn my cash.'”

IN 2016, BELK’S final yr as a graduate assistant at Alabama, he spent numerous time with present Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, who was an analyst on Saban’s workers. Locksley stated he believes Belk will stand out among the many subsequent technology of head coaches.

“Too many occasions you see coaches — some are good with X’s and O’s, some are good at recruiting, some are good at managing gamers, however only a few are in a position to do all three,” Locksley stated. “And he has this pure capability to attach with the student-athlete. He is a man that — as a result of he is been round some actually good coaches on the defensive aspect of the ball — he is absorbed that piece of it. However I feel the factor that makes him stand out is simply his capability to do all three of these issues.”

Holgorsen enjoys Belk being his personal individual.

“One factor I feel that he takes nice satisfaction in is having that actually robust relationship with Nick and Kirby,” Holgorsen stated. “He is pleased with the truth that he is type of made it with out them. He is obtained relationship with them, and so they talk loads. However he is type of discovered his personal manner, so to talk, and I feel that is a tribute to him.”

Holgorsen added, “And he is gonna be a terrific head coach. And, you realize, when that is gonna occur, I do not know. However when it’s, I will be completely satisfied for him.”

In 2011, throughout his first yr of teaching, Belk went to the American Soccer Coaches Affiliation conference and listened to longtime Georgia coach Mark Richt communicate. He nonetheless has the notes he saved from the speak on his telephone.

Richt talked about how he was at all times nervous concerning the subsequent job till he went to Florida State and have become the quarterbacks coach, after which offensive coordinator. “Then he had numerous success, after which turned a head coach and talked about specializing in what’s necessary proper in entrance of him,” Belk stated. “And that lesson has type of caught with me.

“Typically you possibly can overlook the small print if you’re nervous about issues that you could’t management. And the one factor I can management now could be how arduous I work and the best way that I lead the fellows that I am speculated to do my job with every day. I really like what I do, and I get pleasure from coming to work every day.

“After which, you realize, me being younger and Black, I do not shrink back from that. I’ve a sure duty too — if I do not do issues proper I may very well be holding anyone else again. And in the event you’ve been round me sufficient you realize I take that type of stuff severe as a result of lots of people on this enterprise, we discuss sticking collectively, we discuss doing issues proper. And, you realize, the extra success I’ve might be going to open the door for anyone else, doubtlessly guys on our workers or different staffs.”

Belk describes all the eye he has obtained as a transition, however says it makes him go tougher at his occupation. So regardless of being seen as a surefire head-coaching candidate within the close to future, Belk retains his give attention to Houston soccer in 2022, the place the Cougars are one of many favorites within the American Athletic Convention as they transition to the Huge 12.

“My entire aim in being right here — and I really feel like a part of my obligation to our head coach, this college and most significantly our gamers — is to win a championship. And the rationale that is necessary … that is our gamers’ aim, they need to win.

“And, you realize, getting a style of it final yr — watching Desmond Ridder maintain that trophy up when that confetti was falling in Cincinnati, to enter the following week, and our gamers are hoisting the trophy in Birmingham, beating Auburn, mainly in a house sport — that style of failure and style of success, I feel, has motivated the fellows who have been right here final yr to actually take it to the following degree.

“And let’s be on high of the throne subsequent season, profitable this convention and see the place it takes us.”