Clint Lamb
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Like with most coaching hires, there were a lot of twists and turns in the Texas opening. Granted, it was only open for a few hours, but everything is bigger in Texas, right?
Steve Sarkisian will become the next head coach for the Longhorns, replacing Tom Herman after four seasons. He will remain with Alabama through the national title game, however, according to Matt Zenitz with AL.com.
Sources: Nick Saban confirmed during an Alabama team meeting that Steve Sarkisian is headed to Texas.
Sarkisian will remain with Alabama through the national title game.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 2, 2021
And for anyone getting hung up on the “sources” part of that tweet, Texas sent out a tweet of its own on Saturday as well. The caption: “Welcome to Texas, @CoachSark!”
Welcome to Texas, @CoachSark! 🤘 pic.twitter.com/6jHwJPoLtA
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 2, 2021
Welcome to the Forty Acres, @CoachSark!https://t.co/IRG92M501E pic.twitter.com/TEQENDjewv
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) January 2, 2021
That’s about as official as it gets, right?
The reason some might have been skeptical is the way this story played out. First, it was the news of Herman’s firing, but that was quickly followed with Chip Brown at 247Sports breaking the news that Sarkisian would be his replacement.
That should’ve been the end of it, but David Pollack with ESPN came back later saying that the Alabama offensive coordinator had actually turned the job down. Well, he didn’t.
This could end up being a nice hire for the Longhorns, but it’s important to the Crimson Tide that he remained in his role as the offensive playcaller for the upcoming game against Ohio State in the national championship.
Can we say “Texas is back” yet? No? OK.
Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.
The Texas boosters are a group that is starving for the glorious days of yesteryear. Tom Herman is a good but not a elite coach. Sark is an excellent and dynamic OC and was a better than average (at best) head coach. I don’t know if his hiring is an upgrade. In Austin the expectations are high and the patience is long gone. I suspect that the Longhorns will be repeating this process in three to four years.
Okay, didn’t the University of Tennessee consider him for the top job several years ago, but social media forced them to drop the interview? Or am I thinking of the wrong coach?
I think that was Schiano. He’s now back at Rutgers
Sark couldn’t handle the pressure at USC what makes anyone think this will be different? Unfortunately, Sark suffers from alcoholism. Next season when UT goes 7-5 or 8-4 again then what?
Texas fires Tom Herman for going 32-18 to hire Sarkisian, who was fired from his last HC job for showing up drunk? That’s a bold move.
Sarkisian is a coordinator who has more talent at his disposal than some nfl teams, so I’m skeptical of how great a coach he or anyone is coming from a program with such talent. If you can’t succeed at Bama you don’t have a pulse. Also, coordinators don’t always translate well into a HC. It’s a different skill set. How many examples can you list over the last 5 years who were highly touted coordinators and pedestrian HCs? Good luck with all that.