[ad_1]
After initially announcing that Tom Herman would continue to coach the Texas football program in mid-December, the Longhorns on Saturday turned around and fired Herman after four seasons with the team. Texas will hire Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to replace Herman, a source familiar with the process told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.
The decision to leave Herman was made after assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the program, according to a statement from Texas. It comes just four days after UT blew Colorado 55-23 in the Alamo Bowl with many bright young players during the game.
Sarkisian, on the heels of Alabama’s No.1 Rose Bowl win over Notre Dame’s No.4, is set to coach his final game for the Crimson Tide in the College Football National Playoffs on Jan.11 . 247 Chip Brown The first reported that Sarkisian would replace Herman in Texas.
Although Sarkisian has served successfully as an offensive coordinator for the past four seasons in Alabama and with the Atlanta Falcons, he spent seven seasons as a head coach in the Pac-12, first in Washington (2009-13) then at USC (2014-15). Sarkisian went 34-29 (24-21 Pac-12) with the Huskies, leading the program to four bowling games in five seasons and setting the stage for the success he found under Chris Petersen.
Sarkisian went 9-4 (6-3 Pac-12) with a bowl win in his first season at USC, but was fired five games into the 2015 campaign after first taking time off in the middle of a battle against alcoholism. After completing a rehab stint, Sarkisian joined the Crimson Tide as an offensive analyst and was elevated to the offensive coordinator role, similarly before a CFP national championship game when Lane Kiffin left the program to take the post of trainer at FAU.
Herman owes a $ 15million buyback with his assistants totaling an additional $ 10million in buybacks for a total outlay of nearly $ 25million just to remove the football staff.
Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte also released a separate statement on Twitter, calling Herman’s dismissal a “very, very difficult” decision requiring “a lot of deliberation and a lot of thought.”
Herman was 32-18 in four seasons in Texas, only appearing in the Big 12 Championship game once in 2018; the Longhorns lost 39-27 to Oklahoma. Texas posted a 6-3 rating in the 2020 regular season, missing the Big 12 title game and falling below preseason expectations. Herman had a 10-game winning season in Texas, averaging eight wins per year.
Unfulfilled expectations have given rise to rumors that Texas are pursuing former Ohio and Florida state coach Urban Meyer to become their next coach. Those rumors never materialized and Del Conte released a statement on Dec. 12 reiterating that Herman was the program’s coach.
Sarkisian will be Texas’ third coach in the past eight seasons as the Longhorns struggled to find a replacement for Mack Brown. The program quickly shifted from Charlie Strong (2014-16) and Herman (2017-20) after Brown spent 16 years directing the ‘Horns.
Texas and Alabama will start a home and home football series in 2022.
[ad_2]
Source link