The Texas Longhorns have hired Steve Sarkisian as their new head football coach. He replaces Tom Herman, who was fired on Saturday.
The 46-year-old comes to Austin, Texas, after serving as the Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator the past two seasons. During the 2020 season, Sarkisian also served as interim head coach when Nick Saban could not coach his team due to a coronavirus positive test.
On January 4, 2006, I was the USC quarterback coach when we played Texas in that famed national championship game. There has always been something special about Longhorn football, its history, and traditions – not just on that day – and I could never have imagined that 15 years later, I would join the Longhorns as their head coach,” Sarkisian said. “This is a unique and compelling opportunity to lead this storied program to the next level, competing once again amongst the best in college football.”
Sarkisian is 47-35 as a head coach. He last served as a head coach during the 2015 season with the USC Trojans.
He was a head coach with the Washington Huskies and the Trojans from 2009 through 2015. He was replaced as the Trojans head coach on October 12, 2015, after a 3-2 record in 2015.
The Torrance, California-born coach went 1-0 as he guided the Crimson Tide to a 42-13 win over the Auburn Tigers when Saban was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.
He went 34-29 in five seasons with the Huskies. Then, in one-plus seasons with the Trojans, he went 12-6.
“We are excited to have Steve Sarkisian join us and lead the next chapter of our football program,” Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said. “University of Texas football has a long and proud history of competing at the highest levels within our conference and nationally, and he brings with him the coaching caliber and championship experience needed to restore this kind of excellence to our program.”
Sarkisian is going to have a lot of pressure on him to win. Herman had 32 wins during his tenure with the Longhorns, and that was not enough.
One thing that the Longhorns are hoping that he can do is mentor the quarterbacks. He developed Mac Jones into a Heisman Trophy candidate in 2020 in his first full season as a starter with the Crimson Tide.
