Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo MESPORTS SOUTH
Follow her on Twitter @Misskyus2011
AUSTIN– Nothing is guaranteed until you have signed on the dotted line especially if your a college football coach even more so if you coach the Texas Longhorns. The demand to produce success and build a program back to glory may be a daunting and timely task. However, in a place like Austin, you can bet the clock is ticking from the moment you are given the task of getting Texas to be back again.
The No. 20 Longhorns finished the season 7-3 including another strong finish in the postseason at the Valero Alamo Bowl where they defeated Colorado 55-23. Despite the tumultuous rollercoaster, the Horns have been on it appeared that Tom Herman would remain in Austin. However, Saturday perhaps a shock to some but maybe not to those inside the program that Hermans time had come to end once and for all in Austin.
Longhorn AD Chris Del Conte released the following statement on Herman.
“With our football season coming to a close, our vice president and athletic director, Chris Del Conte, has evaluated the UT program’s strengths and weakness and where the program is relative to our goals. While we have made measure progress during the past several years under Tom Herman’s leadership, Chris has recommended to the university president, Jay Hartzell that UT make a coaching change to get us on track to achieving our ambitious goals. President Hartzell and the chair of our Board of Regents, Kevin Eltife, concur with this recommendation and have approved the change. We thank Coach Herman for his service and dedication to our student-athletes, our program, and our university.”
Just like that the Longhorns ushered out the old and are ready for the new in 2021. Herman’s exit comes with a $15.4 million buyout and $ 10 million for his staff. Texas will be on the hook for $25 million alone to remove the football staff. But for them, it is a small price to pay in order to attain those ambitious goals right?
Folks before you start placing your bets this is one coach search that isn’t going to last long in fact the deal appears to be about done in who will be named the next head coach for the Texas Longhorns. As we say out in Texas go big or go home! The Longhorns are going big and sources close to the program say that Texas will hire Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as Herman’s predecessor.
Sarkisian looks to finish his time with the No. 1 Crimson Tide on the ultimate high note. It looks as if all things line up right that Sarkisian will coach his final game for the Tide in the CFP National Championship on Jan. 11th against the No.3 Ohio State Buckeyes from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Then make way from Tuscaloosa To Texas.
While Sarkisian has been a staple in the offensive success as the offensive coordinator for Alabama the last four seasons along with a stop with the Atlanta Falcons. He is no stranger to being the head coach. He spent seven seasons as a head coach in the Pac-12. He was at Washington from 2009-13 then USC from 2014-2015. He went 34-29 with the Huskies successfully leading his ball club to four bowl games in five seasons.
At USC he went 9-4 with a bowl win in his first season at USC however he has fired five games into the 2015 season after taking a leave in order to seek treatment for alcoholism. After time in rehab, Sarkisian came on with the Tide as an offensive analyst and later promoted to the offensive coordinator position.
Sarkisian will come in as the third coach in the last eight seasons for Texas. The program has found great difficulty in finding a coach that could reignite that Texas Fight that will stick and stand the test of time. When you lose a legacy like Mack Brown after 16 years those are some big shoes to fill on so many different levels. The question is will Texas finally get their “Royal Flush,” in yet another bold buy-in with Sarkisian?
As for Herman, he leaves Texas 32-18 in four seasons. During his time he coached the Longhorns to just one Big 12 Championship in 2018 which they lost to their Red River rival the Sooners 39-27. Texas finished the chaotic 2020 season 6-3 in the regular season once again not making it to the Big 12 title game.
As much as we like to believe that when a program gives its word in the same breathe these days that is not a guarantee like it once used to be. While tradition and values will always remain the quest to win and the price tag that come with it often is what drives the game and prevails in the end. So until it signed and sealed on the dotted line the art of the game will be driven by a program’s ability to reach instantaneous success at the quickest rate.