With the announcement that Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is now the 31st Texas Longhorns football coach, the focus is on how Sarkisian will build his first team at Forty Acres.
As Sarkisian grew and matured in the years since several alcohol-related incidents led to his resignation at USC, he has increasingly emphasized the value of his assistants.
Sarkisian compared being coached for the first time to a fire hose and admitted that he initially tried to solve all the problems on his own.
“Sometimes you don’t inspire enough confidence and faith in the team you hire,” Sarkisian said in an introductory conference call to Zoom with reports on Saturday. “But I think now, after spending time in the National Football League, having obviously spent the last two years with Coach Saban here in Alabama, you realize the value of the team in hiring such a great team is putting people in place to do what you’re asking them to do. I think that takes some of the burden off your shoulders as a head coach and allows you to manage people and not overreact to some of the other things that are happening and allow these people to do what they do. And I think it keeps you focused, I think it keeps you down to earth. “
Assembling an initial technical team is an area that confused Charlie Strong and Tom Herman.
Strong was forced to fire two of his assistants after his first season, including Bruce Chambers, the only remnant of the Mack Brown era, then fired his offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. If Strong simply did not receive the Management’s necessary support to make better hires or just made the wrong choices, decreases in importance because he made several off-season decisions during the season.
Herman believed that bringing most of his team from Houston with him would provide the alignment of the program he sought, but developmental failures and a disappointing regular season forced Herman to fire the two coordinators and replace five other assistant coaches last year.
Herman’s substitutes have had some success this season, especially defensive coordinator Chris Ash and his team, so Sarkisian’s first challenge will be deciding whether he wants to retain any of Herman’s assistants.
Prior to the media meeting on Saturday, Sarkisian made an initial call with assistants and will conduct individual interviews in the coming days, although those discussions may be suspended until Sarkisian finishes training for Alabama in the national championship game.
According to Bruce Feldman, Sarkisian did not make decisions about the support team.
In addition to the social media team, which has done an excellent job in recent years, two potentially easy decisions for Sarkisian would include hiring High School Relations Director Bob Shipley and Recruitment Director Bryan Carrington. Several current and former players have already defended Carrington and his retention would allow some continuity in recruiting 2021 and 2022. Shipley has long-standing ties to Texas high school football coaches who would benefit Sarkisian, who has never coached in the state.
Ash’s return, along with an up-and-coming young assistant such as cornerback coach Jay Valai or longtime defense coach Oscar Giles, could provide continuity on the pitch and help prevent transfers from that side of the ball after the defense of Ash improved significantly over the season and played well in the bowl game, despite losing four starting players to choose to leave.
However, there is a big name on the market that is already connected to work and has previous ties to Texas – former Florida and Caroline South coach Will Muschamp, who was named head coach in the waiting for Mack Brown several lives ago. Although Muschamp has failed as a head coach on both previous stops, he is still highly regarded as a defensive mind.
FootballScoop also mentioned one of Muschamp’s former players in Texas, Ole Miss Blake Gideon’s special team coordinator, who has trained defenders in the past and looks like a young, up-and-coming coach. He went from West Carolina to the state of Georgia, to Houston and now to Ole Miss for the past four years. When Muschamp spent a season as Auburn’s defensive coordinator, between his senior technician jobs in Florida and South Carolina, he hired Gideon as a graduate assistant.
Sarkisian may also choose to bring one or more assistants with him from Alabama.
The main name is Kyle Flood, the former Rutgers coach who worked with Sarkisian with the Falcons before joining him in Tuscaloosa. It was Flood who helped to convince the Brockermeyer brothers to reject their ties to Texas and sign with Alabama. As an offensive lineman, Flood would represent a home run signing, but he could also serve as an offensive coordinator for Sarkisian, a title he held at Rutgers before taking over the program.
Another intriguing Alabama assistant could bring recruiting ties to the state. Jeff Banks currently serves as a tight end coach and special team coordinator for Crimson Tide, after spending five years with the Aggies. As a recruiter, Banks was instrumental in helping Alabama hire former Texas quarterback Jalen Milroe and consensus five-star runner Camar Wheaton in the 2021 recruiting class.
Banks is not the only high profile recruiter initially connected to Sarkisian, with FootballScoop publicizing the name of Tosh Lupoi. In 2019, Lupoi made the leap into the NFL with Clevaland Browns and moved to the Atlanta Falcons this season, adding the title of coordinator of defensive racing games. It is not clear whether Lupoi would consider returning to the university game, but he has experience working with Sarkisian in Alabama and Washington.
Whatever Sarkisian’s choice to bring his team together, his previous experiences and those of his two predecessors make clear how important these initial decisions will be in determining whether Sarkisian will succeed or fail in Austin.