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It is understandable to be skeptical. After more than a decade of expectations that have not been met, it is reasonable to assume that new Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.
Only the news takes a while to be processed. After the semifinals at the College Football Playoff – a day when Sarkisian helped elevate Alabama to a national championship appearance as the team’s offensive coordinator – the 46-year-old was abruptly named the head coach of a school with seemingly infinite resources.
It’s bold. Amazing. Expensive. And while it finds strong and contradictory opinions, it has a chance to be exactly what a program that is still trying to find itself needs at the right time.
“This is a unique and attractive opportunity to take this historic program to the next level, competing once again among the best in college football,” said Sarkisian in a statement released by the school.
Tom Herman, after listening a few weeks ago he would still be in Texas in 2021, he is no longer the coach of the Longhorns. Instead, it will allegedly received a $ 15 million purchase after Texas announced it would make a change as a head coach. If his coaching staff is also discharged, it could cost Texas $ 24 million to restart its football program.
Texas, despite occasional signs of being back, is not back. In the past 11 years, the Longhorns have won double-digit games only once. For some perspective, Syracuse has the same number of 10-win seasons during that time. Arkansas has done this twice already.
For a program as rich in resources as the Longhorns – the kind of resource rich that can make such a move possible – these results are simply unacceptable.
Along the way, there were moments. In fact, Herman’s perfect 4-0 mark in bowling has inspired optimism for the future with each off-season. Even this year, after Texas completely dominated Colorado with young players showing flashes in the attack, we slowly started to crawl through the same rabbit hole.
The decision to fire Herman was a surprise. Not because of his resume and a record of 22-13 conferences in Austin, a record that speaks volumes about the program’s inability to regain its status as one of Big 12’s most important programs. Instead, after chasing Urban Meyer at the end of the year, it looked like Herman would probably get one more chance just because another candidate didn’t show up.
But that is not the case now. And as soon as the national championship is played on January 11, Sarkisian, who will command Alabama’s attack during the game, will be asked to do what Herman and Charlie Strong couldn’t do.
The journey to Texas, of course, is filled with incredible highs and challenging audiences for Sarkisian. A former Washington and USC coach, Sarkisian was fired by the Trojans in 2015 after a series of alcohol-related events.
After entering rehab, Sarkisian resurfaced in Alabama, first as an analyst and then as the team’s offensive coordinator. He spent time in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons as an offensive coordinator before returning to Alabama in the same role.
This season, Sarkisian was voted the winner of the Broyles Prize, awarded to the best assistant coach in college football.
Vasha Hunt / Associated Press
In Sarkisian, Texas will inherit one of the best and most creative offensive players in the sport. While having an arsenal of talented players has undoubtedly helped Sarkisian’s efforts over the past few seasons in Alabama, his work has been extraordinary. In consecutive seasons, Crimson Tide is the country’s second top scorer.
Perhaps his most impressive achievement in these two seasons is the way he transformed quarterback Mac Jones into a Heisman finalist in a matter of 14 months. Texas had some success with Sam Ehlinger in the center, but Sarkisian’s presence should provide an immediate shock to the position and the attack.
Quarterback Casey Thompson, who replaced injured Ehlinger during the team’s bowling game and responded with an electric performance, can be a fascinating player to watch in 2021. Like freshman Bijan Robinson, the star of the team’s running back, which flourished during the second half of 2020.
Where Sarkisian could have its biggest impact in the coming months, however, is on recruitment. While he was able to develop Jones into one of the sport’s elite QBs, Sarkisian also recruited and hired 5-star QB Bryce Young. The California native is widely considered the future of the program.
“Sark was definitely a catalyst,” Craig Young, Bryce’s father, told the Bleacher Report earlier this year.
Vasha Hunt / Associated Press
For Texas, that part is vital. Having to compete with Texas A&M, the SEC and beyond, getting the state’s elite talent has been a problem for Herman in recent years. And given the unknown surrounding his future, Sarkisian will have to start running.
Having just produced three of Heisman’s top five in the Alabama attack, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Sarkisian conquer an elite class in a short time when he arrives. This part always came naturally to him, no matter where he trained, and the vision is likely to be extremely attractive to many in the coming months.
In 2021, these are the ingredients for long-term success. Offense and recruitment. It is where the primary competition of the Longhorns, Oklahoma, thrived under Lincoln Riley. It is where a program like Texas, with so many benefits, could thrive under proper guidance.
He’s not Urban Meyer. And given its history and consequences at USC, it is understandable that some may not fully accept this hiring. But Sarkisian seems, fortunately, to be quite emotionally and physically. And while it’s natural to be obsessed with the sport’s biggest names – a path that Texas has traveled many times before – the Longhorns have hired someone that other conference coaches will fear.
It will be a long time yet. Sarkisian will not inherit DeVonta Smith or Najee Harris or perhaps the best offensive line in college football. Texas, while not lacking in excellent football players, will still be a work in progress. But Sarkisian will provide a spark, and the impact can be immediate.
What happens next, of course, is yet to be seen. For Herman and Charlie Strong, success was not sustainable. When they were hired, there was optimism that they were the ones who would bring Texas “back”.
More than a decade later, Texas is still looking. The Longhorns will turn to a coach who has gone through his own football and personal revival for the past 10 years, a coach with the skills to lead a major college football program in 2021 and beyond.
It was not the change we expected or anticipated, and perhaps this is exactly what this program needs.