Report: Alabama analyst staying with UA after Steve Sarkisian pulls Texas offer
Mike Stoops won’t be heading to Austin after all.
Steve Sarkisian pulled Stoops’ offer to join the Texas staff after the Alabama analyst had already said his goodbyes in Tuscaloosa, according to a new report from AL.com’s Matt Zenitz.
According to the report, Sarkisian faced backlash over the Stoops’ family history with Texas rival Oklahoma. Mike Stoops worked as Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator from 1999-2003 and 2012-18. Mike’s brother Bob Stoops was the Oklahoma head coach from 1999 to 2016.
Sarkisian had offered Mike Stoops the linebackers coach position on the staff. Zenitz’s report details that Stoops had informed Nick Saban of his decision Thursday and was preparing to fly to Texas on Friday to begin the process of looking for a new place to live with his wife.
Zenitz writes that Stoops is now expected to remain in Tuscaloosa as an analyst on Saban’s staff. The report notes that Stoops “turned down multiple FBS defensive coordinator opportunities this offseason.”
Sarkisian, meanwhile, will be looking elsewhere to find his Longhorns linebackers coach. The Sarkisian Texas staff has a noted Alabama flavor, but his Crimson Tide options for the linebackers spot may be limited with another analyst from the 2020 UA staff, Charlie Strong, reportedly joining Urban Meyer’s Jacksonville Jaguars staff.
Well that didn’t take those Horned boosters long to show Sark who owns that team…pathetic. Like I said earlier I wonder how much his buyout will be in 3 years.. .
Definitely not a good look for Sark or Texas.
I couldn’t agree more. What a clown show.
EXACTLY
So totally typical of texas and its boosters/fans. They are truly messed up. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people(sarcasm).
It was probably fans more than boosters, most of them remember how crappy his defenses were at OU.
the difference between CNS and all other coaches…. CNS would tell boosters to KHA…where others will KTA.
Sark is learning very early “who” actually runs the Texas footfall program…Those oil-barons just cannot keep their fingers out of that Longhorn football pie.
This is HILARIOUS. Boosters made it very clear they own this team and Sark is simply there to call plays. No wonder this program is pathetic. Boosters can’t keep their nose out of the head football coach’s business. I’m glad to see Sark already stressing. This is embarrassing to TX…and especially to Sark. Daddy said “NO.” Sark probably got a little spanking too. who wants to go play in that atmosphere?? And especially coach in it?!
The players are seeing Sark is not really in charge.
Saris gotta suffer them boosters, and a love for old Jim Beam
Looks like he’ll be unemployed by the end of 23
Inexcusable. If Sark is ALREADY letting himself be dictated to by Buddy Garrity-like fatcats, he is destined to fail. You CANNOT let bankers and car dealers tell you who can and can’t be on your staff. Grow a pair, Sark…
This is Texas’ true problem, similar to a few other programs, but on steroids. The culture has been toxic for a while.
VOLS’s fans is another one when it turned it back on the hiring of Greg Schiano!
Sark will last 3-4 years at texas — he’ll walk away with a 15-20 million buyout then be back at alabama with an analyst job
Sark gets put in his place much quicker than I expected. I believe I would have ironed this out before accepting the job. A head coach that can’t hire whom he chooses is not much of a head coach! It appears Sark didn’t learn one of the most important aspects of being a head coach. What happens when boosters disagree with Sark about who should be starting?
When he was interviewing they probably assured and assured and assured him that he would have complete control and they’d totally stay out of his way.
I’ve certainly been in similar positions. Who hasn’t been lied to by a future employer?
This is not how this is being sold on the 247 board. They make no mention of the offer being made and then withdrawn. They only state that Sark says the report that Stoops had been hired at Texas was not true. I’m sure Red McCombs told his buddies that “We’d better show him who’s boss right now”
Well, now they’ve updated the story.
When it comes to boosters trying to run the show, UT is like The Barn but with real money. No Yellawood, but lots of oil wells.
Honestly, I’m not sure why Sark was even trying to hire him. There’s nothing that shows Mike Stoops is anywhere close to as good of a coach as either one of his brothers. He didn’t get the coaching gene like Bob and Mark.
Unfortunately, Sark is fixing to find out what happens when the boosters and fans are in control.
And players trying to dictate the school fight song. That is one screwed up mess, including the whole city of Austin.
Also, Mike Stoops was mentioned as someone Drink was considering for DC here, we don’t have meddling boosters, but thank goodness either Stoops turned it down or Drink never offered it to him.
I’m not so sure the boosters/fans weren’t right in this instance though. Mike Stoops as a coach is not a good hire, at Texas or otherwise.
Stoops is not a good coach though. Texas boosters/fans were right to protest that hire.
Can’t let boosters and fans make staff decisions like this. Gotta trust the guy you hired as HC.
Looks like they let him hire a better coach.
How many Stoops are they. I can’t keep up
Go get the stoop and find out! LOL
Texas gonna be Texas. And I dont think there is a program out there coast to coast that is as disliked as Texas. Why in the world would it matter that he has some Oklahoma ties. Crazy, but it is Texas. Lord I hope they never get an invite to the SEC or we will have to put up with their crap. Single handedly destroyed the old SWC. Ask anyone who left beginning with Arkansas, then Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri. They all say to get the he*l away from those morons.
They remember how crappy Mike’s defenses were at OU, evidently you don’t.
But… I thought.. Sark was in charge?? The problem with that program has been boosters.. I hope Sark is successful, but that’s going to be a challenge with the likes of Billy Bob and ole Matthew McConaughey making the calls on hiring..
I’m sure Stoops’ input is valued and he most likely discussed the job with Saban so there was probably no issue in him returning to Bama. Good thing he didn’t do like Rocker and sneak off in the middle of the night!!
This is just a bad look. Bowing to the fan base on the hiring of a coordinator due to previous employer and family ties is just sad, for Sark and the Longhorns. And I’m a Volunteer! I know a thing or two about hiring idiocy! Hope he gets his cajones back at some point
It seems like a common thread in these comments is that Mike Stoops isn’t a good coach. That may be true, but he was just going to be a LB coach. He was overqualified for that post and yet he was still denied.
Fantastic point. This was not the DC job, this was a position coach. That’s like assistant to the assistant manager….he was and is well qualified for that job. Regardless, according to the story, Sark was coerced into this because Stoops has such prominent Oklahoma ties, not for any coaching acumen that he does or doesn’t have. And THAT is the problem….
I don’t think I really believe all this.it seems to me if stoops had chances to be defense coordinator at several other schools this year and turned them down to stay at bama then why the world would he want to go to Austin to just be a linebackers coach.but at same time it does seem like the way the Texas program runs there program but still not going to go all in on this till I hear multiple sources say this happened.but if it did and I was sark I would not be having it at all.be enough for me to rip up contract
Texas has 1 National Championship in 50+ years. I’m still not sure why they consider themselves as a “relevant” college football program.