Multiple SEC coordinators reportedly on Steve Sarkisian's radar to potentially join his Texas staff
It’s official, Steve Sarkisian is leaving his offensive coordinator position on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff to take over the Texas program after the Longhorns fired Tom Herman on Saturday.
While Sarkisian will be coaching in Austin in 2021, he is currently expected to stay with the Crimson Tide through the upcoming College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Ohio State, which is set to be played on Monday, Jan. 11.
The early reports out of Austin indicate Sarkisian has pledged to hire an all-star coaching staff to help build his Texas program into a national title contender.
While that kind of talk can be standard stuff following many Power 5 coaching hires, Texas has the resources, is located in an ideal spot for recruiting, and has an easier path to the Playoff playing in the Big 12.
Considering his expertise is on the offensive side of the ball, there may be no more important hire for Sarkisian than his first defensive coordinator hire.
According to FootballScoop, there are many coaches with coordinator experience being vetted to join Sarkisian’s first staff in Austin.
That list includes former South Carolina and Florida head coach Will Muschamp, former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (who is also receiving interest from LSU and South Carolina for the same role), and Mississippi State’s Zach Arnett.
Houston Texans assistant coach Chris Rumph, a former South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee assistant, is also being mentioned as a candidate to join the Texas staff.
Just when the coaching carousel appeared to be slowing down, Texas found a way to get it spinning fast in a hurry.
Every time a coach is fired in FBS I always cringe since I know the first thing on everyone’s mind is Bama. What coach can I poach from the Saban tree.
Who’s Bama’s defensive coordinator? I doubt he’ll get poached.
That’s funny
I doubt Misery will ever have to face this dilemma.
Bama never did either until Saban.
Misery was too chicken $hit to play Iowa in a bowl and blamed COVID.
Wowza, that escalated quickly. I’ll never bring up the fact your defensive coordinator will not get poached ever again.
It’s all good. In retrospect, you can have Pete Golding. No strings attached.
I wonder if anyone stops to think that the key to the coaching success in the Saban tree is being three deep at every position. If you’ve seen the documentary with Saban and Belichick, Saban basically said that he liked coaching college because he wasn’t bound by player contracts(guaranteed playing time). If a player wasn’t playing like he wanted, he could just plug someone else in. Must be nice to have that luxury. Talent is a huge factor in college football. Bobby Bowden was once quoted as saying “it’s not the X’s and O’s but the Jimmy’s and Joe’s” when asked about what it takes to win in college football.
exactly. Saban didn’t do much before going to LSU where he could get elite talent.
I mean if you don’t count turning around Toledo in one year and getting Michigan State to 9-2 in 4 years when they had like 5 losing seasons in a row before he arrived.
This has been going on for decades, nothing new here.
That, above all else is the secret to Saban’s success. If you look at most coaches that have success, they begin to falter when their assistants start being poached.
Curious as to why other teams assistant coaches (tOSU, Clemson, UGA, OU, etc) that have explosive offenses seem to never be considered for coaches.
When did UGA have an explosive offense? Ohio State made their star coordinator the HC. OU did the same. The former OC at Clemson fell on his sword as a HC.
You know what I’m getting at. It seems like the Saban tree is the only one bearing fruit. I’m sure there’s more out there. Look around.
Like Jim Chaney?
No.
@sds1967: SCarolina didn’t poach a Bama coach, Auburn didn’t poach a Bama coach, Arizona didn’t poach a Bama coach, Illinois didn’t poach a Bama coach so on and so on. Quit acting like every school who hired a new HC already, poached one from Bama.
As a matter of fact, Auburn and Arizona reached out to Sark for an interview which he declined.
I think it’s pretty certain AU reached out to Napier, but I don’t know if there’s any confirmation about talking to Sark. Still, Boise didn’t poach a Bama coach, Vandy. Again, it’s not like every HC getting hired was poached from Bama.
@sds1967 Tennessee has hired 2 coaches from the Saban tree (Dooley and Pruitt) and the other 2 joined it (Kiffin and Butch Jones). Does not guarantee success!
@DRJSM: Yeah if Dooley is considered from the “Saban” tree then Sarkisian is more a product of the “Pete Carroll” tree than he is Saban’s.
Herman was from OSU, Clemson locked theirs into huge contracts before everyone else did. OU has lost a few also. The difference is that as successful as those schools are, they can not compare to the success that Bama has had. Bama has been in all the CFPCGs except 2. That does not even take into consideration the BCS. This will be Bama’s 6th title since 2009 if they win.
Sabans success has little to do with his coaches. It has to do with the talented kids that come there every year.
Oh so all coaches are like Gus and do not develop their players?
Nothing to do with Gus. Saban was nothing before going to LSU and a program that was willing to commit recruiting violations to get the talent he needed.
Why you think he left LSU? Funny thing is he and Mark Emmert left at the same time before NCAA came down on them.
Then he shows up at Alabama how convenient. Bama was so desperate to end the losing skid to AU they would give him anything he wanted, And the boosters have gift wrapped him players from all over the country.
Old pal Mark Emmert is now calling the shots for the NCAA and so things wont change until at the very least Emmert is gone.
He left LSU to be an nfl coach. He didn’t have recruiting violations at LSU and he left the program in great shape.
LSU had 5 NCAA recruiting violations under Saban. He left town along with old pal Mark Emmert.
They were pressuring teachers to change grades on athletes. Guess you dont remember that huh?
Will Muschamp would have the benefit of experience recruiting in Texas. Though I think Will would forget who the head coach is if his one year with Gus is any indication.
I think the world has run out of people who think Will Muschamp knows how to coach.
He’s fooled the world twice over. Never has anyone been paid more NOT to coach. Think he left Texas at the altar too, wasn’t he the head coach in waiting for Mack Brown?
Yes he was. Not sure if that really means much though. Haven’t we already heard people say Bama was making or going to make Sark the ‘HC in waiting’ at Bama?
In this case he would not be the HC.
@ Booches94, that was just some fans talking. It was always going to be like this. Sark was going to go elsewhere, and if Bama wanted him to replace Saban he could decide to come back if he wished. I will admit I thought it would be after next year.
Please hire Todd Grantham! He’s great especially on third down.
He’s already employed
#HirePruitt as your DC Sark. Take that b*tch out of Knoxville.
Texas needs (Coach) Chad Morris as OC
What everyone fails to realize with Saban he is the mastermind behind behind the offense and especially the defense. It really don’t matter who the coordinator is they are going to run the offense and defense Exactly! how Saban wants it ran you guys don’t understand that period. Like I said Saban is MASTERMIND!! you notice when these coordinators leave Bama they don’t have great success at all and it’s not a slight to them but it’s true. Saban is what runs this Alabama awesome ship not the coordinators they just fill in the position plugs and learn and coach what Saban wants. This is why Alabama is successful year end and year out
*year in and year out!
The grammar police waiting to pounce with nothing better to do. It must be horrible to be. A mizzou fan.
Bama gets alot more credit for coaching then they deserve IMO. Given the same players there are at least 10 coaches that would have the same success as Bama has.
It isn’t like these are 3 star players being coached up.
You mean like the 5* QB that AU has? That is what you get when you recruit 5* or any star players and do not have the ability to coach them.
and your point? You have a team loaded with more talent then ANY team in the history of football. 5 stars two deep at every position. You should never ever lose.
Has little to do with Saban other then hes allowed to use whatever recruiting tactics he does. Likely just allows his boosters to do his heavy lifting.
I wasn’t implying that Malzahn was one of those ten coaches. You assumed that.
What im saying is given the same talent level that Bama recruits there are at least 10 coahes that would duplicate Sabans record.
3 star players like Mac Jones or Mark Ingram or Josh Jacobs, etc. Yes Bama has lots of talent but they also coach up all their talent. Or how do you explain how Mac Jones went from lightly regarded 3 star to possible heisman winner and possible first round draft pick.
Guess you don’t get it. A 3 star QB standing behind 5 star o linemen throwing to 5 start wide receivers and handing the ball to a couple of five star running backs.
And you think that is coaching them up…..got it
Name a single Bama QB starting in the NFL. They all become also rans
I should say that actually earned a starting nod before you pull Tua or Jalen out . They both got starts for crappy teams that have no other options.
Mark Ingram was no 3 star try again. he was rated 4 star 189 ranked player in the country.
@trolly123
LMAO a barner who takes player development lightly you guys finished top 13 in recruiting every year and you are still garbage. Your roster has always been filled with 4 stars but you COACHING is a joke. You win of trick plays and flukes. Pipe down over there Harsin what a pathetic and ignorant comment.
Has nothing to do with Auburn you knucklehead. You likely don’t read all that well so I’ll go easy on you.
BTW there mister Tide fan. You act like every other ignorant Tide fan that cant admit that their team has benefited from the innumerable shady and darn right illegal recruiting tactics.
Those trick plays kept your team from making the playoffs last year didn’t they?
A Mizzou fan trying to crack jokes at the mighty BAMAOur lousy defense was plenty good enough to stop your pathetic offense this year. We disposed of you quite quickly this year…as we do every year. Go back to the Big 12. You clearly don’t belong in the SEC.
A Georgia fan commenting is also hilarious. Who’s your daddy?? And no I’m not speaking of Florida.