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UPDATE 4:45 p.m.: Texas makes it official and hires Steve Sarkisian.
Welcome to Texas, @CoachSark! pic.twitter.com/6jHwJPoLtA
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 2, 2021
UPDATE 1:15 p.m.: ESPN commentator David Pollack says he thinks Steve Sarkisian has turned down Texas and one of the best college football jobs in America. Wow.
I see and have heard that Sark is the guy at Texas and now I have heard that Sark turned the job down. ♂️
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) January 2, 2021
In a stunning move on Saturday, the Texas Longhorns fired head coach Tom Herman following his fourth season in Austin. Texas finished the COVID-19 season 7-3, with a 55-23 win in the Alamo Bowl over the Colorado Buffaloes. Herman was 32-18 at UT, including 4-0 in bowl games, and incredibly got a public vote of confidence from his athletic director Chris Del Conte on December 12th.
Del Conte reiterated that Herman would be his coach in 2021, but just 20 days and after a dominating bowl win, that has changed.
“There has been a lot of speculation about the future of our football coach,” Del Conte said in a statement. “My policy is to wait until the end of the season before evaluating and commenting on our program and coaches.
“With the close of the regular season, I want to reiterate that Tom Herman is our coach,” Del Conte added.
Don’t forget Del Conte actively pursued Urban Meyer to replace Herman while he was the sitting coach, so staying true to his word isn’t exactly his reputation.
Here’s part of the official statement from Texas through Yahoo Sports:
With our football season coming to a close, our vice president and athletics director, Chris Del Conte, has evaluated the UT program’s strengths and weaknesses and where the program is relative to our goals. While we have made measured 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.
Texas would owe Herman and his staff $24 million, according to Yahoo.
Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is expected to be named the replacement according to some reports. Alabama will play in the 2021 College Football Playoff Championship Game on January 11th in Miami.