Texas announced Saturday that it is breaking up with football coach Tom Herman after four seasons, sources told ESPN’s Chris Low that Longhorns has eliminated Steve Sarkisian, the offensive coordinator in Alabama, as a replacement and hopes to finalize a deal with him soon. .
Texas said in a statement that athletic director Chris Del Conte evaluated the program and recommended a change of university president Jay Hartzell. Herman went 32-18 in Texas and 7-3 last season, culminating in a win over Colorado in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Tuesday.
“Decisions like this are very, very difficult and certainly not something I take easily,” Del Conte said in a statement. “As I said, my philosophy is to wait until the end of the season to analyze all the evaluation factors of any of our programs.
“After much deliberation and much thought, as I looked back at the whole place of our football program and discussed its future, it became clear that it was in the interest of the University of Texas to move in a different way. . direction.”
Hartzell and Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT Board of Directors, agreed with Del Conte’s recommendation and approved the change, according to a university statement.
Sarkisian, a former coach at USC and Washington, won the Broyles 2020 Award as the nation’s top assistant. Alabama will face Ohio State in the football college playoff national championship on January 11th.
Sarkisian, who earns $ 2.5 million a season for Nick Saban’s staff with Crimson Tide, turned down Auburn overtures in search of head coach last month and turned down Colorado head coach last year.
He would be the first assistant coach hired by Texas to lead his program since 1951, when the Longhorns promoted Ed Price to the role.
Herman, 45, led Texas to the Big 12 championship game, a Sugar Bowl championship and 10 wins in 2018, but the program has not been able to return to that level in the past two seasons. He revised his coaching staff after 2019, replacing both coordinators and several other assistants, but Texas started slowly and finished behind Oklahoma and Iowa in the Big 12 race.
“I think the standard should be what I’ve always said, which is to be in conversation and compete for the November and December conference championships,” Herman said on November 30 when asked about his service status. . “I was there this year. I was there two years ago. I did some really good things and I got short in a game of four extra hours. I came up with three short points and two short points and two more games.”
Herman won 4-0 in Texas, but never won the Big 12 and won 1-4 against rival Oklahoma.
Del Conte issued a statement last month after Texas ended its regular season, according to which Herman “is our coach.” That changed on Saturday.
“I am grateful for all that Coach Herman has done and for the hard work and dedication that he and his staff have put in the name of our program and the student-athletes,” Del Conte said in a statement on Saturday. “I believe him for all his efforts and for the service provided to our institution and I wish him all the best in the future.”
Herman had been under contract until the 2024 season.
Texas will owe Herman about $ 15 million to buy the last three years of his contract. Longhorns will owe about another $ 10 million to buy the remaining contracts for its assistants, which are guaranteed offers for several years. In May 2019, the university’s regents approved a two-year extension for Herman, which takes place in the 2023 season. The last two years of the agreement would have paid Herman $ 6.5 million in 2022 and $ 6.75 million. in 2023.
Mark Schlabach and Dave Wilson contributed to this report.