Texas, or its boosters or administration, has to have its way.
It makes sense whenever you fork over what’s going to end up being north of $30 million in a pandemic to get rid of Tom Herman and his staff to hire Steve Sarkisian and his. Money is a powerful thing.
The world saw what money can do in college football on Friday.
Late Thursday night, the bomb was dropped that former Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops would join Sarkisian’s coaching staff in Austin, Texas. It’s something that has been rumored to be in the works for awhile due to Stoops and Sarkisian’s relationship at Alabama where Stoops is an analyst under Nick Saban.
Then something changed. Friday morning, Brian Davis of the Austin American Statesman reported that Sarkisian told him that Stoops would not be heading to Texas.
What? On Thursday night, Stoops’ Twitter activity would suggest he thought he was heading to Texas, too. He was liking tweets about becoming a new coach at Texas. On Friday night, more clarity was provided.
Matt Zenits of Alabama.com, who reported Stoops to Texas on Thursday night, followed up his report. According to him, someone stepped in and stopped Stoops from joining the Longhorns between Thursday night and Friday morning.
“Stoops to Texas was enough of a done deal that Stoops informed Alabama and head coach Nick Saban of his plans, said goodbyes to people around the Crimson Tide program and was expected to fly to Texas on Friday to begin the process of finding a new place to live with his wife,” Zenits reported. “A Friday morning call from Sarkisian changed those plans. Sarkisian, the former Alabama offensive coordinator, shared during that call that he could no longer make the hire. Multiple sources referenced that backlash regarding the potential of hiring Stoops may have played a role in eliminating the possibility.”
It makes sense—this isn’t something unusual at Texas, but it’s wild to see it play out for everyone to see. Stoops should have no surprise, either.
According to Zenits, Stoops will return to Alabama as an analyst.
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