Steve Sarkisian officially announced as new head coach of Longhorns football

The University of Texas made it official Saturday that they are moving on from coach Tom Herman and entering the Steve Sarkisian era of Texas Longhorns football.

Sarkisian is the current offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide, which won their playoff game against Notre Dame Friday and will face off against Ohio State on Jan. 11 in the National Championship. Sarkisian will remain on the sidelines for Alabama through the National Championship before officially coming to Austin to take over duties.

Sarkisian was the head coach of the University of Washington and USC before going to Alabama in 2016 to fill in for Lane Kiffin, who was fired before Alabama's title game against Clemson. Sarkisian then moved to the pros and took over play-calling duties for the Atlanta Falcons as their offensive coordinator. Sarkisian joined the Tide in 2019 and has been the offensive coordinator since.

For Herman, the firing comes on the heels of a 55-23 Alamo Bowl win against Colorado. Herman is one of the only head coaches this season to be fired after winning his bowl game. The Longhorns under Herman were able to win one New Year's Six Bowl, but were never able to get over the hump and win a Big 12 title.

Reactions from around college football were mixed with the announcement of Sarkisian, whose last head coaching job was almost five years ago. With a 2-2 bowl game record, Herman already has double his bowl game wins in just his four years at Texas.

And with the replacement means a $15 million buyout of Herman's contract and nearly $24 million to staff.