If Alabama football lost Steve Sarkisian, it could be a lot worse
While Alabama football is trying to focus on the National Championship against Ohio State, they suffered a potential distraction. While it has not yet been confirmed, multiple media outlets are reporting that Steve Sarkisian will replace Tom Herman as the head coach of Texas.
If this ends up being true, it will hurt Alabama in a lot of ways. Sarkisian is the greatest assistant coach in all of college football, and he has impacted both recruiting and the scheme for the Crimson Tide. Since taking over, Alabama has had multiple Heisman finalists from the offense. We have also seen all sorts of offensive records broken thanks to Sarkisian, and first-round draft picks have been in an abundance.
There is no doubt that it will hurt Alabama football to lose Sark. However, it could be a lot worse. For starters, this isn’t the first job that Sarkisian was considered for. He could be the head coach of the Auburn Tigers right now. While the subtraction will hurt, it at least won’t also be an addition to the Tide’s biggest rival. There are already enough Saban assistants in the SEC. Sarkisian heading to the Big 12 at least negates his impact on the SEC landscape.
Also, the Crimson Tide have clinched most of the recruiting class for the Early Signing Period. When a key assistant leaves, there is always a recruiting battle between them and the school that they leave. Since Alabama has signed most of their 2021 recruits, this battle is kicked down the road to 2022.
Now, Sarkisian could still poach current players or assistants, but that would always be the case given the situation. Going to Texas does not make that better or worse.
Going from Sarkisian to anyone will be a loss. However, this will be the hottest assistant vacancy in college football. Saban will likely have his first choice of available candidates. This is bad news for Alabama football, things could easily be worse for the Crimson Tide.