It may have taken less than 72 hours for Greg Byrne to land Kalen DeBoer as Nick Saban’s replacement but it was certainly a jam-packed week of outreach for the Alabama Athletic Director.
Multiple reports confirmed that Florida State head coach Mike Norvell was another candidate for the Crimson Tide but another that was officially confirmed this week was Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.
When speaking with ESPN, Sarkisian shared that he did briefly consider replacing Saban at Alabama until ultimately signing a new extension with Texas.
“Naturally, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it,” Sarkisian said. “But it took me all of about 60 seconds to say ‘Yeah, I’m not doing that.’ I had an awesome two years at Alabama and loved my time under Coach Saban, but ultimately you want to reap what you sow.”
Sarkisian led the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff last season where his team would fall short to DeBoer and Washington in the semifinal game.
Since taking over Sarkisian has revived the program as he holds an overall 25-14 record while returning one of the most talented rosters in the country which also added former Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond and tight end Amari Niblack.
“We’ve poured a ton into this program for three years, and we’re on the cusp, I think of going on a run that will be epic,” Sarkisian said. “I believe that. Our staff does, and our players do, too, just the support we have and the culture we’ve created here. Why leave something like that?”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
