After leading Texas to the College Football Playoff semifinals, Steve Sarkisian agreed to a four-year contract extension to remain the head coach at Texas.
The contract, which runs through the 2030 season, comes after the Longhorns went 12-2 and reached the Sugar Bowl, falling 37-31 to Washington to come one game short of playing for a national championship.
It has been an impressive rise for Sarkisian at Texas, with the Longhorns going 5-7 during his first season in 2021 before making the improvement to an 8-5 record last season and an appearance in the Alamo Bowl.
“What a great day it is to have Coach Sarkisian’s contract extended to 2030,” Texas president Jay Hartzell said in a release. “He’s done a remarkable job rebuilding and taking our football program back to great heights in three short years. But the things that make me most proud are the leadership he’s brought and its impact on our student-athletes.
The Big 12 champion Longhorns were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in 2023 after a ranking of No. 11 in the preseason poll. In Sarksian’s three seasons in Austin, the Longhorns are 25-14.
“I said it when I came here three years ago, this is a dream job for me. It’s a destination job, and I’m fired up every day to be the head coach at the University of Texas,” Sarkisian said. “We’re thrilled with what we’ve been able to accomplish and proud of the culture we’ve built and the way our players have grown — on and off the field. But we’re just getting started. I’ve said it all along, we’ve been building this program for long term success.”
Sarkisian, a Southern California native and former BYU quarterback, began his head coaching career at Washington in 2009. He guided the Huskies to a 34-29 record in five seasons before moving on to become head coach at Southern California, where he went 12-6 in two seasons before taking a leave of absence in 2015. He was subsequently fired.
In 2016, Sarkisian moved to Alabama as an analyst for Nick Saban’s staff then went to the Atlanta Falcons to serve as offensive coordinator for two seasons before returning to Alabama in 2019 as offensive coordinator.
This week, Sarkisian was briefly rumored to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Alabama, recently vacated by Saban, before the job went to Washington’s Kalen DeBoer.
