On January 13, it was reported that Sarkisian has consented to a four-year contract extension with the Longhorns after Nick Saban, the head coach of Alabama, retired. Sarkisian’s new contract became public on Saturday, and the Texas Board of Regents is expected to ratify it in the next several days.Beginning with Texas’ SEC debut in 2024, Sarkisian will receive a rise from $5.8 million to $10.3 million. After that, he will automatically receive a $100,000 raise each year until the end of his contract in 2030. With that pay, the 49-year-old Sarkisian is now among the highest-paid college football coaches, only behind Kirby Smart of Georgia and Dabo Swinney of Clemson, both of whom have won multiple national titles.
Beginning with Texas’ SEC debut in 2024, Sarkisian will receive a rise from $5.8 million to $10.3 million. After that, he will automatically receive a $100,000 raise each year until the end of his contract in 2030. With that pay, the 49-year-old Sarkisian is now among the highest-paid college football coaches, only behind Kirby Smart of Georgia and Dabo Swinney of Clemson, both of whom have won multiple national titles.
Sarkisian, the offensive coordinator for Alabama in 2019–2020, has three seasons of 25–14 record at Texas. In 2023, the Longhorns had their most successful season in almost ten years, finishing 12-2 and taking home the Big 12 title before falling to Washington in the CFP Sugar Bowl semifinal.
Following Saban’s retirement on January 10, there was instant conjecture that Sarkisian would be a contender to take over as head coach of the Crimson Tide. It’s unclear if “Sark” ever gave the Alabama position any serious thought, but on January 12 in the morning (the day the Crimson Tide hired Kalen DeBoer from Washington to succeed Nick Saban), he re-posted a tweet from the official Texas football Twitter/X account that stated, “We’re just getting started.”
