Texas football: Alabama assistant joining Steve Sarkisian’s staff

Steve Sarkisian will have Kyle Flood serving as the Texas Longhorns’ offensive line coach.

Nick Saban has lost yet another top assistant to another job, as Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian was able to bring offensive line coach Kyle Flood with him to Austin, according to Chip Brown of 247Sports.

Flood spent the last two seasons in the same position on Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide staff. While Flood is best known for his 11 years associated with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, he spent the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons working for Dan Quinn alongside Sarkisian on the Atlanta Falcons. Though it is a lateral move for Flood, this is a big hire for Sarkisian at Texas.

Kyle Flood will open the floodgates for Texas football recruitment

Flood played a huge part in Alabama landing one of the greatest offensive line classes in college football history. This class included JC Latham, as well as Texas Longhorns legacies in the Brockermeyer twins, James and Tommy. Being able to bring a recruiter and a position coach as strong as Flood will go a long way towards Sarkisian being able to bring Texas football back.

When people think of Texas Flood in Austin, they think of Stevie Ray Vaughn. While that may not change for most people, what will change is the level of mental toughness needed to win big on the gridiron at Texas. There is no reason Texas cannot compete with the arch-rival Oklahoma Sooners for Big 12 championships. Together, Sarkisian and Flood can accomplish that lofty goal.

Next for Sarkisian could be hiring his defensive coordinator with former Missouri head coach and current Arkansas coordinator, Barry Odom, the leading candidate after Will Muschamp decided against taking the opportunity.

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