Texas Longhorns legend lands new head coaching job

Dec 31, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Houston Cougars assistant coach Major Applewhite after a game against the Florida State Seminoles in the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Houston defeated Florida State 38-24. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Former Texas Longhorns quarterback Major Applewhite is getting another shot at being a head coach.

Applewhite has been awarded the top job at South Alabama, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Wednesday.

Sources: South Alabama is finalizing a deal to make Major Applewhite the school’s new head coach. pic.twitter.com/alf6kG3OfS

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 18, 2024

The 45-year-old coach has been South Alabama’s offensive coordinator under the departing Kane Wommack since 2021. Wommack left the program to become defensive coordinator at Alabama under Kalen DeBoer.

Applewhite has done a stellar job of turning the South Alabama offense into a well-oiled machine. The Jaguars finished first in yards per play and second in yards per rushing attempt in the Sun Belt Conference this past season. They were next to last in the year prior to Applewhite’s arrival.

Under Wommack and Applewhite, South Alabama enjoyed its best three-year run in program history. The Cougars have a 22-16 record since the pair arrived in 2021. The team also recorded its first-ever 10-win campaign in 2022.

Applewhite had a brief stint as the head coach at Houston. He took over for the departing Tom Herman for the bowl game in 2016 and then went 15-10 over his two full seasons as the head coach from 2017-2018.

Houston began the 2018 campaign 7-1 and was ranked as high as 17 in the AP poll during the year. However, a late-season collapse capped off by a 56-point loss to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl led to Applewhite’s dismissal.

Applewhite started at quarterback for Texas from 1998-2001. He passed for 8,353 yards and 60 touchdowns over his Longhorns career.