Texas Head Coach List

Likely Wouldn’t Jump Ship, But Have To Try

Dan Lanning, Oregon

Dan Lanning has turned down Alabama, presumably LSU, and Florida in the past two coaching carousels. I would argue Texas is a better job than all of those, however, I don’t see him giving up what he’s got at Oregon. He’s undoubtibly one of the best head coaches in College Football and on the same trajectory as Steve Sarkisian is at Texas right now.

Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Kalen DeBoer took over the Alabama job when Nick Saban retired in 2024. Would he leave for the Texas job? DeBoer has Alabama in a good spot to make the College Football Playoff this year. However, he has dropped games to Oklahoma twice, a bad Florida State, a bad Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. He has also beaten Kirby Smart twice.

DeBoer also has Alabama recruiting as good as anyone. Alabama finished as the #3 class in 2025, including 5-Star QB Keelon Russell. They also have the #3 class in the 2026 cycle currently. DeBoer may not want to leave Alabama, but Texas is a better job in most people’s eyes and Alabama fans have put him on the hot-seat numerous times in the last one and a half seasons he’s been their head coach.

Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame

Maybe the most realistic head coach on this list to jump ship to Texas. Marcus Freeman is a breath of fresh air for a Notre Dame program who had Brian Kelly as their head coach for 12 seasons. Now, Brian Kelly at Notre Dame was a very successful head coach, ending his tenure with a 92-39 record before jumping to LSU. However, Kelly is also maybe the most generally disliked coach in college football. With no hindsight needed, Notre Dame fans were generally apathetic when Kelly left Notre Dame.

Marcus Freeman has taken this job and ran with it. Coming off a National Championship loss, Freeman has taken advantage and currently has the #4 recruiting class in 2026. In-season Freeman has been just as good. after dropping some bad games to Marshall and NIU early in his tenure, Freeman has bounced back and it looks like Notre Dame will be in the college football playoff for the second year in a row.

Sitting Head Coaches Who Would Maybe Jump Ship

All of these coaches have had success in recent years. They all are coaching at programs a tier below the University of Texas. However, for various reasons they might not want to leave their current situation.

Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Brent Key, Georgia Tech

Two coaches at their alma mater. Both hard nosed football guys that preach smash mouth football but with a touch of modern passing triple option concepts. Neither have had the resources they would have at Texas, but still have brought their programs to unfamiliar heights.

Clark Lea has built Vanderbilt into a true college football playoff caliber program. The culture and underdog mentality is admirable. Is it sustainable at a place like Texas? I have no doubt Lea would bring a solid culture and build on what Sarkisian has already instilled. How would he do as the odds-on favorite week in and week out, though?

Brent Key has also taken Georgia Tech from a plucky underdog to an ACC Championship favorite. Key has experience at an elite program, coaching the offensive line at Alabama from 2016-2018. Getting Texas to an elite level along the offensive line would be a welcomed change from the 2025 season.

The biggest questions would be if he would retain this defensive staff? He did hire away Blake Gideon last off-season, could they both return and retain Pete Kwiatkowski? Georgia Tech’s offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is also a huge reason for Georgia Tech’s rise. Would Key bring Faulkner with him? If so, this might be a home run hire for Texas.

Mike Elko, Texas A&M

Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

Now, full transparency, these would be “wouldn’t it be hilarious” hires. Texas hired away A&M’s baseball coach and Tech’s basketball coach in the recent past. This would just be another reminder than the Longhorns run the state of Texas. However, would either coach actually leave? Five years ago everyone would scoff at the notion that an A&M or Tech coach wouldn’t jump ship for Texas. Times have changed, though.

Mike Elko and Texas A&M have done a great job recruiting and marrying that off-season success with in-season results. That’s what was missing in the Jimbo Fisher era in College Station. Elko is creating a winning culture and recruiting at an elite level. It looks like Texas A&M will be a force in the SEC for the foreseeable future.

Joey McGuire and Texas Tech’s boosters are also putting Texas Tech in a spot where they will be the alpha in the Big 12. Texas Tech’s boosters have been spending at a rate no other Big 12 team can match. McGuire, to his credit, hasn’t wasted their funds. Tech looks like a College Football Playoff lock. Looking ahead at the 2026 and 2027 recruiting class, it doesn’t look like they’re going away anytime soon.

Elite Coordinators

As a broad statement, when hiring coordinators, its also a question of who will they get on their staff? How well do they handle the big money program donors?

Brian Hartline, Offensive Coordinator, Ohio State

Brian Hartline might be the single best recruiter in college football. The list of Ohio State wide receivers and what they’ve accomplished in college football and what they’re currently doing in the NFL is well documented. When recruiting at an elite level like Hartline, it tells me that he’s incredibly likable. I think its very likely Hartline would do a great job at funding the Texas program further and getting all of the big money boosters to buy into his vision of the program, as he does when he’s recruiting.

Hartline also being a coordinator, only working at Ohio State, and being young. He might not have a defensive coordinator inmind. That could leave a path to him retaining most if not all of this current Texas defensive staff with Pete Kwiatkowski at the helm. That would be a huge bonus and eliminate a lot of early speed bumps in development on the defensive side.

Glenn Schumann, Defensive Coordinator, Georgia

If you can’t beat them… hire them. Glenn Schumann is the next inline as a Nick Saban/Kirby Smart disciple. Schumann was co-DC while Lanning was at Georgia as their DC. He then took over as defensive coordinator when Lanning took the Oregon head coaching job.

Glenn Schumann has been around two of the most dominant college football programs for the last 17 years and he’s only 35 years old. His staff would be a complete mystery, ultimately how well he is at hiring an offensive staff would determine his fate at a program like Texas.

Will Stein, Offensive Coordinator, Oregon

Will Stein is a former Louisville quarterback who has experience coaching in the state of Texas. He worked Quality Control for the University of Texas from 2015-2017. He then became the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/quaterback coach for Lake Travis HS in Austin Texas (where he coached former Longhorn uarterback Hudson Card). Stein then moved onto UTSA where he was first a passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, then promoted to co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He has been the offensive coordniator and quarterback coach at Oregon since 2023, where he helped Bo Nix get drafted in the top-12. Stein also helped Dillon Gabriel get drafted in the top-100.

Will Stein clearly has a feel for the Austin area and the state of Texas after coaching there for 8 years. Stein also clearly knows how to work with quarterbacks and get the most out of them. Does he recruit at an elite level like Hartline? That’s to be determined. Also, as long as he compiles a staff that recruits at an elite level, if that isn’t his strong suit its mitigated.

Similar to Hartline, Will Stein is an offensive guy. His defensive staff is completely unknown, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think he could retain most of this current defensive staff. That would be a huge bonus in picking the next head coach of the Texas Longhorns.

Final Texas Head Coach List

Dan Lanning
Kalen DeBoer
Marcus Freeman
Brent Key
Brian Hartline
Will Stein
Clark Lea
Glenn Schumann
Mike Elko
Joey McGuire

This is my final list of who I would want Chris Del Conte and the Texas Longhorns to hire in the event Steve Sarkisian does leave for the NFL. The future for the Texas Longhorns is bright with or without Steve Sarkisian. It’s undeniable Sark would leave Texas in a much better place than he’s found it. I hope he does stay and finish the job here. Although the 2025 season wasn’t what everyone thought it would be before the season, there is a lot to be excited about for 2026 and beyond.