Official Coach Sark Thread of Dominance—haters back off

[Post Oak 20204]

I choose to be optimistic like I am every year at this time.  I'll deal with the crushing realizations in October.  

This is my cross 

[gmr548 16575]

Are the terms of the contract known?

[taybo20 2825]

15 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

I would like to think that CDC had a long conversation with Sark about his issues beforehand. If he didn't, then CDC needs to not have that job. 

More than just a conversation with him. Sark would have been fully vetted from people that know him and have character references. This wasn’t a unilateral choice. And if not then lots of people should be fired

[Brandywine 1316]

5 hours ago, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

Sark's wife could definitely dominate me.


 

Wiki says Sark is divorced, is this a new wife or girlfriend?

[NorthLoop 14180]

13 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

More than just a conversation with him. Sark would have been fully vetted from people that know him and have character references. This wasn’t a unilateral choice. And if not then lots of people should be fired

Agreed. My "long conversation" is more like CDC making goddamn sure that Sark isn't gonna get lost in the bottle and embarrass UT and it's donors. 

[troph 24781]

1 hour ago, alphahorn said:

I admit I've gone from disappointed to excited about this hire.  The more I read about Sark and his metamorphosis since USC, the more I think we've finally found our coach.  Here's a good read for those interested

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2925123-texas-and-steve-sarkisian-looking-for-successful-rebirth-together

I listened to his responses to the two direct questions about his drinking.  He said what I needed to hear and he expressed the attitude I need to see.
 

he talked about meetings and sponsors and if he’s active in a 12 step program then he gets a shot with me. 

More importantly was how he talked about himself.  My best friend is in recovery, she and I talk all the time. Being sober is first and foremost about the mental toughness to commit to a process to be humble about your shortcomings and your need to do the work and see the process through everyday and not let success change your commitment.  He talked about that in both answers.

maybe he was too young at UW and USC, maybe he’s ready to be the guy. Tom wasn’t and so let’s see what this guy can do.  Bama loves him, he’s got great mentors in Pete Carroll, Norm Chow and Nick Saban. Let’s hope he’s up for the task. 

[troph 24781]

23 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

More than just a conversation with him. Sark would have been fully vetted from people that know him and have character references. This wasn’t a unilateral choice. And if not then lots of people should be fired

Of course that happened.  Relapse is always a wild card with someone like him. It’s why his  personal mindset about himself matters, more than with other coaches.  Mack can be a narcissistic asshole but Sark has very little room to fuck up his personal mindset which is both a blessing and a curse.  Some of the baddest people you’ll meet are the sober ones with a rock bottom story from long ago. 

Edited January 3, 2021 by troph

[Irish Wrist Watch 1359]

I like what he had to say about running the football. He used the word "runners", plural. He's not talking about a one back offense to be abandoned when the going gets tough. He's talking about an offense that is run-based. A-fucking-men. There's so much passing in this league that most teams don't know how to stop a strong running game, especially one that's run by a creative OC using multiple sets, a talented QB and all-star receivers. This is gonna be fun to watch.

When Sark talks about work, and getting these kids ready for life, you know the parents are going to buy in. Not so much with fair-haired man-child Herman. He's gonna get top recruits in here starting on Day One!

Edited January 3, 2021 by Irish Wrist Watch

[Radical Larry 28539]

4 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

One problem that I haven’t seen mentioned is that he’s Armenian. 

Part of the deal was we now have to play System Of A Down songs at DKR. 

[Bobby Layne 268]

8 minutes ago, troph said:

I listened to his responses to the two direct questions about his drinking.  He said what I needed to hear and he expressed the attitude I need to see.
 

he talked about meetings and sponsors and if he’s active in a 12 step program then he gets a shot with me. 

More importantly was how he talked about himself.  My best friend is in recovery, she and I talk all the time. Being sober is first and foremost about the mental toughness to commit to a process to be humble about your shortcomings and your need to do the work and see the process through everyday and not let success change your commitment.  He talked about that in both answers.

maybe he was too young at UW and USC, maybe he’s ready to be the guy. Tom wasn’t and so let’s see what this guy can do.  Bama loves him, he’s got great mentors in Pete Carroll, Norm Chow and Nick Saban. Let’s hope he’s up for the task. 

Good word troph 🤘🏼😎. I’m down. 

[Izhmash 562]

I officially sacrifice my liver to keep Sark's demons at bay; keep him clean and kicking OU's ass. Let's Go Horns!

 

 

[taybo20 2825]

7 minutes ago, troph said:

Of course that happened.  Relapse is always a wild card with someone like him. It’s why his  personal mindset about himself matters, more than with other coaches.  Mack can be a narcissistic asshole but Sark has very little room to fuck up his personal mindset which is both a blessing and a curse.  Some of the baddest people you’ll meet are the sober ones with a rock bottom story from long ago. 

Not sure anything new is being said here. Self realization has nothing to do with narcissism necessarily if that’s what you’re saying. But Sark’s self realization gets proven by people around him that he hasn’t figured out someway to say one thing and act another. That’s encouraging. I’ve struggled with addiction myself, and it is a constant battle, but I think it offers you a better understanding of humanity by embracing your weakness

[Bobby Layne 268]

1 hour ago, alphahorn said:

$27/hr plus a travel per diem

Well we paid Tommy nearly $1,000,000 per win. I’m betting sark clocks in at well under that. Better ROI. 

[The Ace of Aces 5175]

When Herman was hired, you heard rumblings of him not being a good fit or the job too big. Turns out both were true. 

With Sarkisian, all you hear is how he’s an offensive mastermind and overcome his demons. The justification is pretty different. I pray it means the n-field results are too. 

[Rimbo 25908]

15 minutes ago, Radical Larry said:

Part of the deal was we now have to play System Of A Down songs at DKR. 

Well, any doubt I had remaining is now gone.

[troph 24781]

37 minutes ago, taybo20 said:

Not sure anything new is being said here. Self realization has nothing to do with narcissism necessarily if that’s what you’re saying. But Sark’s self realization gets proven by people around him that he hasn’t figured out someway to say one thing and act another. That’s encouraging. I’ve struggled with addiction myself, and it is a constant battle, but I think it offers you a better understanding of humanity by embracing your weakness

I was saying folks that aren’t addicts can act without introspection. Addicts can’t recover without doing a whole helluva lot of work. They end up being genuinely decent humans, caring, compassionate, humble, well adjusted often times.  My ex BIL is like this an amazing guy one of my all time favs and nearly died as a heroin addict now a therapist.  Guy is one of my all time favorite humans.

Still some addict tendencies but they work on it. And let’s be honest he can be addicted to football we won’t mind. The narcissism comment was just aimed at Mack, some folks can be good at what they do and have massive blind spots and get away with it, but not if they are addicts. that’s all.

the guy is doing the right thing and saying the right thing, which means if he keeps it up he’ll be fine. Let’s hope so too.

Edited January 3, 2021 by troph

[NorthLoop 14180]

1 hour ago, LTtxfan said:

 

Thanks -- great stuff @alphahorn

That was a good listen until the end. Dude goes "Tom Herman got fired because of recruiting".... uggh no my friend. Tom Herman got fired because he's a shitty gameday coach who can never admit his faults and thus will never improve upon his mistakes. Recruiting wasn't the issue. 

[billy_bats 168]

2 hours ago, pacman said:

Park's previous issues are a concern. However, we almost all celebrated the cdc hire. If his opinion is that Dark is better prepared now to lead a top program, then I am on board with it. CDC has some success elevating coordinator s to head coaches.

Park, Dark, whatever it takes.

[wood 11225]

8 hours ago, pops said:

What the fuck. In. 

Yep. In. 

[cochamps 1879]

8 hours ago, 6th Street said:

I'm sure Lincoln Riley is shaking in his boots

 

He ought to be.

[David Dennison 18837]

And now for some whiny ass bullshit from the local fish wrap.

 

[Rimbo 25908]

scuttlebutt from tuscaloosa is that saban was going to tab sark as his heir apparent

consider me "cautiously optimistic"

[pyrohornIII 4814]

8 hours ago, SimkinsMan said:

Fuck Lincoln Riley. And OU. I'm happy our new coach doesn't have a grill and is going to score 50 on Riley's shitty team.

I'm betting Sark knows how to swing a sledge hammer, too.

[Vertigo 20276]

4 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

And now for some whiny ass bullshit from the local fish wrap.

 

These are the thought leaders I gave been dying to hear from. So glad they have banded together to provide us with quadruple the worthlessness.

[Rimbo 25908]

I've been watching Sark's intro press conference and some video from Bama... first off, they're really glad he's coming to Texas and not their in-state rival Auburn. 

I am drinking the fucking Kool-Aid now. I see why they hired him. I've worked for a lot of bad bosses, a handful of good ones and one or two great ones, and Sark reminds me of the truly great ones.

[stork642 4498]

4 hours ago, troph said:

I listened to his responses to the two direct questions about his drinking.  He said what I needed to hear and he expressed the attitude I need to see.
 

he talked about meetings and sponsors and if he’s active in a 12 step program then he gets a shot with me. 

More importantly was how he talked about himself.  My best friend is in recovery, she and I talk all the time. Being sober is first and foremost about the mental toughness to commit to a process to be humble about your shortcomings and your need to do the work and see the process through everyday and not let success change your commitment.  He talked about that in both answers.

maybe he was too young at UW and USC, maybe he’s ready to be the guy. Tom wasn’t and so let’s see what this guy can do.  Bama loves him, he’s got great mentors in Pete Carroll, Norm Chow and Nick Saban. Let’s hope he’s up for the task. 

How often do hear of a redemption story at a school like UT?  Never.  This is going one of two ways. Catastrophic implosion or meteoric rise.  This should be fun to watch or we will be back with another “  “ or bust thread in 3 1/2 years.  

[Horn80 6114]

Doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, including me, about his hiring because from this point forward it is all about him winning games and championships while running a clean program which is what we all want.   Wishing Sark the best in his efforts.

[Newy25 7668]

I’m going to reserve my judgement until I see what kind of staff he puts together and what kind of recruiting process he employs. What sunk the last two coaches was the complete dogshit staff they initially assembled. A good, competent staff with recruiting chops will win at Texas. Right now I’m cautiously optimistic given Texas made a kind of hire we would not normally make and most of the names being floated around as a potential staff. 

[BrazilHorn 6586]

4 minutes ago, Horn80 said:

Doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, including me, about his hiring because from this point forward it is all about him winning games and championships while running a clean program which is what we all want.   Wishing Sark the best in his efforts.

I say bring on the bag men. I don't want players committing crimes etc but let's get some $$ out in the marketplace and bring the absolute best recruits to Texas.

Establish recruiting dominance. Get the street agents and uncles paid and working for Texas. Dogs of war should be released!

[TexArcher 37761]

Sark wasn't exactly my first choice.  But then again, I liked the Charlie and Turtle hires, so I'm obviously an idiot.  Prove me wrong again, Sark!

[Tiberius 2]

I am all in.  Let's go!!

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

9 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

That was a good listen until the end. Dude goes "Tom Herman got fired because of recruiting".... uggh no my friend. Tom Herman got fired because he's a shitty gameday coach who can never admit his faults and thus will never improve upon his mistakes. Recruiting wasn't the issue. 

Recruiting sure as hell played a role. If he'd held on to Bowman and Ewers he'd probably still be around, but after they bailed the whole operation started to go south in a hurry. I've been a Herman hater since he was on the rise at UH and even I think maybe you hold onto him for one more year if he'd sealed the deal with those two. 

[Tiberius 2]

That lady, be it his wife, girlfriend or second cousin is .........................  HOT AS F*CK.  Let's do this!

[Bevo14 8303]

Was unsure but he didn't say "winning is hard" or "rillyrillyrillyrilly". 

 

Commence dynasty.

[Dbeasy 15039]

Had a chance to sleep on yesterday’s big news. It is actually pretty shocking that Texas hired Sark. It’s means several things.
 

First, Texas is taking a pretty big risk. It sounds like he may or may not have been the second choice after Meyer and the fact they went forward with him indicates how serious the situation with the program has become.

Second, it means that there had to be more issues behind the scenes with Herman than has been discussed publicly. Texas had every opportunity to just roll with Herman another year after Meyer declined.

Third, CDC is staking his career at Texas on a pretty risky hire. Maybe he was forced into it, and maybe he can just say Sark was the only viable candidate available, but people won’t care if Sark fails. they will blame CDC and he will catch hell for it, if not lose his job over it. 
 

Finally, I have many mixed feelings about the hire. For Strong, I just shrugged my shoulders and assumed Texas knew what they were doing. Little did I know that they had no idea what they were doing. For Herman, I was like everyone and figured we needed to get the hot coach, but had concerns about several red flags we’d all seen with him. Those red flags apparently turned out to be real issues. 
 

With Sark the red flags are there, but I’m encouraged by my wife’s remarks. The second she saw Herman’s first comments as head coach she immediately disliked him. For Sark, she immediately thought he was better. It reminded me of the Mack hire. The second Mack started talking I knew he was the right coach for Texas at that time.
 

Sark may just deliver a title again and if he does, we will finally be back from the wilderness, where Tennessee, USC, Michigan, and Nebraska still reside. I think as a result of yesterday, we are in a much better situation than all four of those blue bloods. I’ll take it. 

[Guest Lobo]

It would help to ascertain what the administration is feeling once we see the terms of Sark's contract.  He's on the young side, but I get the vibe this is a placeholder hire.  I actually wouldn't mind being a stepping stone job for somebody like Sarkisian.  All we've been is a place where you go to get tens of millions of dollars thrown at you and then you invariably "resign" for a shittier job to save face.  It's happened time after time at Texas in football and basketball for nearly a half century.  

It's probably a good sign that I'm just sort of numb to this decision.  Herman needed to get gone.  That hire was ridiculous.  I never get the hype about him.  He was a fucking dickhead from day one who was so full of his own bullshit.  And we completely overpaid for him, both initially and the extension.  He was a fucking tragedy from the word "go."  I will confess, as others have, that I was really excited about Coach Strong.  In hindsight, it wasn't so much his bona fides, but that he was so just so damn forthright and without pretense.  We were coming off four years of just incessant bitching and whining from Mack Brown.  Just 24 hours a day of Mack playing the victim card, calling us mean and judgmental, and shitty on-field performances to boot (save for a few bright spots in 2012).  Charlie was just so refreshing after Brown, even if my expectations for championships was tempered.  I don't think we appreciate what a change it was from Mack's last four years of constant victimhood and complaining.  He was an insufferable shithead beyond reproach.  Obviously Strong was a huge letdown all the way around but I think he's still a standup guy.  Herman is a fucking dickhead and always has been.  I never got the infatuation this board had with that hire.  But he's gone.  I want to love this Sark hire like I loved the Strong hire.  I think we'll all get there.  I'm just encouraged by the fact that I don't hate it like I hated the Herman hire.  But as they say at Vinson & Elkins...we gotta see the Belmont contract first.  

Good news is we washed our hands of Herman and I don't think the buyout will be that cumbersome.  I think Sark should come out of the gate strong this season.  Looking forward to seeing what's what.  Welcome to Austin sir.  Which one is his wife?  

[texifornia 56850]

Just now, Lobo said:

It would help to ascertain what the administration is feeling once we see the terms of Sark's contract.  He's on the young side, but I get the vibe this is a placeholder hire.  I actually wouldn't mind being a stepping stone job for somebody like Sarkisian.  All we've been is a place where you go to get tens of millions of dollars thrown at you and then you invariably "resign" for a shittier job to save face.  It's happened time after time at Texas in football and basketball for nearly a half century.  

It's probably a good sign that I'm just sort of numb to this decision.  Herman needed to get gone.  That hire was ridiculous.  I never get the hype about him.  He was a fucking dickhead from day one who was so full of his own bullshit.  And we completely overpaid for him, both initially and the extension.  He was a fucking tragedy from the word "go."  I will confess, as others have, that I was really excited about Coach Strong.  In hindsight, it wasn't so much his bona fides, but that he was so just so damn forthright and without pretense.  We were coming off four years of just incessant bitching and whining from Mack Brown.  Just 24 hours a day of Mack playing the victim card, calling us mean and judgmental, and shitty on-field performances to boot (save for a few bright spots in 2012).  Charlie was just so refreshing after Brown, even if my expectations for championships was tempered.  I don't think we appreciate what a change it was from Mack's last four years of constant victimhood and complaining.  He was an insufferable shithead beyond reproach.  Obviously Strong was a huge letdown all the way around but I think he's still a standup guy.  Herman is a fucking dickhead and always has been.  I never got the infatuation this board had with that hire.  But he's gone.  I want to love this Sark hire like I loved the Strong hire.  I think we'll all get there.  I'm just encouraged by the fact that I don't hate it like I hated the Herman hire.  But as they say at Vinson & Elkins...we gotta see the Belmont contract first.  

Good news is we washed our hands of Herman and I don't think the buyout will be that cumbersome.  I think Sark should come out of the gate strong this season.  Looking forward to seeing what's what.  Welcome to Austin sir.  Which one is his wife?  

The fuck you mean "a stepping stone job"?

[Sir Ulrich 5187]

After going back and forth on the hire yesterday and sleeping on it my position is that the hiring is a net positive for the Texas program.

Why it can work:

1. Connections from coast to coast at both the college and nfl level to build a salty staff

2. Seems like a plus recruiter and good developer especially at the most important position. 

3. Took Bama's offense to another level. This is more than just Locksley using superior athletes to beat opponents down, he schemes his athletes in positions to succeed (hello Bijan).

4. Saban approved of him as his successor at Bama so we should be optimistic he can replicate some of their culture here. 

5. He has been to hell and back so he should be humble enough to delegate when needed and not meddle like Herman did

6. His name is not Tom Herman

Why it could fail miserably

1. The elephant in the room will be there until he retires and if he slips in the least than this thing could crumble in a heartbeat

2. His offense truly was just a product of Bama's insane talent advantage (tOSU will tell us a lot here)

3.  He ends up being Tom Herman but with way more public baggage

[Guest Lobo]

I mean that I actually wouldn't mind for once if somebody coached here and then moved on to the NFL.  Instead, our coaches move on to vaunted football powerhouses like South Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Purdue.  People come here to underachieve, then they take buyouts/paycuts to go suck somewhere else.  Pretty fucking weird nobody has coached at Texas and then moved on to a more prominent position in both football and basketball.  I don't see as a 'stepping stone' program, but I actually wouldn't mind somebody coming here for a few years and collecting championships and then moving on to a bigger coaching opportunity.  

We're all gonna have a nice, well-deserved fucking laugh when we see Tom Herman's next coaching gig.  Although it's gonna be somewhat tragic since we're gonna be subsidizing part of it.  

[Sir Ulrich 5187]

2 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I mean that I actually wouldn't mind for once if somebody coached here and then moved on to the NFL.  Instead, our coaches move on to vaunted football powerhouses like South Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Purdue.  People come here to underachieve, then they take buyouts/paycuts to go suck somewhere else.  Pretty fucking weird nobody has coached at Texas and then moved on to a more prominent position in both football and basketball.  I don't see as a 'stepping stone' program, but I actually wouldn't mind somebody coming here for a few years and collecting championships and then moving on to a bigger coaching opportunity.  

We're all gonna have a nice, well-deserved fucking laugh when we see Tom Herman's next coaching gig.  Although it's gonna be somewhat tragic since we're gonna be subsidizing part of it.  

I understand where you are coming from but hell no to that. If Texas finally hires a coach that is to that level and he bolts after a few years then we have roll the dice again and hope we hire another stud. Now unless in your scenario there are 2 or 3 championships involved then I could be persuaded

[Duane Moore 5237]

22 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Had a chance to sleep on yesterday’s big news. It is actually pretty shocking that Texas hired Sark. It’s means several things.
 

First, Texas is taking a pretty big risk. It sounds like he may or may not have been the second choice after Meyer and the fact they went forward with him indicates how serious the situation with the program has become.

Second, it means that there had to be more issues behind the scenes with Herman than has been discussed publicly. Texas had every opportunity to just roll with Herman another year after Meyer declined.

Third, CDC is staking his career at Texas on a pretty risky hire. Maybe he was forced into it, and maybe he can just say Sark was the only viable candidate available, but people won’t care if Sark fails. they will blame CDC and he will catch hell for it, if not lose his job over it. 
 

Finally, I have many mixed feelings about the hire. For Strong, I just shrugged my shoulders and assumed Texas knew what they were doing. Little did I know that they had no idea what they were doing. For Herman, I was like everyone and figured we needed to get the hot coach, but had concerns about several red flags we’d all seen with him. Those red flags apparently turned out to be real issues. 
 

With Sark the red flags are there, but I’m encouraged by my wife’s remarks. The second she saw Herman’s first comments as head coach she immediately disliked him. For Sark, she immediately thought he was better. It reminded me of the Mack hire. The second Mack started talking I knew he was the right coach for Texas at that time.
 

Sark may just deliver a title again and if he does, we will finally be back from the wilderness, where Tennessee, USC, Michigan, and Nebraska still reside. I think as a result of yesterday, we are in a much better situation than all four of those blue bloods. I’ll take it. 

That second point is a real good one.  Sarkisian isn't Meyer, Kelly, or even Campbell, coaches where he can roll them out there and everyone will agree they are an immediate upgrade.  That tells me that the situation behind the scenes with Herman had gotten so toxic and irredeemable that they just couldn't bring him back.  

[Guest Lobo]

9 minutes ago, Sir Ulrich said:

I understand where you are coming from but hell no to that. If Texas finally hires a coach that is to that level and he bolts after a few years then we have roll the dice again and hope we hire another stud. Now unless in your scenario there are 2 or 3 championships involved then I could be persuaded

That's what I am hoping I can be persuaded by as well.  Good news is that despite Herman's best efforts to leave the cabinet barren this year, Sarkisian is inheriting a roster more complete and talented than Strong or Herman did.  He won't need 3+ rebuilding seasons (I hope!).  I've love for him to stay here for a decade or two and build an empire.  I'm just pointing out that if he racks up a couple of conference championships and CFP bids and leaves to coach the Chargers or something, I won't feel slighted.  It's when they leave us, cost of tens of millions of dollars, and go coach for some mid-tiered .500 program decade, after decade, after decade...that it starts to get exhausting.  

Let's see the terms of the contract, some of the staff start to take shape, see what he can do on the recruiting front in early 2021...and then we can commence with the favorite activity of Bob Stoops.  

And to DuaneMoore's point---yep, we should feel happy Herman is gone and optimistic about Sarkisian.  Absolutely.  Sark deserves to start on a high note and he comes with so much upside.  But do not be fooled, a lot of this was driven by the fact that Herman simply had to go.  He was a disgusting piece of shit that was torching our program on his way out the door.  Fuck him.  He was so much worse than people realize.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Lobo

[Bobby Layne 268]

Texas is a terminal coaching job. There is no “up” from here. Win and build a dynasty. Lose and . . . well, ... Bye. (Curly Bill gif here)  We also pay handsomely for the opportunity. Be that as it may, Hook ‘em! 🤘😎

[victory88 5663]

Look at the staff he put together at USC.  
 

He had Orgeron as the DL coach.  Orgeron is a recruiting witch and won a title at LSU.  He’s a moron but he can coach DL and recruit.

He poached OL Drenvo from 49ers back then who was also responsible for some good OL at Stanford prior

Justin Wilcox as DC.  Another strong recruiter and now HC at Cal.

Tee Martin... everyone knows him.

He would have brought Lupoi as well but he had some ncaa violations he was being investigated for.  
 

I expect another big name staff.  Most of Herman’s guys had never even coached power 5 football when he brought them here.

[troph 24781]

1 hour ago, Newy25 said:

I’m going to reserve my judgement until I see what kind of staff he puts together and what kind of recruiting process he employs. What sunk the last two coaches was the complete dogshit staff they initially assembled. A good, competent staff with recruiting chops will win at Texas. Right now I’m cautiously optimistic given Texas made a kind of hire we would not normally make and most of the names being floated around as a potential staff. 

I think this is right. 

[Bobby Layne 268]

10 hours ago, NorthLoop said:

"Tom Herman got fired because of recruiting

Who said that? In those exact words? 

[Bigbend1812 12915]

8 hours ago, David Dennison said:

And now for some whiny ass bullshit from the local fish wrap.

 

[Chuckie Finster 22692]

That second point is a real good one.  Sarkisian isn't Meyer, Kelly, or even Campbell, coaches where he can roll them out there and everyone will agree they are an immediate upgrade.  That tells me that the situation behind the scenes with Herman had gotten so toxic and irredeemable that they just couldn't bring him back.  

I also think we have a unique opportunity to capitalize next season.
It was obvious recruits were no longer buying what Herman was selling, and I don’t think anything short of a playoff appearance would have changed that. That’s not the same with Sark.
We will have a very talented roster that should have 10+ wins (hell, we would have won that many this year if we played a full schedule). All Sark has to do is come in and offer mediocre coaching and he will immediately be labeled a success and the trajectory of our program will be through the roof.

[Texasrocks 2134]

He meets the primary criteria: he's not Tom Herman. That's a good start. Otherwise, this is a risk. I didn't like the Herman hire. Strong had just failed spectacularly and Herman had even less of a record despite being the hot coach at the time. I've come to accept that virtually any coach other than Saban and Meyer is a risk. Nothing in Royal's history suggested he'd turn out to be the coach he was at Texas. You could same the same when LSU hired Saban or when USC hired Carroll. Sark was not in my top five, but he has as much a chance of being successful as anyone not named Meyer.

[GTX Horn 1707]

For years I've seen people on Surly and Shaggy lament the fact that we need to hire a Head Coach that will bring the best staff money can buy, not just their P5 buddies. Based on the names we have seen floated for a potential staff and the fact that he has connections from his time in the NFL and previous college coaching stops, Sark will do exactly that. If he hires a staff that is full of recruiting witches, that sets us up uniquely to capitalize on the impending "free agency" period with the upcoming transfer period. If Sark was good enough for Saban to view as a successor at Bama, he's good enough for us. He knows his shit and seems to be a different person since his Washington and USC days.