Sources: S. Alabama finalizing Applewhite as HC

Last updated: 2024/01/18 at 2:59 AM

BigP Published January 18, 2024

Pete Thamel, ESPNJan 17, 2024, 08:10 PM ET

South Alabama is finalizing a deal to make offensive coordinator Major Applewhite the school’s next head coach, sources told ESPN.

Applewhite, 45, is the former head coach at Houston and has been an offensive coordinator at Texas and Alabama. He has been at South Alabama the past three years, putting together prolific offenses on back-to-back bowl teams. According to sources, Applewhite turned down multiple offensive coordinator opportunities at SEC and other Power Five schools after the 2022 season to remain at South Alabama.

Applewhite will replace Kane Wommack, who went 22-16 before leaving to become Alabama’s defensive coordinator earlier this week. Wommack has a long-standing friendship with new Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.

In Applewhite, South Alabama will get a tested head coach. In his two full seasons as the head coach at Houston, Applewhite went 15-10 and took the Cougars to a bowl each season. He was fired after going 8-5 in 2018 and was replaced by Dana Holgorsen, who was fired after five years with a worse winning percentage (52.5%) than Applewhite.

Applewhite’s deal with South Alabama continues a trend this month of quick coaching searches; South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann chose to elevate him less than 48 hours after the job opened. That follows the lead of Alabama, Washington and Arizona making swift choices, as the presence of the transfer portal and players not needing to sit after transferring has prompted athletic directors to work quickly to sustain stability in the program.

Under Applewhite, South Alabama averaged 33.1 points and more than 440 yards per game this season, which ranked among the top 25 in the country. Wide receiver Jalen Tolbert developed into a third-round pick in the 2022 draft under Applewhite, and transfer quarterback Carter Bradley is a potential draft pick after strong 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Applewhite’s coaching career includes early stops at Syracuse and Rice after starting as a graduate assistant at Texas, where he was a star quarterback from 1998 to 2001. In 2007, he served as the offensive coordinator on Nick Saban’s first Alabama staff and spent two seasons there as an analyst, in 2019 and 2020. He worked at Texas in various roles from 2008 to 2013.

Applewhite’s time at Houston both as offensive coordinator and head coach included the development of Greg Ward and D’Eriq King, two of the program’s linchpins on the field over the past decade.