Was Steve Sarkisian the offensive coordinator at Alabama? A look at his coaching stint under Nick Saban

Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian faced various ups and downs in his coaching career, from being fired from the USC Trojans due to his drinking problem in 2015 to spending two stints with Nick Saban as Alabama's offensive coordinator in the 2016 and 2019-20 college football seasons.

The Texas Longhorns head coach first joined the Crimson Tide team as an analyst in 2016 and was later promoted to be their offensive coordinator the same season. He replaced Lane Kiffin due to the differences in coaching styles. While announcing the news, Saban said in Jan 2017:

"This wasn't an easy decision and we appreciate the way Lane handled this in terms of doing what is best for our team. At the end of the day, both of us wanted to put our players in the best position to be successful.

"Obviously, we are in a unique situation here where we have our next offensive coordinator already on staff. We have full confidence that Sark will step in right away and make this a smooth transition."

Sarkisian took the role just one week before the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers on Jan. 9.

He rejoined Nick Saban's crew as an OC after spending two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. Sarkisian spent two years at Alabama in his second stint and later moved to Austin for the Texas Longhorns head coaching job in 2021.

Steve Sarkisian thanks Nick Saban for saving his life

During a routine medical checkup, all Alabama staff members have to go through in 2020, Sarkisian found that he has a severe heart issue that could make him "drop dead" at any given point if he didn't get surgery soon enough.

He had a potential life-ending heart aneurysm due to a leaky valve. However, he learned about the issue in time and got it sorted with surgery.

Since then, the Texas coach has been vocal about his appreciation for Nick Saban for saving his life.

"Anytime I talk about my journey, my career, where we're at today — I would not be here without Nick Saban," Sarkisian told ESPN. "To have this executive physical, he saved me."

Saban responded to Sarkisian's statement by saying:

"He probably saved my life a few times by doing a great job while he was here, so we're kind of even, I think."

Steve Sarkisian believes this massive incident made him a better man and a better coach.

"The scar reminds me of, we can overcome a lot," he told ESPN. "Just because we hit a roadblock in our life, we don't have to stay there. We can get on the other side of it and keep charging forward. I'm a better coach today, I'm a better man today, because of that."

Fans would be interested to see if Steve Sarkisian can lead the Longhorns to a national championship title in 2024.