Texas Longhorns legend lands new head-coaching job

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 his old friend 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 of Houston from 2017 to 2018. The former Texas star coached the Cougars to back-to-back winning seasons with a final record of 15-11.

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.