Sources: S. Alabama finalizing Applewhite as HC

• Pete Thamel, ESPNJan 17, 2024, 08:10 PM ET South Alabama is settling a deal to make offending planner Significant Applewhite the school’s next head coach, sources informed ESPN.Applewhite, 45, is the

  former head coach at Houston and has been an offensive organizer at Texas and Alabama. He has actually been at South Alabama the past three years, assembling prolific offenses on back-to-back bowl groups. According to sources, Applewhite rejected multiple offensive planner chances at SEC and other Power 5 schools after the 2022 season to remain at South Alabama.Applewhite will change Kane Wommack, who went 22-16 before leaving to become Alabama’s defensive planner previously today. Wommack has a long-standing friendship with brand-new Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer.Editor’s Picks 1 Related In Applewhite, South Alabama will get an evaluated head coach. In his two complete 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 5 years with an even worse gaining percentage( 52.5%)than Applewhite.Applewhite’s deal with South Alabama continues a trend this month of fast coaching searches; South Alabama athletic director Joel Erdmann selected to

elevate him less than 48 hours after the task opened. That follows the lead of Alabama, Washington and Arizona making speedy options, as the presence of the transfer portal and players not needing to sit after transferring has triggered 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 amongst the leading 25 in the nation. Pass receiver Jalen Tolbert developed into a third-round choice in the 2022 draft under Applewhite, and transfer quarterback Carter Bradley is a potential draft choice after strong 2022 and 2023 seasons.Applewhite’s coaching career consists of early stops at Syracuse and Rice after beginning as a graduate assistant at Texas, where he was a star quarterback from 1998 to 2001. In 2007, he worked as the offending organizer on Nick Saban’s very first Alabama staff and invested 2 seasons there as an expert, in 2019 and 2020. He worked at Texas in numerous functions from 2008 to 2013. Applewhite’s time at Houston both as offensive organizer and head coach included the development of Greg Ward and D’Eriq King, 2 of the program’s linchpins on the field over the past decade.