Report: Alabama OL coach Kyle Flood expected to join Steve Sarkisian at Texas

One of the key targets for new Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is close to falling into place, as Chip Brown of Horns247 reported on Wednesday morning that Alabama offensive line coach Kyle Flood is expected to join Sarkisian’s staff.

Flood will also likely receive the offensive coordinator title — and a commensurate salary boost — with Sarkisian calling plays.

In Flood’s second season in Tuscaloosa, the Alabama offensive line won the Joe Moore Award on Tuesday as the best offensive line in college football this season. Quarterback Mac Jones was only sacked 12 times in 2020, once for every 42.1 dropbacks, and ranked second nationally in rushing touchdowns with 35. Senior left tackle Alex Leatherwood and redshirt senior center Landon Dickerson were both consensus All-American and leaders of an experienced group that boasted 126 career starts.

Likewise, the 2019 group was also outstanding in pass protection, surrendering just .92 sacks per game. Alabama ranked second nationally in SP+, second nationally in scoring offense, and sixth in total offense.

Flood joined the Crimson Tide after spending the 2017 and 2018 seasons coaching Sarkisian’s offensive lines with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2017, the Falcons only allowed 24 sacks.

So Flood is a coach who has now worked with Sarkisian for the last four years and clearly has his trust.

Prior to the Falcons, Flood was the head coach at Rutgers for four seasons and spent 11 total seasons on the staff in Piscataway.

One of the questions with Flood is his recruiting ability — he likely won’t recruit at the level of former offensive coordinator Tim Beck. Most of his connections are on the East Coast. As a result, expect Sarkisian to try to surround Flood with a high-level recruiter or two on the offensive staff in an attempt to approximate the formula that worked for Alabama in landing the Brockermeyer twins and other high-level offensive line prospects.