Texas Hires Steve Sarkisian, Alabama’s Offensive Coordinator, as Coach

Texas said Saturday that it had fired Tom Herman as its football coach and, hours later, announced that it had hired the wizard at the helm of top-ranked Alabama’s offense in a bid to restore the Longhorns to championship contention.

But the dismissal of Herman and the hiring of Steve Sarkisian, a former head coach at Southern California and Washington, immediately renewed tough questions about the merits of paying out millions of dollars in buyouts when college athletic departments are under extraordinary financial strain.

Herman was 32-18 during his four seasons in Austin, with a 4-0 record in bowls and, to the frustration of Texas fans, no Big 12 championships. Although Texas had signed…