Longhorns Country

Texas Head Coach Shaka Smart to Leave Longhorns For Marquette

The Texas Longhorns are reportedly on the verge of losing their head coach, Shaka Smart, who is emerging as a leading candidate at Marquette

Matt Galatzan

Following an unceremonious ending to the 2020 season, Texas Longhorns head coach Shaka Smart's job security was under serious scrutiny. 

Now, just days after his team's 53-52 upset loss to Abilene Christian in round one of the NCAA Tournament, Smart seems to be leaving Austin on his own accord after multiple reports surfaced in regards to his interest in moving on to the recently vacated position at Marquette. 

"I just really feel for our guys right now because up until tonight, we had a phenomenal season, and this obviously isn't the way that any of us envisioned it ending," Smart said following the loss to Abilene Christian. "But this is one of the facts of the NCAA Tournament is one team gets to stay and one team goes home.''

READ MORE: Should Texas Longhorns Fire Shaka Smart?

Smart finishes his tenure at Texas after six seasons, leading the Longhorns to three NCAA tournament appearances, an NIT Championship, and the school's first-ever Big 12 Tournament title -- though he failed to win a single NCAA Tournament game during his time with the program.

After six seasons Smart ends his time at Texas with an overall record of 109-86 and a 52-56 mark in the Big 12 conference. 

Texas will be spared the expense of buying Smart out of the remaining years of his contract and will be able to begin their search for a new head coach in earnest, without the financial burdens hanging over their head. 

READ MORE: March Madness: Longhorns Upset In First Round By Abilene Christian 53-52

CONTINUE READING: Shaka Smart Loses Two Longhorns To Transfer Portal

How many players will the Longhorns lose this offseason? Comment and join in on the discussion below!

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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