New Texas Longhorns Head Coach Candidate Already Emerging?

The Texas Longhorns are reportedly expected to move on from head basketball coach Rodney Terry, and there might be a name already at the top of the list.

Xavier Musketeers head coach Sean Miller watches from the sideline during the second half of an NCAA tournament / William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Texas Longhorns are widely expected to move on from head coach Rodney Terry after three seasons and a disappointing NCAA Tournament showing.

However, as we have become well aware of during the tenure of athletic director Chris Del Conte, things are likely set to move very fast. Baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle, football coach Steve Sarkisian and women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer are all great examples of this.

In other words, it would not be a surprise if CDC already has his next coach picked out, and ready to go within hours of an official announcement on Terry.

If that is in fact the case, there seems to be a collective school of thought on who could be the next coach on the sidelines in Austin, and they just lost to him in the tournament.

Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson high fives Xavier Musketeers head coach Sean Miller after making a three-point basket / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

According to multiple national insiders, including Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68, Pete Thamel of ESPN, and local insiders like Chip Brown, Xavier Musketeers coach Sean Miller is a name to keep a close eye on, and perhaps even a leading candidate for the job.

"A source told me if Miller and Xavier had beaten Terry and Texas in a 2023 Sweet 16 matchup in Kansas City, Miller would've been hired at Texas - not Terry," Brown said. "So, the irony of Wednesday night's First Four matchup of Miller and Xavier against Terry and Texas - again, in the NCAA postseason - possibly having more significance than simply the outcome of the game is almost unbelievable because Miller is still a leading candidate to replace Terry."

In his career, Miller has been successful everywhere he has been, winning 8 Pac-10/12 conference titles with Arizona - five regular season and three tournament - multiple Atlantic 10 conference titles with Xavier, and four conference Coach of the Year Awards between the two teams.

Xavier Musketeers head coach Sean Miller reacts in the first half against the Texas Longhorns at UD Arena. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

During his first stint with Xavier fro 2004-2009, Miller took the Musketeers to four tournaments in five seasons, including an Elite Eight and Sweet 16. He was then hired at Arizona, where he took the Wildcats to an Elite EIght in his second season. In total he reached three Elite Eights and two Sweet 16s and reached the Tournament in seven of his 12 seasons, including six-straight from 2013-2018.

Miller was let go by the Wildcats in 2021 but would land on his feet again eventually in 2022 and earn a second stint with Xavier, immediately getting them back to the Sweet 16, where he lost to Terry and the Longhorns.

Of course, Miller's name doesn't exactly come with a squeaky clean reputation, either, thanks to his alleged connection in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal that in part led to his firing with the Wildcats. Per multiple reports in 2018, Miller was implicated by the FBI in connection with a scandal involving pay-for-play discussions for former star Arizona center DeAndre Ayton.

Arizona Wildcats guard Allonzo Trier and center Deandre Ayton are high-fived by head coach Sean Miller as they come off the court / Casey Sapio-Imagn Images

Regardless, Miller has shown his ability to have success where he is, including at schools like Xavier - on two separate occasions - without the benefits of deep NIL pockets.

More importantly for Texas, Miller is known as a tenacious and demanding coach with an extremely sharp offensive mind, as well as an excellent motivator and recruiter. He also has the 'alpha coach' personality that CDC reportedly believes Terry lacked, and that Texas desperately needs to be successful in todays era of college basketball.

Of course, there are still other potential standout candidates for the job as well, as our Zach Dimmitt pointed out in his hot board on Thursday morning, including some big names.

That said, Miller seems to be the one that has the most smoke around it, and if Miller is indeed who CDC wants to lead the program, it would be hard to imagine he won't get his guy.

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