Source: Steve Sarkisian agrees to new contract with Texas - ESPN

Just more than a week after its season ended in the College Football Playoff, Texas has agreed to new contract with Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian, a source told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Saturday, confirming a report. The sides came to an agreement Friday night in a deal that includes an extension.

A source told ESPN that it's a seven-year contract for Sarkisian, 50, that adds a year to his deal and makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.

News of the agreement was first reported by The Action Network, which noted that the deal came after Sarkisian declined interviews with two NFL franchises for coaching positions.

The Longhorns, in their first season in the SEC, advanced to the title game and won two CFP playoff games, against Clemson and Arizona State, before being eliminated by Ohio State last Friday in the Cotton Bowl.

Texas played Ohio State tight before a late fumble return stretched the Buckeyes' lead to 14 points. When it was all said and done, Sarkisian said being the last remaining SEC team in the playoff in their first year in the league is something the Longhorns take pride in.

«I really believe this is a premier football conference in America because of the week-in, week-out task that it requires physically and mentally,» Sarkisian said. «I know unfortunately for Georgia, they lost their starting quarterback in the SEC championship game, and I'm sure other teams in our conference had to endure things that can take their toll on your team, and that's no excuse. At the end of the day, we have to find a way to navigate our ways through it, but to be here on this stage to be back in the final four wearing that SEC patch on our jersey, we're going to do our best to represent it because this is