The South Alabama Jaguars have a new head coach after Kane Wommack departed for the defensive coordinator job in Tuscaloosa under Kalen DeBoer.

Major Applewhite, who has served as the Jags’ offensive coordinator since 2021, was promoted and will serve as the fourth head coach in the program’s history:

https://twitter.com/SouthAlabamaFB/status/1747988678037651470

Applewhite has a long resume in both his coaching and playing career, getting his start as a quarterback at Texas under Mack Brown and beginning his coaching career there as a graduate assistant.

RELATED: Kalen DeBoer hires South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack as defensive coordinator

He served as Nick Saban’s first offensive coordinator at Alabama in 2007 and returned to the program from 2019-2020 as an analyst before being hired at South Alabama.

Applewhite was promoted to be the head coach for the Houston Cougars after Tom Herman departed for Texas before the bowl game, but was fired after two seasons with records of 7-5 and 8-5 including three straight bowl losses.

He oversaw a Jaguars offense in 2022 that saw quarterback Carter Bradley shatter school records in passing yards, completions, and touchdowns in just Bradley’s first year at South Alabama.

The Jaguars have gone 22-16 in the time Applewhite has been in Mobile, while the offense has averaged nearly 30 points per game.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP