Head Coach Major Applewhite
Major Applewhite | Head Coach
Major Applewhite returns to South Alabama for his second year as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Last season, Applewhite was instrumental in helping Jalen Tolbert earn the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, the first for a Jag, as Tolbert led the conference in catches, receiving yards, receiving yards per game and yards per reception - ranking third in both total yards and yards per game nationally heading into the postseason - after catching 82 passes for 1,474 yards and eight rouchdowns on his way to a third round selection of the Dallas Cowboys in the 2022 NFL Draft.
That follows his first season in which the team set school season records for completions, completion percentage and passing yards per game in 2021
He came to the South Alabama football program with experience as a head coach at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level as well as multiple years working as a coordinator including in a Power Five league.
In addition to helping lead his programs to 15 postseason bowl games since entering the coaching profession, he also guided Texas to four straight bowl appearances while posting a 22-8 record as a starting quarterback for the Longhorns.
For two seasons, Applewhite served as an offensive analyst at Alabama, where he was part of a staff that helped lead the Crimson Tide to a 13-0 record, the Southeastern Conference championship and the College Football Playoff national title. Alabama’s offense ended the year ranked first in the country in completion percentage (76.2%), team passing efficiency (198.99 rating), third-down conversion percentage (58.9%) and total first downs (365), while finishing among the top five nationally in scoring offense (48.5 ppg, 2nd), passing offense (358.2 ypg, 3rd) and total offense (541.6 ypg, 4th). Alabama scored more than 13 points in all 13 outings, highlighted by seven contest posting more than 50 including accomplishing the feat in both the SEC and national championship games.
In his first season back with the program the previous fall — he first worked at Alabama as offensive coordinator during the 2007 campaign — the Crimson Tide finished 11-2 and ranked eighth in both national polls following a victory over No. 14 Michigan in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl.
Applewhite was the head coach at Houston from 2017-18, leading the Cougars to a 15-10 overall mark, a 10-6 record in American Athletic Conference action and a pair of invitations to postseason bowl games. In his first season guiding the program UH defeated nationally-ranked South Florida during the regular season on the way to a 7-5 finish and an appearance in the Hawai’i Bowl, improving to 8-5 the next fall while earning an invitation to the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.
During that time, Ed Oliver — currently with the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League — was a two-time consensus All-American after winning the Outland Trophy in 2017; he was a finalist for both the Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy that fall as well in addition to being a Bednarik Award semifinalist the following season. Oliver led a group of nine individuals earning all-American Athletic Conference honors during that span, including four first-team selections.
As the Cougars’ offensive coordinator the previous two years, Applewhite was part of a staff that guide to a 22-5 overall record — going 13-4 in the American — during that span. In his first season running the team’s offense, the Cougars won the AAC championship and defeated ninth-ranked Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on the way to finishing eighth in both national polls. The following year saw Houston defeat a pair of teams ranked third in the country during the regular season as the team would go on to post a 9-4 mark after playing in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Six individuals from UH’s offense earned all-conference recognition those two seasons, with Greg Ward Jr. honored twice while also being a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Awards as well as a finalist for the Manning Award.
Applewhite was the assistant head coach at Texas from 2008-10, taking on co-offensive coordinator responsibilities from 2011-13. His first season back with the program the Longhorns defeated Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl while the next fall they would reach the BCS National Championship Game while putting together a 25-2 overall mark during that stretch. His efforts helped UT post a winning record on five occasions, win three bowl games while finishing in the top 25 of one of the national polls on three occasions during that six-season span.
He also has experience serving as offensive coordinator at Rice in 2006, and was an assistant at Syracuse in 2005 after serving two years as a graduate assistant at Texas
During his four-year playing career, Applewhite was selected the Big 12 Freshman of the Year (1998) and the league’s co-Offensive Player of the Year (’99) while setting school records at the time for passing yards in a season (3,357 as a sophomore) and a career (8,353) as well as touchdown passes in a career (60). In his final appearance for the Longhorns, he was chosen the Most Valuable Player of the Holiday Bowl after throwing for 473 yards and four scores in a four-point victory over No. 20 Washington.
Applewhite — a 2002 graduate of Texas — and his wife Julie have two children: daughter Lila and son Nash.
The Applewhite File
Born: July 26, 1978, in Baton Rouge, La.
Education:
Texas ’02, bachelor’s degree in sport management
Collegiate Playing Experience:
Four years, quarterback
Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year, 1998; Co-Offensive Player of the Year, 1999
Most Valuable Player, 2001 Holiday Bowl
Coaching Experience:
Texas — graduate assistant coach, 2003-04
Syracuse — assistant coach, 2005
Rice — assistant coach, 2006
Alabama — assistant coach, 2007; analyst, 2019-20
Texas — assistant head coach, 2008-13
Houston — assistant coach, 2015-16; head coach, 2017-18
South Alabama — assistant coach, 2021-
Family: Wife, Julie; One daughter, Lila (13) and one son, Nash (6)