The South Alabama Jaguars have a new head coach after Kane Womack left to take the defensive coordinator job in Tuscaloosa under coach Karen DeBoer.

Major Applewhite, who has served as the Jags' offensive coordinator since 2021, has been promoted and becomes the fourth head coach in program history.

Introducing the fourth head coach of the South Alabama Jaguars.

Major Applewhite

📰 https://t.co/yjZNAZlZWs pic.twitter.com/UCyAMeWrdH

— South Alabama Football 🏈 (@SouthAlabamaFB) January 18, 2024

Applewhite has had a long career in both coaching and playing career, starting at quarterback under Mack Brown at the University of Texas, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant.

RELATED: Karen DeBoer hires South Alabama head coach Cain Womack as defensive coordinator

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

After Tom Herman departed for Texas before the bowl game, Applewhite was promoted to head coach of the Houston Cougars, but his two seasons included records of 7-5 and 8-5, including three straight bowl losses. He was later dismissed.

He will oversee a Jaguars offense in 2022 that saw quarterback Carter Bradley break school records for passing yards, completions and touchdowns in his first year at South Alabama.

During Applewhite's time in Mobile, the Jaguars went 22-16, with the offense averaging 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