Sean Miller gets candid on why he left Xavier for Texas: “This is something I have to do”

The coaching carousel never ends, and Sean Miller has been on it more than a few times. This off-season, the former Arizona coach headed west, or southwest, more accurately. Miller left the Xavier head coaching job to become the new head coach of the Texas Longhorns. Unfortunately, the coaching carousel tends to leave fans of the jilted school feeling disappointed.

Miller addressed this pheonmenon in his comments recently with hoops analyst Jon Rothstein. Speaking about his move, Miller considered the spectrum of experiences for fans when coaches jump jobs.

Miller talks moving on with Jon Rothstein

"In college sports, when you make a decision today, things happen immediately. So it just doesn't feel right leaving the place you left. It certainly isn't always going to feel right to the people at that previous place. Because it's like, on Monday, you were there and on Tuesday, you left forever.... But I loved my experiences at Xavier. Remember, I was there for 11 years. But there's only one Texas and when I had this opportunity... sometimes it's hard to look at it in any other way other than 'This is something I have to do, I want to do.' And you never look back."-- Sean Miller

Miller's work at Texas

Miller assumed the reigns after Texas cut Rodney Terry loose following a disappointing 19-16 season that ended in a loss in the NCAA Tournament's First Four. The college recruiting world being what it is, Miller had to immediate hit the ground running.

That said, he put in a speedy and impressive piece of work in the transfer portal. Among the new signees he added to the Texas program were St. John's guard Simeon Wilcher, Purdue reserve Cameron Heide, Florida Atlantic 7-footer Matas Vokietaitas, and a pair of Xavier players who followed Miller, forward Dailyn Swain and big man Lassine Traore.

Those last two losses were probably especially difficult for Xavier fans who not only said goodbye to their coach, but to two likely contributors. Swain stood to be one of Xavier's best players, coming off a season where he averaged 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Traore sat out last season, but had previously averaged a double-double in consecutive seasons at Long Beach State.

Miller has also held on to a commitment from four-star high school recruit John Clark to Texas, and added 7-foot-1 English prep player Lewis Obiorah. So while Xavier fans may have some heartache after parting, Miller has certainly hit the ground running at Texas.

What do you think of Miller's comments on switching jobs? Share your take below in our comments section!