For redshirt sophomore quarterback Casey Thompson and the rest of the 2018 recruiting class, Texas is starting its offseason practices with new coordinators for a third straight year, something first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian is cognizant of.
“We need to respect that we are their third coordinator in the last three years in some capacity, whether it’s on offense or defense,” Sarkisian said. “Football’s not really new, the majority of people really run a lot of the same plays. How we run them, why we run them, I think those are some of the questions we want our players to get answered.”
With almost an entirely new coaching staff and only 15 practices before the Orange-White Spring Game on April 24, the Longhorns have a lot of questions to answer. Fast.
Perhaps the biggest question is who will succeed Sam Ehlinger at quarterback after his record-breaking four years with Texas. Currently, it’s a two-man race between Thompson and freshman Hudson Card.
“These guys are both very driven, very focused (and) they got a high football IQ,” Sarkisian said. “On the field, in some of our group runs, both are really good athletes. Both are really good leaders.”
But while spring football is meant for evaluating the talent on the field, two of Texas’ most productive defensive players, junior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and sophomore nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat, will be sidelined with injuries. Overshown underwent shoulder surgery over spring break and is expected to return by the start of fall camp and Sweat is expected to recover from offseason shoulder surgery by the end of the summer, Sarkisian said.
“I feel better that they were able to get the surgeries now and not be dealing with these things in season,” Sarkisian said.
The Longhorns are looking to replace four offensive and defensive starters who began 2020 with the team. Sarkisian knows that with new faces on the field and on the coaching staff, there will be growing pains.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Sarkisian said. “I don’t expect us to go out tomorrow and just look like a well-oiled machine. This is the first time we’ll ever be on the field together with a football.”
Because coaches and players are still building relationships, Sarkisian said the spring football depth chart will be fluid throughout the practices.
“We don’t know everything about these players,” Sarkisian said. “A guy may be a three tomorrow on the depth chart, he may be a one come Thursday or Saturday. … We’ve got to get a gauge for these guys playing in our system and our scheme.”
But despite all the unknowns hanging over the heads of the Texas football players and staff, Sarkisian is excited for the opportunity to implement his culture at Texas through the spring football practice schedule.
“I’m not a (very) anxious guy,” Sarkisian said. “I’m more excited, looking forward to (it) than anxious. Anxious to me tells me I’m biting my nails, I’m worried about it. I’m more, ‘Hey, our guys have put in a lot of work, now’s a chance to get on the field.’”
