Excitement high as Texas football begins year 2 under Sarkisian
August 9, 2022
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the August 9, 2022 flip book.
The phrase “Texas is back” has been synonymous with Texas’ football program ever since former starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger said the infamous phrase in 2019 after defeating then-No. 5 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
While the Longhorns still aren’t quite ‘back’ yet, having not won a conference title since 2009, positive momentum could be building as second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian seeks to rebuild the team’s culture from the ground up. One college coach even voted Texas No. 1 in the preseason USA Today coaches poll released Monday.
Texas’ shortcomings since 2009 haven’t revolved around a lack of talent. Since 2018, the Longhorns have had a Top 15 recruiting class every season, with three of the last five classes finishing in the Top 5. Instead, talent development once on campus has been an issue, with leadership being a notable area of weakness. According to junior running back Bijan Robinson, this year’s team is different.
“Last year we were all trying to get figured out with each other,” Robinson said at Big 12 Media Days in July. “We were all trying to see the new coaching staff and see how to handle things. … It’s been a blessing to see the day and night shift from last year to this year.”
Coming into last season with a first-year head coach, few expected Sarkisian and the new-look Longhorns to immediately dominate the Big 12. But the team fell apart at the seams quicker than anticipated, with injuries and blown second-half leads plaguing the Longhorns much of last season.
Former wide receiver Joshua Moore and former safety B.J. Foster stepped away from the team, and former quarterback Casey Thompson played the majority of last season with an injured thumb on his throwing hand as the Longhorns stumbled through a 5–7 season.
As the upperclassmen on Texas’ roster build trust with Sarkisian in the second year of his tenure, players like senior running back Roschon Johnson are becoming more comfortable and confident about the upcoming season.
“This is really the first time that everybody on the team, or the majority of the people on the team, have experienced the same offense or the same defense going into the next season,” Johnson said in an interview with The Horn. “From this point, we’re speaking the same language. We know what Sark wants, and we know how to go about it without him having to tell us, so that makes a world of difference.”
Sarkisian chose to operate the team differently than his predecessor, former head coach Tom Herman, and while the immediate results were less-than-ideal — failing to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2016 — Sarkisian is sticking to his guns when it comes to his team-building philosophy.
Sarkisian talked about two ways a coach can approach taking over a program. One way is to do a gradual transition, maintaining many things that the previous staff did to make it easy on the players who just went through a coaching change.
“But when you do it that way, you better be prepared for the same results,” Sarkisian said. “The other way is to truly implement what you’re about, knowing that that way is probably going to be a little more difficult. … The buy-in from the players might be a little longer.”
While last year’s growing pains have stung all off-season, Sarkisian built this year’s team with both young players and veterans that are bought into his system, leaving him excited for what is to come for the Longhorns.
“We’re excited for the fall. We’re excited to get this thing started,” Sarkisian said. “I love the chemistry, the bond that our team has forged together, and (I’m) looking forward to watching our guys compete come September.”
