Texas football’s Steve Sarkisian will listen to NFL teams, and two more thoughts ahead of CFP vs. Ohio State
ARLINGTON – Friday night’s College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl is the Texas Longhorns’ biggest game in 15 years.
Yes, they went to the CFP semis last season at the Sugar Bowl, but this definitely feels different.
Older team, a ton of experience, a 36-game starter at quarterback, objectively the nation’s best secondary.
The time is now, and head coach Steve Sarkisian has said as much in recent weeks.
There is no promise Texas, which is facing significant personnel changes this offseason, will get back to this point in 2025.
Ahead of a seismic game for the program, here are three Longhorns thoughts.
Steve Sarkisian and NFL overtures
This one got fans hot and bothered this week.
In case you missed it, at the end of a Sunday NFL Countdown segment focusing on head coach openings and who might fill them, Adam Schefter casually dropped Sarkisian’s name in there at the end.
“I would expect some teams to call and inquire about Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who has drawn some interest from the NFL level,” Schefter said.
Now, a bit of background.
Sarkisian has had two different stints on NFL staffs, 2004 as the Oakland Raiders’ QB coach, and 2017 and 2018 as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator.
His time as OC in Atlanta was not considered a great success, but that’s not really the point.
Sarkisian has developed a reputation as a QB guru/whisperer, and a brilliant offensive mind at the college level. His Texas teams are 25-4 dating back to the start of the 2023 season, and have advanced to consecutive College Football Playoff semifinals.
NEWSFLASH: When you are a highly-successful college coach, with NFL experience to boot, NFL teams might want to kick the tires and gauge your interest.
And, I have some bad news for everyone. There is a legitimate chance that one or multiple NFL teams has already kicked the tires and gauged interest, at least through back channels.
If any of that rises to the level of a real discussion, Sarkisian is going to hear everyone out, because that’s what you do. When an NFL team wants to talk, you listen. Whether it all ends up going anywhere is a different story.
Three things to close this up for now.
1. Those of you believing Sarkisian would never leave Texas now because Arch Manning is about to be his starting quarterback need to get real. That’s not a reason to stay, not even close.
2. Part of the allure of coaching in the NFL is not having to deal with college students, which means classes, NIL, parents, advisors, etc. Professional football is played by professionals, not kids. Don’t discount that as motivation here.
3. What else was Texas AD Chris Del Conte supposed to say when the Houston Chronicle got him on the phone earlier this week?
Way-too-early polls in January are useless
It’s going to be a long offseason down this way.
It’s going to be long, because Manning is finally up to bat, and with that comes expectations, hype, conjecture, and frankly, a massive amount of engagement farming from the internet, which is already a thing with Manning, but I digress.
On Saturday, two CFP games and two-plus weeks before the season actually ends, On3 national reporters Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman released what they aptly called a “Way, Way, Way Too Early 2025 Top 10.”
Texas is ranked No. 1, and the graphic On3′s X account sent out features Manning prominently.
Great. What’s the point?
Not only is this season not over, but rosters for 2025 are very much in flux. They will continue to be in some flux through the winter, and for some, into the spring. You can’t really call a roster complete until the next nine-day transfer portal window closes, and the dust from that settles.
Way-too-early polls at this time of year, with so many questions, are dumb. If an outlet wants to engage in engagement farming in April or May, once there is a little more clarity?
Still silly, but that one makes a little more sense.
Also, Texas is not going to open next season at No. 1. Manning’s presence alone guarantees the Longhorns fall somewhere in the top 10, but given who is leaving from the roster, a savvy voter who pays attention is not going to dive all the way into the Manning hysteria when submitting his/her preseason AP Top 25 ballot.
Jay Hartzell is not a small loss for Texas athletics
The announcement Tuesday that the UT president will step down at the end of this semester after five years and take over as president of SMU June 1 came as a surprise. From an athletics standpoint, Hartzell leaving Austin should not be considered minor.
An economist who joined the UT faculty in 2001, Hartzell has been widely viewed as an athletics-friendly president.
That is not always the case for two reasons. One, athletics are only a small piece of the overall university machine, and the respective backgrounds of presidents, chancellors, and provosts are generally steeped in academia, not athletics.
All of that said, as an economist, Hartzell had some interesting thoughts on the future of college athletics as they relate to NIL, how players will/should be paid, and what the future model of the NCAA should look like.
As for a legacy, athletics-wise, Hartzell was a central figure in Texas moving from the Big 12 to the SEC. His leadership helped get that to the finish line a few years back, which, again, is not a small thing.
Here’s the good news in Hartzell leaving: Kevin Eltife is the Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents until at least Feb. 2027. As long as Eltife remains in that role, the school president is likely to have at least some sports savvy in his repertoire.