Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian addressed the media after his team’s first spring football practice of the year.
Here are the highlights from Tuesday’s media availability:
--- Sarkisian liked the energy and depth he saw at practice. He said this is the highest number of players participating in spring practice since he arrived at Texas. In addition, he said every player, including fourth-teamers, received reps on Tuesday.
--- Sarkisian said there were several high-level plays made by his receivers during practice. He is looking for coachable players.
--- Sarkisian’s response when asked if his team will be as versatile as the 2023 version: “I think we have that as well again this year. I would say just as a team in general, I don't think we're going to be a one-dimensional team that's going to have to rely on one phase of the game to be overly dominant. I'd love for all three phases to do that. But I think when the dust settles, we're going to be a really good offensive team that will have balance. I think we're going to be a very good defensive football team that's going to be able to have some versatility in max, zone, and pressure things. I think we're going to be really good on special teams. Just a couple of glimpses I saw today, we've got quality returners. We're always going to be aggressive in our intent in the way that we call it. And so, for us, when we've got that balance in all three phases with the quality of players that we have, that sets that versatility up for us where we can win games a multitude of ways. But like I said, that's going to be a process and take some time.
“I will say just first glimpse offensively, we've got some really versatile players. From a receiver standpoint, we were moving guys from outside to inside, playing them in the slot, playing them outside. We moved our runners around probably more today than we had our first practice of spring ball and trying to play to their strengths as well. I think that helps when you've got a really experienced quarterback who really understands the offense and he can manage some of that stuff from the line of scrimmage.”
--- Sarkisian said linebackers coach Johnny Nansen and defensive line coach Kenny Baker were coaching at a high level on Tuesday.
--- Sarkisian said defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell (372 pounds), linebacker Kendrick Blackshire (261 pounds), and RB Savion Red (240 pounds) weight too much entering spring football: “Probably all three of them a little heavier than we would like. But, we're in March, right? And we're not playing a game until September … I guess it's August 31 this year. And one thing I know, some of that weight will naturally come off through spring practice. The other thing I know, when we start running in June and July in DKR at about 3:30 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon that weight comes off a little easier. Again, I'm not I'm not overly concerned. I would like that weight to get down for all three of those guys. I think they’ll be better players when that weights down a little bit.”
--- Sarkisian on replacing T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II: “We probably have a little bit more experience than maybe people will want to give us credit for. Alfred (Collins) is a very talented player who has matured from one year to the next to the next. If he continues on the progression that he's on, he's poised to have a great year. I think Vernon Broughton is another one of those guys that gave us a lot of quality reps the last two seasons. I think now more than ever, they're poised to step into that role. And Tiaoalii Savea, he's played a lot of football at Arizona. So to have that experience of those three guys is helpful. And then we've got some young talented players. I think (Jaray) Dre Bledsoe is an extremely talented young player who's going into year three now. I think Aaron Bryant is another guy that's going to start to give us some of those reps that Alfred and Vernon gave us the last couple of years. I think at first glance, Alex January is a guy who has been impressive early on in offseason workouts and conditioning and things. I think we've got that really good mix of older veteran players who are ready for their time, similar to Sweat and similar to Murphy. When Moro and Coburn left, they stepped into that role. And so now it's that next phase and it's that natural progression of guys moving through the program.”
--- From a leadership perspective, Sarkisian said they do not have one dominant voice on this year’s team, like former RB Roschon Johnson. However, he believes they have more positive quality voices.
--- However, Sarkisian praised safety Andrew Mukuba, tight end Amari Niblack, receiver Isaiah Bond, and EDGE Trey Moore for buying into the Longhorn culture.
--- Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: “I think Quinn looks good. His body, we went from where he was a couple of years ago, to slimming himself all the way down last season, so if you look at him, he looks a little broader this year. I'm hopeful we can we can maybe get three to five more pounds to just strengthen him up that way.”
--- Sarkisian said he practiced using helmet communication with Ewers on Tuesday: “I think the challenge for me is how much information is quality, good information, and when does it cross the threshold of too much to where it's a little bit of paralysis by analysis because there's too much information and so. That's a fine line of him and I working together with some of that stuff. He and I working with the offensive line and getting that communication done, but I thought it felt really comfortable for him today, first time out doing it.”
--- Texas receiver Johntay Cook II stood out in practice, according to Sarkisian.
Here are the highlights from Tuesday’s media availability:
--- Sarkisian liked the energy and depth he saw at practice. He said this is the highest number of players participating in spring practice since he arrived at Texas. In addition, he said every player, including fourth-teamers, received reps on Tuesday.
--- Sarkisian said there were several high-level plays made by his receivers during practice. He is looking for coachable players.
--- Sarkisian’s response when asked if his team will be as versatile as the 2023 version: “I think we have that as well again this year. I would say just as a team in general, I don't think we're going to be a one-dimensional team that's going to have to rely on one phase of the game to be overly dominant. I'd love for all three phases to do that. But I think when the dust settles, we're going to be a really good offensive team that will have balance. I think we're going to be a very good defensive football team that's going to be able to have some versatility in max, zone, and pressure things. I think we're going to be really good on special teams. Just a couple of glimpses I saw today, we've got quality returners. We're always going to be aggressive in our intent in the way that we call it. And so, for us, when we've got that balance in all three phases with the quality of players that we have, that sets that versatility up for us where we can win games a multitude of ways. But like I said, that's going to be a process and take some time.
“I will say just first glimpse offensively, we've got some really versatile players. From a receiver standpoint, we were moving guys from outside to inside, playing them in the slot, playing them outside. We moved our runners around probably more today than we had our first practice of spring ball and trying to play to their strengths as well. I think that helps when you've got a really experienced quarterback who really understands the offense and he can manage some of that stuff from the line of scrimmage.”
--- Sarkisian said linebackers coach Johnny Nansen and defensive line coach Kenny Baker were coaching at a high level on Tuesday.
--- Sarkisian said defensive lineman Sydir Mitchell (372 pounds), linebacker Kendrick Blackshire (261 pounds), and RB Savion Red (240 pounds) weight too much entering spring football: “Probably all three of them a little heavier than we would like. But, we're in March, right? And we're not playing a game until September … I guess it's August 31 this year. And one thing I know, some of that weight will naturally come off through spring practice. The other thing I know, when we start running in June and July in DKR at about 3:30 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon that weight comes off a little easier. Again, I'm not I'm not overly concerned. I would like that weight to get down for all three of those guys. I think they’ll be better players when that weights down a little bit.”
--- Sarkisian on replacing T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II: “We probably have a little bit more experience than maybe people will want to give us credit for. Alfred (Collins) is a very talented player who has matured from one year to the next to the next. If he continues on the progression that he's on, he's poised to have a great year. I think Vernon Broughton is another one of those guys that gave us a lot of quality reps the last two seasons. I think now more than ever, they're poised to step into that role. And Tiaoalii Savea, he's played a lot of football at Arizona. So to have that experience of those three guys is helpful. And then we've got some young talented players. I think (Jaray) Dre Bledsoe is an extremely talented young player who's going into year three now. I think Aaron Bryant is another guy that's going to start to give us some of those reps that Alfred and Vernon gave us the last couple of years. I think at first glance, Alex January is a guy who has been impressive early on in offseason workouts and conditioning and things. I think we've got that really good mix of older veteran players who are ready for their time, similar to Sweat and similar to Murphy. When Moro and Coburn left, they stepped into that role. And so now it's that next phase and it's that natural progression of guys moving through the program.”
--- From a leadership perspective, Sarkisian said they do not have one dominant voice on this year’s team, like former RB Roschon Johnson. However, he believes they have more positive quality voices.
--- However, Sarkisian praised safety Andrew Mukuba, tight end Amari Niblack, receiver Isaiah Bond, and EDGE Trey Moore for buying into the Longhorn culture.
--- Sarkisian on Quinn Ewers: “I think Quinn looks good. His body, we went from where he was a couple of years ago, to slimming himself all the way down last season, so if you look at him, he looks a little broader this year. I'm hopeful we can we can maybe get three to five more pounds to just strengthen him up that way.”
--- Sarkisian said he practiced using helmet communication with Ewers on Tuesday: “I think the challenge for me is how much information is quality, good information, and when does it cross the threshold of too much to where it's a little bit of paralysis by analysis because there's too much information and so. That's a fine line of him and I working together with some of that stuff. He and I working with the offensive line and getting that communication done, but I thought it felt really comfortable for him today, first time out doing it.”
--- Texas receiver Johntay Cook II stood out in practice, according to Sarkisian.
