Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian addressed the media on Thursday to preview the SEC Championship Game.
Here is what you need to know:
1. Sarkisian said left tackle Kelvin Banks practiced this week. However, he did not disclose any details.
I will have more information in the War Room.
2. I asked Sarkisian if Jonah Williams will play baseball when he enrolls in January and then switch to football after the spring.
“Coach Jim [Schlossnagle] and I have, I think, a good plan in place for him to join the baseball team this spring but, obviously, find our windows and find our time to start getting him immersed into the football side of things, too,” Sarkisian said. “That's always the challenge of being a dual-sport athlete. Some of your free time isn't always all of your free time. When you make a commitment to play both sports, some of that free time is now dedicated to the other sport that's not in season. His will kind of fall into those lines, but he's a really dedicated young man. He's got a great work ethic. He's got a beautiful family. They're all very successful people; they know about discipline and hard work. I suspect that he's going to come in here ready to work in both sports. Hopefully, he can have a lot of success in both sports. We'll see how that goes.”
3. Sarkisian said 20 of the 24 players who signed on Wednesday will enroll in January. He noted that it was an all-time high for them.
4. I asked Sarkisian if they sat down with players this week to determine who may enter the transfer portal and to share which areas they may address next week.
“As far as the portal goes, opening on Monday, we're holding off having any discussions with any players until after the game,” Sarkisian said. “Naturally, I'm sure, like other schools, we're going to have some guys that are going to want to go into the portal. We're going to have some who want to go in right away, and we're going to have some players that maybe want to wait until our season is done, and I support that. I understand that this is the day and age of college football that we're in, and at the same token, we may have a few needs to fill through the portal. We don't make a living in the transfer portal, but when depth concerns come about at specific position groups because of attrition one way or the other—injuries, players leaving early for the NFL Draft, players transferring out of our program—sometimes you have some immediate needs at position groups that we'll have to address.
“But again, we've got a little bit of time for that. We're just trying to manage everything as it's coming at us here. With signing day being yesterday, the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, and the transfer portal opening on Monday, there are definitely some moving parts, but I think our staff has done a really good job of compartmentalizing those things, and the people that are responsible for what they're responsible for are handling their business.”
Here is what you need to know:
1. Sarkisian said left tackle Kelvin Banks practiced this week. However, he did not disclose any details.
I will have more information in the War Room.
2. I asked Sarkisian if Jonah Williams will play baseball when he enrolls in January and then switch to football after the spring.
“Coach Jim [Schlossnagle] and I have, I think, a good plan in place for him to join the baseball team this spring but, obviously, find our windows and find our time to start getting him immersed into the football side of things, too,” Sarkisian said. “That's always the challenge of being a dual-sport athlete. Some of your free time isn't always all of your free time. When you make a commitment to play both sports, some of that free time is now dedicated to the other sport that's not in season. His will kind of fall into those lines, but he's a really dedicated young man. He's got a great work ethic. He's got a beautiful family. They're all very successful people; they know about discipline and hard work. I suspect that he's going to come in here ready to work in both sports. Hopefully, he can have a lot of success in both sports. We'll see how that goes.”
3. Sarkisian said 20 of the 24 players who signed on Wednesday will enroll in January. He noted that it was an all-time high for them.
4. I asked Sarkisian if they sat down with players this week to determine who may enter the transfer portal and to share which areas they may address next week.
“As far as the portal goes, opening on Monday, we're holding off having any discussions with any players until after the game,” Sarkisian said. “Naturally, I'm sure, like other schools, we're going to have some guys that are going to want to go into the portal. We're going to have some who want to go in right away, and we're going to have some players that maybe want to wait until our season is done, and I support that. I understand that this is the day and age of college football that we're in, and at the same token, we may have a few needs to fill through the portal. We don't make a living in the transfer portal, but when depth concerns come about at specific position groups because of attrition one way or the other—injuries, players leaving early for the NFL Draft, players transferring out of our program—sometimes you have some immediate needs at position groups that we'll have to address.
“But again, we've got a little bit of time for that. We're just trying to manage everything as it's coming at us here. With signing day being yesterday, the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, and the transfer portal opening on Monday, there are definitely some moving parts, but I think our staff has done a really good job of compartmentalizing those things, and the people that are responsible for what they're responsible for are handling their business.”
